A Story… And a Lesson Learnt about Buyer Personas…
…How to Support the Spectrums of Buyer Personas
https://youtu.be/dhYqo1GY9vQ
Here is the “Couch Story,” complete with a Marketing Lesson (for me)…
In the past and for many years in my pre-married life, when I made furniture decisions for myself, I often was capable of walking into a store, looking at a few options, quickly weighing out the pros and cons in my mind, the budget and pricing, and assessing my best options quickly.
I also tended to know what I like rather quickly.
But I am not in the majority of hoomans, and part of this tendency is a bit of conditioning from a decade spent in managerial capacities in a fast-paced corporate environment, and some of it is about my own Buyer Persona.
I used to be able to walk into a store, make a decision within maybe an hour, depending on the size of the purchase, and go home with a resolution that evening.
So “The Couch Story” (told in the video) represents one of my first forays into making a large-scale purchase with someone who simply had a different Buyer Persona… which, I did not fully understand at the time, and luckily I do now.
#1 – There are Many “Spectrums” for Buyer Personas
There are multiple “spectrums” for Buyer Personas. Some ranges have to do with how many exposures someone needs to have with a bit of marketing in order to feel ready to make a decision, and some have to do with how long the marketing relationship needs to last over a span of time.
And some Buyer Personas are connected to whether or not somebody needs to understand the big picture goals, versus needing to have a lot of the small, minuscule details in order for them to make a decision.
There’s also a spectrum for length of time to make a decision.
For example, sitting down at a restaurant and looking at a menu and saying, Okay, I want either this thing or that thing, but by the time the server comes, your mind is easily made up, versus someone who really needs to look at that menu in great detail, they need to read all of the little descriptions, they might need to see pictures, they might need to ask questions about the different plates.
So there are differences in the way we make these kinds of decisions.
#2 – Spontaneous vs. Complete Study
Understanding our clients’ needs in terms of purchasing decisions is a big part of our responsibility as ethical, heart-centered, desire-based marketers and entrepreneurs.
One of these Buyer Persona “spectrums” can be referred to as being more spontaneous versus being more of a complete study, or someone who needs and wants to do more research and take more time to decide.
It’s vital, once again, to mention that there is no “better or worse” end of the spectrum – We are merely all different. And as you’ll see from my “Couch Story,” we can actually complement each other in relationships, where these differences are actually quite healthy and helpful.
In terms of your marketing, it’s very important that we are compassionate and understanding of our audience in respecting and supporting these buyer differences.
Some people are going to be right in the middle, and some will be on either end.
As a marketer, service provider, or entrepreneur offering something to your audience, we never want to put someone in a position where we are pressurizing them to make a decision that’s going to feel out of alignment for them because they did not have the opportunity to take the time that they needed.
So we can tailor our sales process in a way that can accommodate both types of buyers.
You don’t want to slow down somebody who is in that position that they’re ready to go. They know what they want, and they’re ready to jump.
And we also don’t want to create a high stakes, stressful environment for the other party that needs that time.
They need to do the research, they need to sleep on it, they need to think about it, they need to read reviews, perhaps they may need to thoroughly read the sales page and all of the different little pieces and components and really think through that decision, particularly when it’s a larger dollar amount.
But this can absolutely apply to a toaster (as I also found). It doesn’t have to just be a big dollar purchase for somebody to need that extra time.
#3 – We can support both ends of the Buyer Spectrum
I really want for everybody who buys from me to feel really good about that, not just today, but a month from today and a year from today.
I want them to look back and say, Gosh, I’m so glad I bought the Hypno-Pothecary, it’s really added a lot of value to my life. Or, I’m so thrilled that I became a Magic & Creation™ student, and I’ve learned a lot from the program.
That is the type of experience I want for people to have.
And to achieve that it’s critical that we don’t do things like high pressure sales calls, where we put somebody on the spot, and for whatever reason, insist that they tell you TODAY if they want to move forward with more work or a service or product.
Doing that is never going to be helpful or supportive to your audience who’s on the end of the spectrum where they need more time.
And to be quite honest, as someone who often does make quicker decisions, I still don’t like that either.
Perhaps you’ve been in that situation before, where you’ve in a conversation and you’ve said something like, You know, I really would like to think about this, or, I’d like to take a day or two, and look at my budget or think through what the benefit of this is to me, or think through whether this is in alignment with my goals.
If that other person says anything along the lines of, No, you really need to decide right now — that’s not going to feel like a very good fit or an aligned situation.
And so as marketers, we don’t need to create pressure to try to get someone to make a decision.
#4 – Marketing Strategies that Honor the Buyer Spectrums
We can practice this in our Marketing in lots of ways.
When I first started my business, I didn’t necessarily know any better. And I’m sure that I probably did things that may have gone against what I now understand about how people make decisions.
But what I can do today is I can make choices for how I run my business in ways that honor what I do now understand.
So if I’m going to do something around a special event, like a holiday sale, or I like to do things around my birthday every year, (Hobbit-style, giving things away on my birthday), I don’t make it where there’s only three days or 24 hours to decide and grab the deal.
Because I understand that there are people that really need, maybe let’s give them a week, maybe let’s give them longer, it just depends on your business and what sort of thing you have going on.
I like to provide ample time for people for people who need that.
And I also like to make it immediately accessible for someone who’s ready NOW, so that I’m not holding them back.
There’s nothing wrong with a little teaser of what’s to come, and letting excitement build, but we can mostly avoid unintentionally “slowing down” the folks who are keen to jump in.
So allow for that spectrum to exist. It’ll range from the people who have been following you, they’ve been watching, they’ve already kind of decided they want to work with you, and when the opportunity comes, they’re ready to go.
Let’s let them go ahead and go because they’re already ready.
And at the same time, we’re not going to punish the people who need that extra time, they’re not going to miss out on the bonus or the sale because they couldn’t decide in 24 hours. One day is a very short time to make a decision about anything.
We can take these neuro-scientific differences into account, as we design our marketing and our sales process.
And we can be inclusive of everybody and not leave out the poor guy who needed that extra time to decide about a couch.
Quickie Take-Away
Less than 5 minutes.
Quickly jot down 1 or 2 ways you can honor both sides of this Buyer Persona in your Marketing.
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