Why did [not] the customer choose your company?
Analysing information in today’s realities is a continuous, vital process for the company.
Maksym Prokhorov Founder and IT manager of PM Partners
And there’s one of the most important indicators that helps policymakers understand where to go. This is the customer selection data, either in your favour or in favour of competitors. So why are customers giving or not giving preference to your company?
Emotions and irrationality
Economists and psychologists are still studying how people make purchasing decisions. Let’s consider the main conclusions reached by them, although it is not clear what «the fisher» needs to do, so that «the fish» in 100% cases like «the bait».
It is now well known how wrong Adam Smith was while thinking about people being rational and taking full account of his future purchase. In fact in giving preference to a particular product/service, consumers, quite often, are driven by emotions.
This often leads to an irrational and illogical result. Of course, the individual does not feel that way, and there is no need to try to persuade him. You’d better adjust yourself. Accordingly, if your messages to the target audience are logical, this strategy may not show the desired result (i.e., planned sales).
Scientists have determined while examining our brains, that people make a decision to buy, when they feel confident. And quite often, the emergence of such confidence is not related to information about a commodity or service. Therefore, before addressing your potential clients, determine which type of solutions characterize their behaviour better, in other words, do they make well-informed or habitual decisions.
Take another aspect into account: the more information you give, the more likely it is that a person will start to think about the practicability of acquiring this product or service, and that means that a habitual decision will move on to a well-informed decision. If that is your plan, so do it. But if you are aimed for spontaneous purchases, do not overload the client with data, but find a way to gain the client’s trust quickly.
The challenge of choice and opinion leaders
The large number of offers of the similar goods or services, on the one hand, gives the consumer the best choice, but at the same time complicates this choice. Buyers’ behaviour researchers argue that today a person is fully capable of comparing up to four different offers of a single service or product. But what does he do when there are more such offers? The answer is that they will seek the advice of those he trusts most. In modern times, this is often the case of opinion leaders, so brands, companies and even private entrepreneurs try to cooperate with them (it is important to assess the budget and the expediency of such costs).
The second option is to become an opinion leader for your target audience. Right, it takes time and money… but by creating even a small team that will help the company to develop the right attitude towards the service/product for a long time, you will lay a strong foundation for building the brand and increase its recognition. In the future, the already sporadic collaboration with bloggers and social media personalities will help strengthen your position and bypass competitors in the fight for the client.
So, the answer to the question «Why did [not] the customer choose your company?» should be looked for:
- in the correct goals and in the messages you deliver to him;
- in tools used for communication with clients;
- comprehensive analysis of the company’s data (sales analyst, company contacts, concluded and unconcluded contracts, issued and paid/unpaid bills, customer feedback, etc.).
And if the customer have chosen your company, that doesn’t mean you’re doing everything right. Find out from him why trusts you and try to strengthen this position while continuing to analyze and monitor everything else. Remember, it’s not easy to become leader in a highly competitive market, but it’s much harder to keep it.
