What Motivates a Customer to Buy?

What motivates a customer to buy from one company and not another? Do you know why your customers buy from you? If not, here are some motivating factors they consider when choosing a company to do business with. 

Convenience: This can be provided in a number of ways, such as the hours you're open, your method of delivery, a user-friendly website, and/or your physical location. If you make the buying experience convenient for your customers, then they're more likely to pay a premium for your service or product. 

Best Value for the Price: Everyone is watching their pennies these days, so price does matter. Prospective customers will most often seek out the best product or service if the price is right. In addition, if they perceive the benefits being offered by two competitors to be the same, a customer will choose price as the tie breaker.

Personal Attention: Potential customers are more likely to buy if your employees are courteous, helpful and attentive. Make them feel as though they are the most important person in the world.

Ease of Buying: Do you make it easy for customers to buy from you? For instance, is your ordering process user-friendly? If you have a storefront or office, is parking convenient and accessible? When someone calls your business, do they have to go through a maze of prompts before they reach a live person? All of the above will either entice or deter a potential customer from buying your product or service. 

Honesty and Integrity: This is very important to customers who may have had a bad experience with one of your competitors. To ensure "peace of mind", make it be known to your customers that you're BBB Accredited by using our logo in your advertising and marketing materials.

How to Help Customers Find You

Think about the last time you wanted to make a purchase that required some research, whether it was a new car, a new TV, some furniture, or a bike for your child. What was the very first thing you did? If you’re like most people, your answer can be summed up in one word: Google. When consumers are in the early stages of buying something, they are likely to turn to Google. So how can you use this to your advantage? Read on for some ways to make yourself more visible online and offline.

Online Commenting. This is a very effective way to drive traffic to your website. Write brief but meaningful comments on sites that are relevant to your business. You can also write reviews of books about your industry on sites like Amazon or Google Books. Participating in this type of online discourse will allow you to network with other likeminded people in your field, and eventually make your name more recognizable on the web. Furthermore, frequent commenting on well-chosen sites can increase the likelihood that people will find you on search engines like Google.

YouTube and Podcasts. These are valuable resources for you to use in your search for new customers. Do not dismiss YouTube as solely a website for young people watching viral videos. Many businesses are now using YouTube channels to post all kinds of videos such as tutorials, product demonstrations, and mini-advertisements. Include the link to your website so viewers know where to go for more information. The same goes for podcasts; for people on the go, they are a necessity. Consider using this medium to communicate with not only prospects, but current customers as well.

Smartphone apps. Apps are a must for any brick and mortar business. By registering for popular apps like FourSquare, Google Places, Yelp, and GoWalla, you can take advantage of the ever increasing use of smartphones by current and potential customers. Most of these apps are available for iPhones as well as Android and Blackberry phones. People use these apps not only to find the location of a business, but also to link to the business website and read reviews by other users.

Here are some more ways:

Signage on cars
Fun signage/banner/T-shirts for your clients to display
Testimonials
Online/printed Reviews
Follow up cards, emails and phone calls
Seasonal promotions for your community
Sponsor charities and causes in your community
Weekly workshops and/or presentations in community hubs
Partnering with other businesses
Referral exchange – where you refer business to them and they refer business to you.
Sporting/community event meet and greet
Offer online/offline contest and give-a-ways
Joining or starting organizations and clubs

Many of the methods listed above are low-cost ways to help customers find you. Make the most out of your online presence, but don’t forget to also make it easy for your local community to find you offline as well.

What have you done to help your customers find you?

Good Business Practices – Tips for Securing Customer Loyalty

As the saying goes in the world of marketing: “It’s more expensive to bring in new customers than it is to retain them!” Here are some tips for keeping your customers coming back for more:

Show Your Manners. Customers appreciate companies that thank them for their business, and it always helps to be courteous when you do. A personal note or small gift will also do wonders for maintain customer loyalty.

Listen! Businesses may think they listen to what their customers want, but quite often they don’t. How many times have you tried selling something because it’s a larger sale instead of what they actually need? In those instances, guess what? The customer will take their business elsewhere- to your competitor down the street.

Stay in Touch. Make it a point to contact your customers regularly by offering coupons, discounts, and other notifications (your least costly form of communication is by email). Remember, however, not to inundate your customers’ inbox's because the opposite of what you want will happen- they’ll eventually stop reading altogether everything you send them.

Train Your Staff About the Importance of Customer Service.Empower your employees with the ability to make decisions regarding customer service, particularly when management is not around. Set guidelines for what staff can and cannot do that will “wow” the customer- but also won’t break the bank.

Always Add Value. Offer extras your competitor isn't, be it additional training time, a free estimate, a discount on another purchase or a promotional item. What customer wouldn't want to come back if freebies are offered!

Following these few practices should create great relationships between you and your customers.

What Motivates a Customer to Buy?

For more tips, please visit, http://www.bbb.org/us/.

Small Business Tip: Increase Sales Without Spending a Lot of Money

Increasing your sales doesn't always have to mean spending money. Take a look at what is already working for you, and find ways to build on those successful elements. The Direct Selling Education Foundation, a BBB National Partner, recommends the follow ways to increase sales without increasing your spending:

Identify top customers and offer them more. You likely have loyal customers who spend more on a regular basis than others. Identify those people and offer them more than they already get. For example, start a VIP program where top customers receive special promotions, incentives, or exclusive access to new products and services. When your top customers know how much they are appreciated, they will not only embrace that “VIP” role by patronizing your business more often, but they will want to share their positive experience with their families and friends. Superior customer service can have far-reaching effects on your overall business.

Customize your sales pitch for each client. Each client is an individual and should be treated as such. Don’t go with a generic sales pitch that every single client hears. Do some research about each person, and incorporate something personal about him or her into your pitch, especially if it’s something you share (an interest in sports, a community activity). When you can relate to clients on a personal level, they will be assured that you have their best interests in mind.

Increase goals for referrals and sales will increase. Bump up your goals for getting referrals. It doesn’t have to be a large jump, but setting the bar higher will motivate you to work harder and acquire more. Instead of shooting for 5 a week, increase your goal to 7 or 8. Make the time in your schedule to meet this new goal, and you’ll find your sales increasing steadily over time. Each time you find that you are meeting the goal on a consistent basis, consider raising it again. Your business should never run in a straight line, but should always be heading in an upward direction to maintain growth and success.

Interact personally with customers more frequently. This may come easier in a retail business, but no matter what type of business you run, make the effort to interact with customers on a personal level as often as possible. Learn their names and one or two facts about them. People love going into a place where they feel like more than just a number. One customer of a local deli states that the moment she realized she would never take her business elsewhere was when the owner greeted her by name, asked how her daughters were, and offered her “the usual.” It’s a comforting feeling for a customer and will go a long way to acquiring loyalty and appreciation.

Find ways to improve upon what works for you, break out of your comfort zone, and always look to set the bar higher for yourself and your business.