Step 2 — Understand Your Customer

Knowing your customer intimately is the first step to easy sales. Until you know (1) who your customers are, (2) what they want, and (3) what motivates them to buy, you can’t prepare an effective marketing plan.

 

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Don’t confuse “wants” with “needs.” People don’t necessarily buy what they need, but they’ll most always buy what they want. For instance, have you ever known someone that went to the store to buy a pair of pants that they needed and came back with a new shirt, sweater, and shoes? Or how about the everyday shopper who goes into the supermarket to buy some milk and eggs, and comes out with a frozen pizza, cheesecake, and other goodies?

 

People will buy what they want (even if they don’t have the money!), not what they need. And yes, this even applies to those “sophisticated” corporate honchos (I should know. I used to be one.).

 

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To really get to know your customers you’ll need to ask yourself questions such as:

 

• How does my potential customer normally buy similar products? (e.g. in a store, on the Web, door-to-door)

 

• Who is the primary buyer and the primary buying influencer in the purchasing process? (e.g. husband or wife, purchasing agent, project leader, secretary)

 

• What kind of habits does my customer have? For instance, where do they get their information? (e.g. television, newspapers, magazines)

 

What are my target customer’s primary motivations for buying? (e.g. looking good, avoiding pain, getting rich, being healthy, being popular, etc.)