When doing my shopping recently, I stopped to think about my buying criteria which meant I chose one Glasgow supermarket over another. My decision to buy from one shop rather than the other was made because of one item, that’s it! But this got me wondering: “do these supermarkets know their customers’ buying criteria?”
When it comes to convincing people to buy from your business instead of your close competitors, how well you know your customers can make the difference. Where your customer service, price, and choice of products are similar, it’s the small things that can make a big difference.
Here are some things to bear in mind.
What Influences Your Customers’ Decision to Buy?
One of the things that can give your business the edge over competitors is knowing your customers’ influences. What are they looking for from businesses working in your industry? What are the things that will motivate them to buy or look elsewhere?
For instance, for local businesses like those in and around the Glasgow area it could be beneficial to highlight your connection with the local community.
Alternatively, are certain marketing and sales strategies likely to be as effective in your industry as others? There is no point in putting a huge emphasis on customer service if there is likely to be little interaction between your team and customers, or if customers for your business aren’t particularly interested in customer service levels.
Create a List of Buying Criteria
Think what factors are likely to influence your business’ customers and what aren’t. Do people buy from you because of your products? Your prices? Your customer service? Find out what the most significant factors are and focus on those.
This doesn’t have to be the be all and end all, though. Just because something might not be a huge factor for people to buy from businesses in your industry doesn’t mean it couldn’t be one day. If there is something that makes you stand out from competitors, then placing an emphasis on it can be a very effective move. Finding gaps to exploit in your industry is a great way of getting ahead of competitors, so if there is something could have a bigger influence on customers’ decisions then try to maximise its potential!
Research Your Business’ Customer Base
Lots of businesses that I’ve worked with in the Glasgow area think they know their customers’ buying criteria, but in reality they don’t! Businesses should be going out of their way to understand what influences their customers and gain an advantage over competitors.
By sending out a survey or questionnaire for your customer base to complete you might gain a bit of useful information. Directly communicating with customers is a great way to understand their habits and what they look for in a business.
Use Customers’ Buying Criteria to Inform Your Content
Once you have a list of buying criteria and have researched the things that influence customers to buy, you need to put this information into your content plans.
Is there one particular product you sell that means people choose you over a competitor? If so, focus on this when creating content. This could mean focussing on it on social media, your website, and email campaigns with videos, images and blogs.
Content creation is a huge part of marketing today. It takes up a large portion of a business’ budget, and the more informed that business is the more likely they are to see a return on that investment.
For Glasgow-based businesses, what can you do to appeal to more customers? Are there particular buying preferences that you have picked up on in the local community that bigger, nationwide companies might miss? Embrace the advantages that being a local, small business can offer!
Summary
Do you have a firm grasp on your customers’ buying criteria? Even if you think you do, make sure you’ve done your research with surveys and properly questioned what people look for when buying from a business in your industry, and your business in particular.
By having a list of buying criteria it means your team will have a better understanding of not only your customers, but your business as well. And for local, Glasgow-based businesses, what influences people in your area? And how can you use that knowledge to gain the edge over competitors?
Want to plan a strategy for your business going forward? Have a look at my Strategy Days where I can help your business plan for the months ahead,.
