00:00:20:13 – 00:00:48:11
Paul Sterett
Welcome to our fourth installment of our webinar series to start off this New Year. Know thy Customer. And in this webinar, this installment, we will be taking a look at the research stage of your customers buying cycle and to just give you a little bit of a review. These are the six stages of your customers buying cycle that we are have looked at and then will look at.
00:00:48:12 – 00:01:37:09
Paul Sterett
So we’ve gone through stages one, two, three, life situation and options. Today we are going to take a look at research. Then in the next two installments will take a look at contact and buy in your customers buying cycle. So a quick review of what we’ve covered and where we’re going today. So in stage one in life, this is the time that your customer spends in a relational mode that they’re not ready to buy, but they still fit your target profile and they you have a lot of lot to gain from building that relationship with them in this life stage prior to them becoming or moving into a transactional mode.
00:01:37:17 – 00:02:32:01
Paul Sterett
So this life, depending on your particular industry, what you provide your goods or services, that’s life stage is going to have different links to it. We’ve looked at some examples from a real estate perspective, or even like a roofer perspective of a roofers lifecycle may be up to 20 years, but understood. We’ve taken a look at how that and that stage of your customers buying cycle and being communicating to them in the relational stage really impacts moving into the situation and stage of the cycle, which is when an event something happens that creates that need for that customer, for your good or service and how you interact with them in that life cycle.
00:02:32:05 – 00:03:00:06
Paul Sterett
Moving into the situation stage is really where it begins for you to do the work, to separate yourself from your competitors. And in that situation stage again, it is a specific event or need that begins that move into a transactional mode for your customer. Understanding this, that situation is really what helps you craft your messages in the lifecycle.
00:03:00:06 – 00:03:32:07
Paul Sterett
So again, as we move through these different stages, it is informing the previous stages as you’re building your marketing strategy and your advertising messages and assets. So coming out of the situation stage, we move into the options and at this moment in your your buying customers buying cycle and the options, this is where they begin to be review and select what they’re going to do to satisfy the need that they had in the situation stage.
00:03:32:18 – 00:03:59:21
Paul Sterett
So as we move into out of situation, the options are really starting to view the landscape of what they what they can do to satisfy that need. Now, moving out of the options stage into the research stage, this is where your customer really begins to accelerate the transaction or seeking something to purchase to satisfy that need that presented itself back in the situation stage.
00:04:00:05 – 00:04:27:00
Paul Sterett
So let’s take a look at where your customer is and the frame of mind that they’re in in this research stage. So again, the research stage is this is where your customers are actively a evaluating how they’re going to satisfy they need their need, what they’re going to select to satisfy the need that did present itself back in stage to this situation.
00:04:27:24 – 00:05:11:10
Paul Sterett
This stage, the research stage is very informative from the transactional media. So relational media, things like television and billboards, outdoor print and radio, when when your customers in a relational stage, they’re not going to respond to facts and figures because they just have no need for them. They’re not in a transactional mode. But this is where those details, this is where the facts and figures start to play a role because they are actively evaluating who they’re going to select in order to satisfy their need back in stage two.
00:05:12:00 – 00:05:50:12
Paul Sterett
And so understanding those two different types of media, relational and transactional really start to distinguish themselves. And this stage, the research stage, because facts and figures are becoming more important now, the frame of mind that our customer is in at this point is really justifying that decision that was made in stage two. The situation is that’s when they decided coming out of that into reviewing their options that, yes, they were going to take action to satisfy that need.
00:05:51:03 – 00:06:43:22
Paul Sterett
And what we use facts and figures for is it’s justifying that decision. If we know we’re going to fix something that has broken or make a purchase for for something that for a need that we have, the facts and figures are just rationalizations for us as far as what how we’re going to satisfy that. And it’s really interesting because if we’ve done our job well in the relation all mode of the relational media and building that relationship with them and being known for them, then it’s going to give us a much better advantage in this point because in the absence of knowing somebody and having a relationship, then it starts to become really those facts
00:06:43:22 – 00:07:17:22
Paul Sterett
and the facts of price and and things of that nature that really lower our margins. So having a relationship is going to give you the best advantage if you’ve done your job previously. The best advantage in this research stage of making that selection of what once they’ve evaluated their options, if you’ve made it in that pool, it’s going to give you an advantage for them to select you to satisfy their need and at higher margins as well.
00:07:18:12 – 00:07:51:06
Paul Sterett
So the frame of mind that your customer is in at this point is it’s just rationalization. They’ve already made the decision. If they made it to this point and you’re in the mix, they’ve already made a decision to satisfy that need previously in their buying cycle. But now they’re actually looking at those facts and figures. So your transactional media, your transactional messages are going to be at this point where the facts and figures come into play.
00:07:51:06 – 00:08:46:01
Paul Sterett
So your target profile that you identified and the situation stage, this is where if you have again successfully engaged them, then it makes things more favor favorable for you. Some of the biggest companies that case studies are written on books or written about do this extremely well. I mean Apple’s a great example. They really they don’t do sales so they build such relationship tribe as a very popular concept of that right now they they identify time with the group of people the target profiles to fit their what their their tribe that they’re trying to build and so once they get to this point, they’ve got such an advantage that their the focus is less on
00:08:46:01 – 00:09:11:10
Paul Sterett
price but more on being identified with that brand, with the products that that brand produces. So the target profile and understanding the target profile, again, looking back on each of these stages as we go through it shines even more information and more understanding on the previous stages of how we need to be communicating, what we need to be looking for.
00:09:11:14 – 00:09:43:10
Paul Sterett
And it informs our marketing strategy and our advertising plans and the assets that we build. But at this point in the research stage, if we’ve done our job well previously, then we’re going to have a much better advantage because the more they know us, the less they’re going to be focused on price. Price is always going to be a factor, but if we can reduce that, the emphasis on price, then our margins are going to go up and we are going to be better off for that.
00:09:44:09 – 00:10:28:18
Paul Sterett
So at this point, anticipating questions and using the transactional media to your advantage is very helpful. I mean, if we look at the way that people purchase on things like Amazon now and they look at reviews, the way that retailers are leveraging video reviews, those things are really important in this stage because anything more visual, anything more that we can drive that that relationship and that value that we begin to create, then we are again going to set ourselves apart from others that might be in the mix that they’re researching as well.
00:10:29:12 – 00:11:09:15
Paul Sterett
So at this point, when we get down to a little bit more specificity about transactional media, anticipating questions and how you present those questions are really important when it comes to this stage of your customers buying cycle. They’re looking for information. And the way he presented again, video is a fantastic way to do that. The sellers on Amazon that are leveraging video reviews and video examples of their products are having a tremendous amount more success than those that are obviously written.
00:11:09:15 – 00:11:58:18
Paul Sterett
Reviews and written testimonials are very helpful. But adding that visual element to the to the reviews and in this at this point where the transactional media comes into play, looking for those facts and figures will really give you an edge. You know, obviously building out, anticipating those questions, leveraging your website. I mean, lots of websites have effing shoes, but really digging deeper than just kind of some surface level questions, anticipating what your previous customer’s experience have been, What type of questions do they ask, giving a more in-depth responses to those questions and you provide that.
00:11:58:22 – 00:12:27:21
Paul Sterett
It’s going to give you an edge. It’s going to give you an edge in this part of the buying cycle, which at which they’re doing their research to make their selection. So, you know, as we again, are moving through the customer journey in the customer buying cycle, each stage is going to reveal and give you a better understanding of the things we should be doing in the previous stages of your customers buying cycle.
00:12:28:06 – 00:12:51:09
Paul Sterett
So thinking back to the time that they spend and just that life stage of their buying cycle building that that relationship with them and resonating with them, making yourself known to them so that as they move through and they look at their options, that you become part of that next. And then once they start doing that research, they’re familiar with you.
00:12:52:04 – 00:13:24:14
Paul Sterett
They’re rationalizing their decision. But all things being equal, we want to do business with people that we know, with friends that we’re familiar with. So as we as they get to this point, the more that they know us when they were in a relational mode, once they get to this point in their becoming far more transactional, we’re going to give ourselves a much better advantage at this stage to make sure that we, again, can take the the burden off of things like price.
00:13:24:14 – 00:13:56:20
Paul Sterett
If that’s the only thing that separates us from others that are in the mix. And if we can do that, then our margins will go up. And obviously that’s good for all of us that are in business is to have more sales a quicker close and have higher margins in that. So speaking of that, the next the next stage that we’ll take a look at on March 14th is stage five of your customers buying cycle and it is the contact stage.
00:13:57:00 – 00:14:22:12
Paul Sterett
So at this point they have gone through their life and their their cycle situation has presented itself. They’ve looked at their options. They’ve made that decision to satisfy that need that was presented in the situation stage. They’ve done their research and now they are going to contact and move that much closer to that transaction. So I hope that you will join us on March 14th.
00:14:22:12 – 00:14:58:08
Paul Sterett
Again, it will be at 12 noon Eastern and it’ll be about the same time we’re going to sort to keep these things short and in bite sized for you and as we move through into the next stage, the contact stage, I hope that you will join us March 14th for us.