What type of buyers are your customers?

Products and services are sold based on many more factors than their intrinsic features. It is one thing to propose an offering well-suited to customer needs. It is quite another to propose that offering at the right time with the right message and convince customers to buy it!

Now, the right message depends specifically on the customer’s mindset at the time of purchase. Take the example of a wine purchase. People buy wine for a wide variety of occasions, e.g. a romantic dinner, a gift for a meal with the in-laws, an improvised drink with friends, the marriage of one’s only daughter, etc. The customer’s attitude toward the purchase will be very different in each case, even though the very same bottle of wine could probably satisfy the customer need in each instance. Yet, these different buyer types would probably be best reached with very different tactics respectively. Indeed, underlining the image of the vintage may be the right strategy in one case, while emphasizing what dishes go with the wine would be advised to sell a bottle in another, etc.

The publications analyzed below propose original thinking on marketing strategy, specifically concerning the need to define the mindset of customers at the time of purchase, and adapt the manner in which the offering is presented in consequence. Two key drivers can be used in this regard:

– Take account of the time customers are willing to devote to the purchase.

– Adapt your message to the level of risk customers associate with the purchasing decision.