Are you tricking your customer into buying? Dr. Steven Epley, the founder of Epley Market Research, told me, “90% of loyalty problems can be traced to a flawed sales process.”
The first principle of the five Customer Relationship Marketing Principles is, “Attract the right customers for the right reasons.” Tricking customers into buying your product, especially heavy category users, is the first step into a losing battle with attrition.
Customers who buy the promotion will continue to buy the promotion. Their relationship with you will be transactional at best. So, if the other guy makes an offer, they jump. This means you have to sweeten the pot. And on it goes.
On the other hand, customer who buy your value proposition will continue to buy your product because it solves their problem. There won’t be as many of them but they will be worth a lot more. They will stay with you longer, buy more products and services from you, cost you less to service, be more willing to pay full price, and are more likely to tell others about your great products. What’s not to like.
The Right Customers
Focus on heavy category users. Heavy users have the ability to contribute significantly to your success. Some things to consider:
- They are heavy users because their need for the category is significant.
- They know a lot about the category, about your product and your competitors’ products.
- They know they are important.
The Right Reasons
For the reasons listed above, they are motivated by product benefits and value, not image and personality. Give them rational reasons to buy. Show them the functional benefit that makes your product superior to their other options.
Hip Shots
- Bribery isn’t required. Give heavy users meaningful, rational reasons why your product is their best choice and they will be won over.
- Discounts and rewards should be presented in the context of their worth to you, as a reward for doing business, not as an incentive to buy.