Six Questions to Understanding Your Buyers Behaviour

A number of years ago I was asked to understand my buyers’ behaviour. My initial (internal) reaction was  “Why do I need to do that?”  This reaction is not just mine; it is a reaction of most individuals working in a sales environment.

The truth is no matter what your position is in the organisation it is a good idea to educate yourself about this topic. Without such an understanding, you and the businesses will find it extremely difficult to provide the client’s needs and wants.

In other words you have to develop the skill to find out what makes the client’s tick to buy your product/service. To understand the behaviour of your buyer you need to ask the following six crucial questions:

1. What are the reasons for the buyer buying? A buyer will have both a rational and emotional reasons for purchasing a service/product. So, is it the emotional reason or the price (rational reason) of the purchase, which is most important? Any parent will tell you when buying something for their child (such as health care) the emotional reasoning tend to play a great part in the decision-making of the purchase.
   
2. How often does the buyer buy? Providing your service/product at the right time allows you to strategically introduce your product/service to the buyer. For example consider a car manufacture they tend to launch a new car of the same model usually once a year. This allows them introduce certain new features to the new car that were not available in the earlier car.
   
3. Is the buyer buying for someone else? In a number of cases the actual buyer is purchasing the product/service for someone else. A good example of this is when a man buys a ring for his would be wife. In such a scenario the seller needs to take into consideration the influence of both parties during the selling process.
   
4. What does the buyer buy? Apart from having knowledge about your own product/services it is always a good idea to know what else your buyers buy. By doing so you will be able to identify common interests of your buyers. In this manner become target specific with your marketing and sales tactics.
   
5. From where does the buyer buy? By recognising where your buyers buy it gives you the opportunity to focus to sell through those particular channels. For example are they buying from a website, online store, an outlet, distributor or referral source.
   
6. Where is the buyer getting their information? Today’s buyer has far more access to information than ever.  The classic information source has been family, friends and publications. Nowadays with great advancement in technology your buyer can get instant access to information and reviews through online portals accessible via their smart phones. So, having a good online presence has become a crucial for the seller.

Understanding you buyers’ behaviour by asking these core six questions allows you to take a journey of achieving the following:

1.     Relating more to your clients by seeing their perception of the buying process

2.     Building and developing a relationship with clients happens at a faster pace

3.     Responding to clients needs and wants gives you an competitive advantage