Let’s look at some of the factors that go into the customer buying process. When and how do they decide to hire you? Here are 10 questions that will give you insight into their buying behavior.
1. What prompts clients to buy your services?
Why do they start to consider hiring someone to help them with their problem? Do they do so because they need to comply with specific laws or regulations? Are they looking to solve a particular problem or frustration that has been nagging them? Does a particular life event trigger their desire their purchase? What, specifically, is happening in their lives or their businesses that makes them aware they might need your services?
2. What are their motivations for wanting your service?
This gets into the psychology of your prospects and clients. Are they looking to hire you because they seek out the rewards and benefits your services offer or because they are trying are trying to avoid some type of pain they are facing.
Two people may want the same service for completely different reasons. One might be a “seize the day” type of person and be set on taking their business to the next level, while someone else may have been struggling with a problem for quite some time and only now has realized they better do something about it or it’s downhill from here.
If you know, specifically, why your clients want your products and services, you’ll be able to market them more effectively.
3. When do your clients need your services?
This can go hand-in-hand with what prompts your clients to buy. Do they have a seasonal need? Is it an urgent matter they suddenly find themselves dealing with? Does a life event trigger their decision?
Knowing when clients tend to hire you will help you plan your follow up strategy. If you try to sell your services too far in advance, you run the risk of educating prospects only to have them choose your competition when you’ve lost touch with them.
4. How will your service benefit the people in your market the most?
When you are catering to a specific niche, often, you will need to tailor your services to their specific needs so they can reap the most benefit.
5. What other choices do they have?
Who are your competitors? Or what other options do prospects have? Can they fix their problem themselves?
6. What other similar solutions have prospects purchased or used in the past?
Have they tried other options before going with your services? What have they done previously? How did that work out for them and what are their expectations?
The past is the best predictor of the future, so if they got mediocre results with similar solutions, where do the problems lie? Why didn’t past solutions solve their problems?
7. What are their motivations?
Now that you know a bit about their psychology and past experiences, what will motivate your prospects to take action? What will trigger them to take steps to solve their problems? And what are the negative consequences if they don’t take action.
8. What might prevent them from taking action?
What has kept them from solving their problem? Is it fear of change or failure or looking bad in the eyes of the boss? Is it a lack of desire? Office politics? The perception that the problem is just a minor annoyance rather than a major pain?
9. Who makes the purchasing decision?
Knowing the motivations of the decision-maker can make it easier for you to prepare effective presentations.
10. What is their budget?
Can your niche afford your solutions? Do they have a budget allocated and who is in charge of approving the budget?
Action Step – Answer The Questions
Today’s action step is to answer these questions as your prospects would. How do they go about hiring someone like you? What prompts them to start evaluating solutions to their problem and then what motivates them to actually take the necessary steps to move forward? By learning more about your prospects, you can start to tailor your marketing to their biggest concerns, problems and frustrations – and start addressing their objections to moving forward before you even start to speak with them.
