Buyer Persona - Putting traction into your segmentation and targeting

You created this entire business keeping in mind a certain type of customer . Why, then, do you want this fact to be known only to a few in a specialized language?  Why not paint a vivid picture of your target customer and display it everywhere so that everyone knows exactly what kind of customer you are after.  

Who is your target customer is a very important decision in your marketing strategy. Therefore do not take this decision casually. Bookish Product Managers define it in classic text book terms in terms of

• age group (these shoes are meant for school going children) 
• income group (these garments are for premium customers)
• function (this machinery is for crushing stones for construction industry). 

But such superficially definitions do not allow you to take practical decisions like 

• what should be the specifications of the product that the customers expect
• what kind of people will be needed to convince such customers effectively 
• what delivery mechanisms the customer will prefer 

That is why I recommend you go deeper and beyond such traditional segmentation tools actually create Buyer Personas ! If you see different types of customers for you, create different personals. And then let it be widely known what type of customers you are doing business for.  Let your research, manufacturing, supply chain, sales and advertising know clearly who they are really working for and how can they satisfy the customer. Do not let the "Target Audience Definitions" be defined by Product Managers alone and to be used only in the conference rooms. Let your technicians, telephone operators, salesmen and workers know them too. 

Here is a fictitious example of who the target customer is - at the Buyer Persona level - for a software company. You will see how, knowing the customer in such detail, will automatically improve your decision making. 

For a database software company

Buyer Persona of Mrs Suchitra Shetty

Typical of who our target customers are

BACKGROUND:

• Head of Human Resources
• Worked at the same company for 10 years
• Worked her way up from HR Associate
• Married with 2 children (10 and 8)

DEMOGRAPHICS:

• Age 30-45
• Dual HH Income:  Rs 50 Lakhs
• Suburban

IDENTIFIERS:

• Calm demeanor
• Probably has an assistant screening calls
• Asks to receive collateral mailed/printed

ROLE AND GOALS

• keep employees happy and turnover low
• Support legal and finance teams

CHALLENGES:

• Getting everything done with a small staff
• Rolling out changes to the entire company

HOW WE HELP:

•       Make it easy to manage all employee data in one place
•       Integrate with legal and finance teams’ systems  

      REAL QUOTES:

•      “It’s been difficult getting company-wide adoption of new technologies in the past.”
•      “Don’t have time to train new employees on many different databases and platforms.”
•       “It was painful integrating  with other departments’ databases and software.”

     COMMON OBJECTIONS:

•        I’m worried I’ll lose data transitioning to a new system.
•        I don’t want to have to train the entire company on how to use a new system.    

      MARKETING MESSAGING:  Integrated HR Database Management      

     
ELEVATOR PITCH : We give you an intuitive database that integrates with your existing software and platforms, and lifetime training to help new employees get up to speed quickly.

FOR CREATING BUYER PERSONA IN YOUR OWN BUSINESS YOU MAY FIND THIS ARTICLE USEFUL. CLICK ON THIS.

Customer’s Buying Journey And the corresponding sales process of the seller

The buyer's journey describes the process a typical business buyer takes as they move through the sales funnel. It's their process, not yours.

The journey is not an administrative process, but a cognitive one. The buyer moves from being complacent to troubled, then becomes clear about needs and viable options, before deciding on preferences and opening the way for an acceptable contract.

But the selling process does not - and cannot - precisely follow this path. There are steps the seller must take that are important for the seller that are not part of the buyer's journey. So how do you align these two journeys?

They should follow parallel paths. The key is to walk through the journeys step by step and consider issues in tandem. Start with the buyer's journey and ask yourself at each stage: 'what do we have to do to help buyers move from one stage to the next?'

Consider, too, that as the seller you must do things before the buyer's journey starts, and after it has ended. 

Your execution should focus on the stages of the seller's journey. Your choice of tactics for your business should be those best able to move your buyer through each stage of their journey. 

Consider the following sales process 
which is aligned to the customer's buying journey

1.      Find new names in proven business lists.
and filter them to match your ideal customer profile.

2.      Position your business as a member of the category
by sending potential buyers monthly invitations to house-branded events

3.      Get independent speakers to 'trouble' buyers at events by discussing
real-life examples of businesses that fail to address the problems you solve.

4.      Determine if they are sufficiently troubled
by reviewing responses to your post-seminar surveys.

5.      Tele-market those with the highest scores on our qualification matrix
and pass these names to the sales department only if they “score” well

6.      Get sales people to establish their credentials in face-to-face meetings

7.      explaining measured ROI your customers have gained.

8.      Help the buyer define their needs by conducting a paid-for 'health check',  with an offer of a rebate of fees against future purchases. 

9.      Review the results of the health check with the buyer and 
discuss key contract terms on a 'should we engage' basis to identify show-stoppers.

10.  Propose a solution that directly addresses agreed gaps.
Engage the buyer with confidence in your ability to address these gaps
by taking them on a tour of two existing customers' sites.

11.  Encourage the buyer to select you as a preferred vendor
by conducting a direct competitive comparison against agreed gaps

using third-party data to support your assertions.

12.  Help the buyer to enter into a contract by making the first steps simple and affordable and condition them for future growth through user-group presentations

       highlighting new applications of the technology. 

Remember, your task is not to work buyers through your sales process, but to help them along their buying path. .