As a ‘consumer’ yourself, you understand that the companies that help you navigate your buying journey and ultimately, help you make the correct buying decision, earn your trust and loyalty. This is especially true of ‘high-price/high-risk’ decisions — think autos, technology, insurance, etc.
Now, take your ‘consumer cap’ off, and put on your ‘business cap’. As a business that ‘sells’ products and/or services, you want to be able to gain the same level of trust and loyalty from your audience as you have given to your favorite sellers. But, how can you do that?
Here is the first of the steps to guide your thinking on creating effective lead generation strategies and earning their loyalty and trust by creating buyer personas.
Step in your customer’s shoes
The process of gaining audience trust and loyalty begins when you ‘put yourself in your buyer’s shoes’. It is important to understand some of the following aspects of your audience/buyer:
- Who is your typical buyer?
- What does that buyer need to accomplish? (What does ‘success’ look like?)
- How that buyer needs to make a buying decision (Who are all of the ‘stakeholders’?)
- Where the buyer typically/historically goes for buying information? (What are their behaviors and preferences)?
Did you notice that I didn’t mention ‘Price’ in this set of questions?
It is not that the price isn’t important to the final buying decision. But, the price is ultimately compared to the value of a product/service. The price is virtually meaningless until the value is established and the impact (ROI) of the decision is determined. Those companies that have to lead with price are unfortunately commoditized and have very little chance of earning loyalty and trust. (You don’t want to be one of them.)
The key takeaway from this step: Understand your buyer’s needs, timeframe, and buying process, in order to have the best chance of gaining their trust and loyalty. Creating buyer personas is the best method for a clear understanding.
And remember that the buying process is not driven by your sales goals timeline, but by the buyer’s timeframe.
But the good news is that the more aligned you are with the buying journey, the better the chance that you have of being that customer’s ‘companion’ through the journey… and winning their trust AND business.
How to accomplish this step: The quickest way to step into your customer’s shoes is to ask your current customers. You might be able to speak one-on-one with them. Or you can use online survey tools, like SurveyMonkey.com to gather the intel. If you are a new business, you might be able to connect with purchasers of competitive products/services in order to gain insights.
Understanding the Buyer Personas
Ultimately, you want to gain as much insight into the wants, needs, and challenges of your ideal customer. When you can ‘walk in their shoes’ and understand their perspective, you will be better equipped to support them. It is at that point – when the customer feels that you are ‘on their side’ that they will give you their trust and loyalty.
As you delve deeper into this process, feel free to contact us to help.