Advertisers seem to present products as ideal for everybody. Customer intimate retailers build trust with realistic promises about products for specific conditions.
Prevent disappointment by defining quality according to effects in local conditions because similar products vary in skill requirements & results.
Example: ‘You need (result) because winter is near. (Product A) can __ if you use it before frost hits. (Product B) can temporarily__ if used in cold weather. Come in now & we’ll make the best recommendations by comparing your needs with product benefits & limitations.’
Expectations are based on paradigms. Paradigms define people’s criteria. General criteria can be maintaining or upgrading comfort & preventing disruptions.
Define specific criteria based on people’s experiences. Examples: ‘Does comfort mean firm support or floating on a cloud?’ ‘What kind of disruptions do you expect?’
Manage expectations & experiences by balancing between the minimum people accept & best they can afford.
Example: What can people do to maintain or upgrade favorite experiences? How much disruption will people accept? Ask about budgets, evaluation criteria & current conditions, so you can recommend options to prevent or mitigate disruptions & maximize positive changes. You might suggest adjusting expectations. ‘If you can’t avoid (problem), you can use (product A) to reduce it. If you can’t afford (product A), you can use (product B) to __.’
When you know how people evaluate experiences & what they expect, form checklists of what’s important. After that, use scales to prioritize what will maintain, adjust or create desired experiences. You can ask, ‘When you have a choice between (experience A) & (experience B), how important is __? (1 least important to 10 most important)’
After asking about people’s knowledge & skills, recommend products, services & information for creating what they want. Increase options by improving people’s knowledge & skills with recommended tutorials.
People don’t always know how product quality affects experiences, so offer information based on people’s goals.
Example: ‘Achieving goals depends on product quality & activities, so we’ll help you plan tasks & choose products to maintain or increase your progress.’
Use Testimonials To Plan Experiences.
When people report good results, ask for details about products & methods, so you can advise others who want similar results. When you have permission to use testimonials, you can use those descriptions during consultations & ask, ‘Is this what you expect?’
Descriptive testimonials can help others avoid disappointments by finding experiences compatible with their lives.
When people are frustrated, ask for details of their progress, goals & criteria, so you can recommend products & methods.
Example: ‘Based on your goal & what you’ve achieved so far, it seems you need __.’
Create options by learning about several customers’ similar experiences. After customers choose options, help them replicate what satisfied others. If they go off track, use their criteria to guide them back. Use their criteria to form a system, so they can review changing conditions to determine whether to adjust goals &/or methods.
They also might want to adjust when new products are available.
Find New Options
If something isn’t ideal anymore, what are people’s second choice options? Help them adjust by resetting financial & time budgets, including what they need for learning skills to achieve & maintain results.
When new technology is available, help people determine whether to adopt new options or stay with what fulfills current needs.
Help customers determine if new options fit current goals & conditions or if new goals might be better. If preferences change, advise them if new options might interfere with progress.
Act While Risks Are Small.
When problems start small, people might believe there aren’t serious risks.
When you have credibility from product & local knowledge, your warnings seem credible. People may disregard harsh facts, so persuade them (without excessive alarm) to take action while a risk is small.
Help people determine what to realistically expect. Identify symptoms & offer products with instructions.
People like quick fixes, so let people know if multiple step plans are necessary, plus how long symptoms & remedies might last.
Offer details about tasks before purchases, so people can determine if they’re ready. If they aren’t ready, ask which resources they need.
You can build credibility with knowledge & realistic promises even if you don't have every resource customers need. If you need to refer customers to other stores for some resources, work with those retailers to develop plans & solutions.
Credibility can attract shoppers who need assurances about product quality & whether products are compatible with projects.
Since you sell products, your recommendations could be interpreted as opinions, so refer people to objective information sources. After people accept objective information, show how that information applies to your offers. With applicable information, your offers could be their best options in local conditions.
While discussing consumers' concerns & desired results, search for products & information they can optimally use. That effort can increase trust more than general advice.
Coordinate Resources & Reduce Risks
As a resource coordinator, you can attract buyers who need methods for choosing & using products.
Products aren’t enough until people can fill gaps between current & desired conditions, so promote your ability to offer total solutions.
If people don’t fill gaps, they might risk missing something. They’ll feel exposed to risks & expect things to go wrong.
When people are unsure about results, they’re unsure about buying. Gather information about current & desired conditions plus ways to close their gaps. Provide the steps so nothing is left to chance.
People might hesitate until they know how to evaluate options & decide what to buy. Give them freedom to act by providing information. People might stay in an endless loop of old experiences until somebody removes the risk of new experiences.
Risk reversal (refunds & exchanges) can be used after decisions, but people want to avoid bad decisions. By offering guidance, you & your customers can avoid refund & exchange hassles.
Explore Consumers’ Desired Experiences
Customer intimate retailers can specialize in helping people trade up for superior experiences.
People probably trade down with commodities for minor experience elements & trade up to high quality for the best elements. Their best elements define the overall experience quality.
Compare your current & potential inventory with competitors’ offers based on consumers’ desired experiences, not just prices.
Guide people's choices with questions to fulfill the quality they expect.
While talking to consumers, explore these issues:
What did buyers expect & actually experience? Were their expectations based on advice, observations or product instructions?
On a 10-point scale, how frustrated or satisfied were they? If major improvements are possible, can they afford those?
If a 10 doesn’t seem possible or practical, which level is possible & practical? If a 10 requires incremental improvements, can they afford the resources & learn skills?
What are they willing to do to remake, improve & maintain experiences?
If short-cuts are possible, do they think the quality will be too low?
They can decrease or eliminate minor elements to have more time & money for important elements. Which elements do they want to increase, decrease, eliminate or add?
How often can they afford their experiences? Do they own necessary products or do they have to buy or rent some things?
If they want a peak experience, how long should it last?
Do they want similar or different peak experiences?
Do they want something similar or different than the most popular experiences? Do they search for the next big thing?
Are they open to suggestions? Which options would make their experiences better? If they want to adjust experiences, which options might change things too much?
Do you have processes for gathering experience descriptions so you can introduce possibilities? You can gather descriptions by asking customers & checking the internet for consumers’ reviews.
Descriptions can help people find experiences compatible with their lifestyles, so they prevent dissatisfaction.
What Makes Experiences Valuable?
Beat competitors by helping people create experiences instead of just pushing products.
Though the primary value of experiences is immediate enjoyment, memories are valuable long-term benefits.
Some experiences are created by combining multiple elements, so help people choose & create the best elements to make their experiences special.
Help people determine how to create experiences with criteria for choosing elements possibly based on previous experiences &/or observations. People want the same or better experiences they see in pictures & videos, so ask them bring those.
Even when people enjoy experiences, they may want variety. Some might want more challenges.
You might offer a more physically assessable version, so people can do a version of an activity despite handicaps.
If there are popular experiences you can’t accommodate, divide experiences into elements. You might accommodate or create enough elements for satisfying experiences. Do people enjoy fast speeds, competition, social contact, being outside & easy-to-use equipment?
Some, who enjoy those elements, can’t afford or don’t know to implement full experiences. Help people adjust what they can control, so they can create a satisfying adaptation.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Increase Customers’ Positive Experiences
Instead of just advertising products, also offer insights to specifically increase people’s satisfaction & decrease frustration.
Satisfactory lives are built on organized positive experiences. People can be more satisfied when you show them processes to produce desired results.
Reduce people's frustration by helping them with specific products & methods they need for gaining control. Example: ‘Winter Storms Are Almost Here! You’ll be less frustrated when your home is prepared. Even novices can learn maintenance tasks. Instead of wondering if you’re ready, use our checklist to determine what you need. We’ll check our information & product inventory. We’ll review your needs & develop methods.’
Review your inventory to find products to help people produce positive experiences & prepare for negative experiences.
Form offers by combining experience specific products & tasks based on local conditions & product instructions.
Example: ‘Since your total satisfaction depends on using products & tasks, we offer what you need to __ including advice. We study local needs & focus on product quality, instructions & specifications, so products fit your needs.’
Each role (personal, social, professional, family, etc.) of people’s lives includes tasks. You should have specialized offers for people’s roles.
Example: ‘Since it’s time to prepare for __, you’ll need __. Home owners use top quality products to thoroughly fix & prevent problems. Other people try to fix & prevent problems without advice & they buy low quality products from discount stores. People often don’t realize they can have better options to improve results. Quality results depend on methods for using products. We recommend methods & products for results you need. Since results depend on product quality & details of your methods, tell us what you want to change. We can study your conditions, check product options & develop planned tasks for results you need.’
Problems seem to pile up & negative experiences can be overwhelming & stressful enough to undermine health.
Urge people to manage experiences to reduce problems, so they’ll have time & energy for pleasure. Since often people are more concerned about losing than gaining, help people manage experiences. Offer information for preventing & diagnosing problems. Offer solutions, plus products & information to prevent problem reoccurrence.
Specify product benefits in contexts of experiences. Example: ‘After you use (product) to seal your deck, the wood will be resilient. When your deck is ready for any weather, you can focus on other tasks, plus enjoy grilling, games & other activities. (Product) is ideal for (conditions) because __.’
You can use this concept to promote kits for individuals to produce benefits & prevent problems. This approach makes your offers better than stores just selling for money. Those stores are like doctors habitually pushing pills based on average patients without listening to individuals.
People may think they have no alternatives for retailers pushing products without any concern about improving people’s lives.
Refund policies don’t show much concern because refunds don’t improve lives.
Though it’s important to emphasize risk reversal like exchange & refund policies, also emphasize your commitment to satisfaction by discussing customers’ needs.
Example: ‘Some retailers think they satisfy customers with exchanges & refunds. It’s frustrating to go back to stores for exchanges & refunds. We help you avoid those frustrations by asking about your expectations. We know satisfaction happens when you get great results, so we ask about your goals & assemble what you what you need.’
Integrate Your Store with Customers’ Lives
When you know precisely what satisfies customers, you can avoid advertising clutter & competing only based on prices.
People expect results from what Clayton M. Christensen calls jobs-to-be-done.
You can integrate your store with customers’ lives by integrating your inventory & customer service with their jobs-to-be-done. You can integrate by connecting necessary products & services, so there are no physical or information gaps to interfere with completing jobs-to-be-done.
People might need product combinations for jobs-to-be-done requiring expertise including knowledge for diagnosing conditions.
As a customer intimate retailer, differentiate your store by coordinating products & instructions based on expected results. Plan steps by determining which methods create the best value from products.
You build credibility by showing how your offers complete jobs-to-be-done.
You can offer products & methods for decreasing or removing problems especially if there are common causes.
Example: Rotting walls & health problems can start from mold & excessive humidity. When you help remove causes (mold spores & excessive humidity), people can mitigate negative experiences. By mitigating negative experiences, you offer freedom to produce & enjoy positive experiences.
Example: ‘As soon as you notice (symptoms list), come in to get __. We’ll discuss your needs, so you’ll prevent (problem) & you’ll be free to enjoy __.’
Selling Products Isn't The Same As Solving Problems.
Discount retailers might gladly load up a customer with air purifiers, though totally eliminating mold spores is unlikely. Air purifiers remove some spores, but humidity is easier to detect & reduce. Customer intimate retailers would consult with consumers about eliminating visible mold & controlling causes.
Since you have inventory limits, form a team of customer intimate retailers & refer customers to each other for products, plans & methods.
Based on inventory & expertise, customer intimate team retailers can contribute to a basic plan like this: Control humidity. Seal out & reduce humidity with caulking & dehumidifiers. Mitigate problems like controlling spores with air purifiers & removing mold with various products. Repair damage.
Teams should work on solutions & have an agreement, so customer referrals will be smooth & customers will get the quality they deserve.
Make negative experiences easier to endure &/or less frequent. Example: Since cleaning is necessary, develop plans for using air purifiers & vacuum cleaners to reduce dust build up. Suggest which filters to use & where to place air purifiers to catch dust.
Make Positive Experiences Better & More Frequent.
When enjoyment depends on increasing skills, promote necessary products & skills. Help customers plan & prioritize learning steps, so they can maximize experiences with little frustration.
Learn how people describe their enjoyment, so you’ll understand people’s desires & how to offer higher benefit levels in ways people understand.
You can ask for testimonials when you provide what’s needed. If you haven’t been involved in their experiences, ask about what they used; how they prepared; what made it better than previous experiences; what could’ve made it better; what they plan to do next.
When you have that information, you can make superior offers & help people increase enjoyment & have better lives. Since complete kits are superior offers if people want the benefits, describe offers as improvements.
Offers are higher priorities when you describe results & experiences people want. Results & experiences can be more than physical.
Example: Replacing worn linoleum has visual & safety benefits. People won’t fret about tripping. People feel relief when tasks are finished because they can focus on other matters.
Value is judged based on consumers’ goals, so describe full product/service results people want to achieve.
Some consumers settle for cheap products because they want temporary results.
Some people want shortcuts, but others think shortcuts are risky or at least have shoddy results. If you offer easier or quicker results, define what easier or quicker means.
People may feel unsure or even intimidated if they don’t know how to evaluate options. You can suggest product evaluation criteria based on conditions.
Example: Long-term results can be possible with good warranties & if product repairs are practical. When competitors’ products are too flimsy to repair, compare dependability. Will products produce consistent long-term results? If there’s no warranty, will repaired products be worth their prices plus repair costs?
Warranties vary so specify the benefits & terms. Benefits of warranties can be: 1) repairs are covered; 2) shops are often already chosen (the search is done); 3) possibly no need to shop for replacements (for people who don’t like to shop); 4) repaired products could produce results for longer times.
Offer Better Shopping Experiences
For people who want dependable answers & results, discount stores can be frustrating. It’s hard to find help plus cheap products might not work well long-term. Do people want to repeat that ordeal?
You can make meaningful offers when you accurately describe people’s needs & how product results fulfill their needs.
Discount stores reduce intimidation with low prices & easy returns policies, so people have low financial risk. Easy product returns don’t solve problems (reasons people buy products).
Intimidated people are apt to avoid purchases instead of approaching stores. Information can reduce intimidation.
People can be assured by descriptions of other people’s results in similar conditions. You also can reassure others by describing the results people should expect & how results are produced.
Aspiration goals can be short- or long-term depending how quickly people find & learn to use resources. You can establish your store’s value by packaging products & implementation information for maximum results from products.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Satisfactory lives are built on organized positive experiences. People can be more satisfied when you show them processes to produce desired results.
Reduce people's frustration by helping them with specific products & methods they need for gaining control. Example: ‘Winter Storms Are Almost Here! You’ll be less frustrated when your home is prepared. Even novices can learn maintenance tasks. Instead of wondering if you’re ready, use our checklist to determine what you need. We’ll check our information & product inventory. We’ll review your needs & develop methods.’
Review your inventory to find products to help people produce positive experiences & prepare for negative experiences.
Form offers by combining experience specific products & tasks based on local conditions & product instructions.
Example: ‘Since your total satisfaction depends on using products & tasks, we offer what you need to __ including advice. We study local needs & focus on product quality, instructions & specifications, so products fit your needs.’
Each role (personal, social, professional, family, etc.) of people’s lives includes tasks. You should have specialized offers for people’s roles.
Example: ‘Since it’s time to prepare for __, you’ll need __. Home owners use top quality products to thoroughly fix & prevent problems. Other people try to fix & prevent problems without advice & they buy low quality products from discount stores. People often don’t realize they can have better options to improve results. Quality results depend on methods for using products. We recommend methods & products for results you need. Since results depend on product quality & details of your methods, tell us what you want to change. We can study your conditions, check product options & develop planned tasks for results you need.’
Problems seem to pile up & negative experiences can be overwhelming & stressful enough to undermine health.
Urge people to manage experiences to reduce problems, so they’ll have time & energy for pleasure. Since often people are more concerned about losing than gaining, help people manage experiences. Offer information for preventing & diagnosing problems. Offer solutions, plus products & information to prevent problem reoccurrence.
Specify product benefits in contexts of experiences. Example: ‘After you use (product) to seal your deck, the wood will be resilient. When your deck is ready for any weather, you can focus on other tasks, plus enjoy grilling, games & other activities. (Product) is ideal for (conditions) because __.’
You can use this concept to promote kits for individuals to produce benefits & prevent problems. This approach makes your offers better than stores just selling for money. Those stores are like doctors habitually pushing pills based on average patients without listening to individuals.
People may think they have no alternatives for retailers pushing products without any concern about improving people’s lives.
Refund policies don’t show much concern because refunds don’t improve lives.
Though it’s important to emphasize risk reversal like exchange & refund policies, also emphasize your commitment to satisfaction by discussing customers’ needs.
Example: ‘Some retailers think they satisfy customers with exchanges & refunds. It’s frustrating to go back to stores for exchanges & refunds. We help you avoid those frustrations by asking about your expectations. We know satisfaction happens when you get great results, so we ask about your goals & assemble what you what you need.’
Integrate Your Store with Customers’ Lives
When you know precisely what satisfies customers, you can avoid advertising clutter & competing only based on prices.
People expect results from what Clayton M. Christensen calls jobs-to-be-done.
You can integrate your store with customers’ lives by integrating your inventory & customer service with their jobs-to-be-done. You can integrate by connecting necessary products & services, so there are no physical or information gaps to interfere with completing jobs-to-be-done.
People might need product combinations for jobs-to-be-done requiring expertise including knowledge for diagnosing conditions.
As a customer intimate retailer, differentiate your store by coordinating products & instructions based on expected results. Plan steps by determining which methods create the best value from products.
You build credibility by showing how your offers complete jobs-to-be-done.
You can offer products & methods for decreasing or removing problems especially if there are common causes.
Example: Rotting walls & health problems can start from mold & excessive humidity. When you help remove causes (mold spores & excessive humidity), people can mitigate negative experiences. By mitigating negative experiences, you offer freedom to produce & enjoy positive experiences.
Example: ‘As soon as you notice (symptoms list), come in to get __. We’ll discuss your needs, so you’ll prevent (problem) & you’ll be free to enjoy __.’
Selling Products Isn't The Same As Solving Problems.
Discount retailers might gladly load up a customer with air purifiers, though totally eliminating mold spores is unlikely. Air purifiers remove some spores, but humidity is easier to detect & reduce. Customer intimate retailers would consult with consumers about eliminating visible mold & controlling causes.
Since you have inventory limits, form a team of customer intimate retailers & refer customers to each other for products, plans & methods.
Based on inventory & expertise, customer intimate team retailers can contribute to a basic plan like this: Control humidity. Seal out & reduce humidity with caulking & dehumidifiers. Mitigate problems like controlling spores with air purifiers & removing mold with various products. Repair damage.
Teams should work on solutions & have an agreement, so customer referrals will be smooth & customers will get the quality they deserve.
Make negative experiences easier to endure &/or less frequent. Example: Since cleaning is necessary, develop plans for using air purifiers & vacuum cleaners to reduce dust build up. Suggest which filters to use & where to place air purifiers to catch dust.
Make Positive Experiences Better & More Frequent.
When enjoyment depends on increasing skills, promote necessary products & skills. Help customers plan & prioritize learning steps, so they can maximize experiences with little frustration.
Learn how people describe their enjoyment, so you’ll understand people’s desires & how to offer higher benefit levels in ways people understand.
You can ask for testimonials when you provide what’s needed. If you haven’t been involved in their experiences, ask about what they used; how they prepared; what made it better than previous experiences; what could’ve made it better; what they plan to do next.
When you have that information, you can make superior offers & help people increase enjoyment & have better lives. Since complete kits are superior offers if people want the benefits, describe offers as improvements.
Offers are higher priorities when you describe results & experiences people want. Results & experiences can be more than physical.
Example: Replacing worn linoleum has visual & safety benefits. People won’t fret about tripping. People feel relief when tasks are finished because they can focus on other matters.
Value is judged based on consumers’ goals, so describe full product/service results people want to achieve.
Some consumers settle for cheap products because they want temporary results.
Some people want shortcuts, but others think shortcuts are risky or at least have shoddy results. If you offer easier or quicker results, define what easier or quicker means.
People may feel unsure or even intimidated if they don’t know how to evaluate options. You can suggest product evaluation criteria based on conditions.
Example: Long-term results can be possible with good warranties & if product repairs are practical. When competitors’ products are too flimsy to repair, compare dependability. Will products produce consistent long-term results? If there’s no warranty, will repaired products be worth their prices plus repair costs?
Warranties vary so specify the benefits & terms. Benefits of warranties can be: 1) repairs are covered; 2) shops are often already chosen (the search is done); 3) possibly no need to shop for replacements (for people who don’t like to shop); 4) repaired products could produce results for longer times.
Offer Better Shopping Experiences
For people who want dependable answers & results, discount stores can be frustrating. It’s hard to find help plus cheap products might not work well long-term. Do people want to repeat that ordeal?
You can make meaningful offers when you accurately describe people’s needs & how product results fulfill their needs.
Discount stores reduce intimidation with low prices & easy returns policies, so people have low financial risk. Easy product returns don’t solve problems (reasons people buy products).
Intimidated people are apt to avoid purchases instead of approaching stores. Information can reduce intimidation.
People can be assured by descriptions of other people’s results in similar conditions. You also can reassure others by describing the results people should expect & how results are produced.
Aspiration goals can be short- or long-term depending how quickly people find & learn to use resources. You can establish your store’s value by packaging products & implementation information for maximum results from products.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Your Brand Is A Result Of Your Customer Service Commitment
Business owners should be loyal to customers instead of describing customers as fickle or disloyal.
Loyalty requires a commitment. Business commitments require policies, plans & procedures. In my articles, I emphasize various practices to include in policies, plans & procedures.
You can use my suggestions to express your commitment to superior customer service.
Make your commitment the foundation of your brand. Your brand is an impression you make in people’s lives. If you don’t make an impression, you’ll be forgotten. Each impression is a positive difference you make in people’s lives.
You can make superior offers by learning about the maximum & minimum experiences people want.
Determine which experiences you can consistently produce to match people’s expectations, so you can choose products, services & information. Describe how your commitment assures valuable experiences & long-term results.
Superior offers can overcome competitors who want quick profits & don’t commit to long-term results.
Though people look for low prices, satisfaction from cheap products doesn’t last long. You can explain how your offers provide long-term value.
Each offer should include your commitment to guide customers in choosing & using products for ideal experiences.
Customer Intimate retailers show their commitments to customers with high service levels. Many retailers have shallow commitments of just selling products without any concerns about customers' results.
Quality of customers’ experiences is affected by products & information you recommend.
People often invest in high quality when they give gifts. Urge customers to care that much when they buy for themselves. Example: ‘When you give gifts, you care enough to give the best. You deserve to give yourself the best. We’re committed to ask you questions & use our knowledge, so you experience the best quality.’
With that commitment, you can make superior offers & attract people who recognize the value of full-service retail.
Explain How To Get Full Benefits
Though it’s obvious about people buying benefits, people don’t always know what’s required to get full benefits from products.
Even when desires are strong, people might resist if they’re unsure about expenses or if they don’t have enough information.
Your information packets can answer questions. Examples: Describe incompatible factors (house plants & pets); how much time & money is required; which skills & tools are necessary for tasks.
Without advice, people might not know if they can afford to start projects.
Explain what people need to start projects & maintain results. After people buy products, it’s too late to determine they aren’t ready for a commitment.
You can offer expertise to help people prepare. Example: ‘Big retailers are committed to selling products. We’re committed to you & your results, so we offer information with products.’
Information can include frequently asked questions & ways to avoid common mistakes. Assure people even if they start to make uncommon mistakes, they should ask for help. You can explain how to discern differences between changes in conditions & mistakes, so people make the right adjustments.
Explain what’s necessary or optional. When things change, you can explain if optional tasks have become necessary.
Differentiate Yourself by Caring
Customer Intimacy implies concern about customers’ priorities. You need to know what's important since priorities affect how people perceive problems & choose solutions & stores.
You can differentiate yourself from indifferent retailers that only care about profits.
Differentiate yourself by caring enough to guide customers to choose & use products for superior results. Example: ‘We know about life in (city), so we stock products to help you protect your home. We’ll help you choose products or even plan projects to prepare your home for summer storms.’
Your advertising should show you understand consumers’ conditions & how products & services fulfill needs. Example: ‘As humidity increases, you’ll notice symptoms like __. (Product) reduces humidity instead of just fighting symptoms. Since (product) stops the problem & ends symptoms, you’ll be more comfortable & healthy.’
Product effectiveness is judged based on satisfying expectations. Some people need help to make products fully effective, so you should know how to make products effective in local conditions.
People might prioritize low prices because they think any product in a category is good enough. Cheap products might partially fulfill expectations.
You can differentiate your store by consulting with customers to find fully effective products & methods. Compare how product quality & other details affect results.
Since people don’t have specialized product knowledge, connect product benefits with people's needs. Example: ‘As soon as you notice __, apply (product) then relax because (product) will dissolve __. (Product) does the scrubbing for you.’
Though your ads should emphasize product facts & superior results more than prices, include prices so people will be prepared to pay when they visit your store.
People will invest to get long-term satisfaction from superior product quality & customer service. Your offers should describe the quality they need & justify the value of your prices.
Here’s a good policy: It’s better to explain the value of high quality instead of apologizing for frustrating people with bad results.
Trust Is A Major Criterion.
It’s hard for people to trust when some businesses try to sell anything for quick profits.
Build trust by caring enough to guide people about product advantages & disadvantages. Show concern by recommending products based on people’s conditions. People want specific benefits, so explain how products produce benefits & if anything would interfere with those benefits.
Big retailers have been faulted for stocking inadequate or hazardous products. Example: Even if chemicals solve short-term problems, people are concerned about long-term negative effects.
In some cases, you should explain why you reject products.
Being Comfortable With Products Is Another Benefit.
If people are overwhelmed by options, summarize positive & negative details, then ask about people's comfort levels. After eliminating what’s uncomfortable, explore what makes some options comfortable. You can offer: ‘We’ll help you find products & methods to fit your conditions & concerns.’
Advise people based on their reasons for comfort & discomfort. People might buy if they think they don't have other options. If people buy despite discomfort, they might use too little to get any benefits & still get negative effects.
You can get a basic understanding of people’s concerns from advice blogs, product reviews & consumers' ratings on the internet. With a basic understanding, you can ask customers deeper questions about concerns & situational problems, so you can recommend products & methods. Example: If they need to reduce mold, help them identify the mold & use the best product.
Specialize In Customers’ Priorities & Expectations
People need details about causes & effects to prevent & solve problems.
Though big retailers have processes for selling many product categories, customers also need methods for using products. You can develop processes for selling product & information combinations for implementing tasks & projects.
You can build your expertise by focusing your inventory on specific needs & demonstrating how products fulfill needs.
One way big retailers attract customers is offering products for many aspects of people’s lives. Small retailers can focus on specific priorities.
It’s important to realize people's priorities & desires are connected & can be conflicting. Example: People value animals & gardens. Some products can protect vegetable plants without harming wild life & pets.
People’s personal logic can make experiences negative because their desires are conflicting. Your offers could make negative experiences easier to tolerate, so people can maximize what they enjoy.
Example: People have bird feeders to attract birds. Squirrels also like seeds & sometimes break feeders. Products can keep squirrels away without harming them.
Encourage Consumers to Expect Better
Ask manufacturers for competitive comparisons.
Discount stores can offer limited results from cheap products, but some consumers have higher expectations. Encourage consumers to check ratings web sites. People should be warned about cheap products breaking or wearing out quickly.
People might expect too much from good products, so you need product knowledge to help people achieve goals. Offer advice to guide customers’ expectations. Example: ‘Since I want customers to get what they need without expecting too much, I ask about plans. Let’s compare results you need with product capabilities, so you’ll be safe & won’t be disappointed.’
To compete with discount stores, fulfill higher expectations by recommending other products &/or methods people need.
You can help some people overcome disabilities by boosting their abilities. As people age, they want to do the same activities. Help people adapt to changing external conditions & personal needs by working around limitations even if people do similar things more slowly &/or less often.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here- https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Loyalty requires a commitment. Business commitments require policies, plans & procedures. In my articles, I emphasize various practices to include in policies, plans & procedures.
You can use my suggestions to express your commitment to superior customer service.
Make your commitment the foundation of your brand. Your brand is an impression you make in people’s lives. If you don’t make an impression, you’ll be forgotten. Each impression is a positive difference you make in people’s lives.
You can make superior offers by learning about the maximum & minimum experiences people want.
Determine which experiences you can consistently produce to match people’s expectations, so you can choose products, services & information. Describe how your commitment assures valuable experiences & long-term results.
Superior offers can overcome competitors who want quick profits & don’t commit to long-term results.
Though people look for low prices, satisfaction from cheap products doesn’t last long. You can explain how your offers provide long-term value.
Each offer should include your commitment to guide customers in choosing & using products for ideal experiences.
Customer Intimate retailers show their commitments to customers with high service levels. Many retailers have shallow commitments of just selling products without any concerns about customers' results.
Quality of customers’ experiences is affected by products & information you recommend.
People often invest in high quality when they give gifts. Urge customers to care that much when they buy for themselves. Example: ‘When you give gifts, you care enough to give the best. You deserve to give yourself the best. We’re committed to ask you questions & use our knowledge, so you experience the best quality.’
With that commitment, you can make superior offers & attract people who recognize the value of full-service retail.
Explain How To Get Full Benefits
Though it’s obvious about people buying benefits, people don’t always know what’s required to get full benefits from products.
Even when desires are strong, people might resist if they’re unsure about expenses or if they don’t have enough information.
Your information packets can answer questions. Examples: Describe incompatible factors (house plants & pets); how much time & money is required; which skills & tools are necessary for tasks.
Without advice, people might not know if they can afford to start projects.
Explain what people need to start projects & maintain results. After people buy products, it’s too late to determine they aren’t ready for a commitment.
You can offer expertise to help people prepare. Example: ‘Big retailers are committed to selling products. We’re committed to you & your results, so we offer information with products.’
Information can include frequently asked questions & ways to avoid common mistakes. Assure people even if they start to make uncommon mistakes, they should ask for help. You can explain how to discern differences between changes in conditions & mistakes, so people make the right adjustments.
Explain what’s necessary or optional. When things change, you can explain if optional tasks have become necessary.
Differentiate Yourself by Caring
Customer Intimacy implies concern about customers’ priorities. You need to know what's important since priorities affect how people perceive problems & choose solutions & stores.
You can differentiate yourself from indifferent retailers that only care about profits.
Differentiate yourself by caring enough to guide customers to choose & use products for superior results. Example: ‘We know about life in (city), so we stock products to help you protect your home. We’ll help you choose products or even plan projects to prepare your home for summer storms.’
Your advertising should show you understand consumers’ conditions & how products & services fulfill needs. Example: ‘As humidity increases, you’ll notice symptoms like __. (Product) reduces humidity instead of just fighting symptoms. Since (product) stops the problem & ends symptoms, you’ll be more comfortable & healthy.’
Product effectiveness is judged based on satisfying expectations. Some people need help to make products fully effective, so you should know how to make products effective in local conditions.
People might prioritize low prices because they think any product in a category is good enough. Cheap products might partially fulfill expectations.
You can differentiate your store by consulting with customers to find fully effective products & methods. Compare how product quality & other details affect results.
Since people don’t have specialized product knowledge, connect product benefits with people's needs. Example: ‘As soon as you notice __, apply (product) then relax because (product) will dissolve __. (Product) does the scrubbing for you.’
Though your ads should emphasize product facts & superior results more than prices, include prices so people will be prepared to pay when they visit your store.
People will invest to get long-term satisfaction from superior product quality & customer service. Your offers should describe the quality they need & justify the value of your prices.
Here’s a good policy: It’s better to explain the value of high quality instead of apologizing for frustrating people with bad results.
Trust Is A Major Criterion.
It’s hard for people to trust when some businesses try to sell anything for quick profits.
Build trust by caring enough to guide people about product advantages & disadvantages. Show concern by recommending products based on people’s conditions. People want specific benefits, so explain how products produce benefits & if anything would interfere with those benefits.
Big retailers have been faulted for stocking inadequate or hazardous products. Example: Even if chemicals solve short-term problems, people are concerned about long-term negative effects.
In some cases, you should explain why you reject products.
Being Comfortable With Products Is Another Benefit.
If people are overwhelmed by options, summarize positive & negative details, then ask about people's comfort levels. After eliminating what’s uncomfortable, explore what makes some options comfortable. You can offer: ‘We’ll help you find products & methods to fit your conditions & concerns.’
Advise people based on their reasons for comfort & discomfort. People might buy if they think they don't have other options. If people buy despite discomfort, they might use too little to get any benefits & still get negative effects.
You can get a basic understanding of people’s concerns from advice blogs, product reviews & consumers' ratings on the internet. With a basic understanding, you can ask customers deeper questions about concerns & situational problems, so you can recommend products & methods. Example: If they need to reduce mold, help them identify the mold & use the best product.
Specialize In Customers’ Priorities & Expectations
People need details about causes & effects to prevent & solve problems.
Though big retailers have processes for selling many product categories, customers also need methods for using products. You can develop processes for selling product & information combinations for implementing tasks & projects.
You can build your expertise by focusing your inventory on specific needs & demonstrating how products fulfill needs.
One way big retailers attract customers is offering products for many aspects of people’s lives. Small retailers can focus on specific priorities.
It’s important to realize people's priorities & desires are connected & can be conflicting. Example: People value animals & gardens. Some products can protect vegetable plants without harming wild life & pets.
People’s personal logic can make experiences negative because their desires are conflicting. Your offers could make negative experiences easier to tolerate, so people can maximize what they enjoy.
Example: People have bird feeders to attract birds. Squirrels also like seeds & sometimes break feeders. Products can keep squirrels away without harming them.
Encourage Consumers to Expect Better
Ask manufacturers for competitive comparisons.
Discount stores can offer limited results from cheap products, but some consumers have higher expectations. Encourage consumers to check ratings web sites. People should be warned about cheap products breaking or wearing out quickly.
People might expect too much from good products, so you need product knowledge to help people achieve goals. Offer advice to guide customers’ expectations. Example: ‘Since I want customers to get what they need without expecting too much, I ask about plans. Let’s compare results you need with product capabilities, so you’ll be safe & won’t be disappointed.’
To compete with discount stores, fulfill higher expectations by recommending other products &/or methods people need.
You can help some people overcome disabilities by boosting their abilities. As people age, they want to do the same activities. Help people adapt to changing external conditions & personal needs by working around limitations even if people do similar things more slowly &/or less often.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here- https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Friday, August 23, 2019
Qualified To Improve Customers’ Lives an Experience at a Time
Promote products in contexts of experiences. Example: Bicycle seats can be designed for people who have back injuries.
If you promote a back support seat for a price, people won’t instantly think about experiencing enjoyable rides without back pain & good health from exercising. Your ads should get people immediately focused on benefits.
Jobs-to-be-done are purposes, experiences &/or tasks that create benefits. Jobs-to-be-done (exercises) can be combined with benefits (enjoyable rides).
Customer Intimate retailers know products are special for specific people because of important benefits. By learning about people & products, you can find products to fit experiences.
Urge people to invest in satisfying experiences when they trade up. Trading up to buy better tools can bring better results without injuries.
Experiences are apt to come from combining products & activity insights. Activity insights explain using products to increase benefits, work around limitations & reduce risks. Example: Ways to use tools without suffering repetitive motion injuries.
Customer satisfaction requires focusing on their details. Dedication to details shows people are important to you.
Some important details are: Do customers want new or repeated experiences? If they want repeated experiences, do they hope to improve results?
Experiences can be as satisfying as the best parts or as unpleasant as the worst parts. Compare customers’ previous experiences & expectations to decrease disappointments & increase satisfaction.
Disappointments are gaps between experiences & expectations. Some gaps can be from misunderstandings or quality problems. Which products & insights could you add to eliminate gaps?
Did customers misunderstand product specifications? Would better products realistically fulfill expectations?
As you help customers review projects, were they disappointed with product instructions or project plans? You might clarify things or adjust results.
As you do this with customers, you’ll gain insights for attracting your niche by improving your offers.
Help Customers Shape Experiences by Shaping Conditions.
Describe how you increase benefits & help people avoid problems.
Example: Using a boat & trailer should include easy transporting, launching & cleaning (removing invasive species).
In which conditions will people use a boat? What’s apt to stick to it?
Focus on making the hardest tasks easier with products &/or technique adjustments. Should people use specialized products for removing specific objects or general cleaning materials?
Customer Intimate retailers should accommodate people’s physical limitations with adapted products & instructions.
Product leaders might brag about the latest technology but neglect personal issues. You should show how products improve customers' lives by addressing personal issues.
Ask customers to express goals & related frustrations, so you can help with plans, materials & tools.
Example: ‘Many things can interfere with your home improvement goals. When you notice problems, bring questions & pictures, so we can keep your projects on track. Whether you need new or established products, we can make technology work for you, so products & methods aren’t confusing.’
Consulting with customers will put you on the front lines of making products fully effective & efficient. As you solve problems, you'll learn about customers’ issues & fine-tune your retail specialty.
When basic competitive offers are similar, you can improve offers by asking about consumers’ details. With details about conditions & people's techniques, you can increase benefits &/or decrease problems by adjusting what people do.
Example: If you & competitors sell similar plants, satisfy customers with better insights about using plant subspecies or planting at different times in different places.
Believable, Meaningful Promises
People are often disappointed by big claims, so sometimes they only believe small improvements. Improvements just have to be significant enough to solve &/or prevent problems.
You’ll learn what customers need & believe by tracking responses to ads & communicating in your store.
Combine benefit promises & explanations about how experiences are improved.
Example: ‘(Product) lets you adjust humidity & heat to achieve your desired comfort. (Product) adds the moisturizing warmth you need on dry, cold winter days. Instead of paying more for a separate heater & humidifier, invest in (product). This one unit requires less space & electricity. You can put it where you need quick, concentrated comfort. Now you don’t have to wait while other products spread humidity & heat in each room.’
Since preferences vary, each improvement can add to your superior options & people can choose the best experiences.
Example: Determine from start to finish what makes boating safe & pleasant. What can you offer to make steps safer or more pleasant? How can you make necessary routines easier & improve results?
You can guide people to choose experiences with product & project checklists plus suggested safety & pleasure criteria. These criteria would include descriptions of important benefits.
Potential Offer: 'When you use these checklists to ensure your safety, it’ll be easier to focus on pleasure. It’ll be easier to plan your pleasure because these experience planners will guide you in choosing & using products.'
Ask about people’s possessions, plus current & desired results, so you can coordinate what they have with new products to avoid gaps.
Check if new technology is backward compatible, so people don’t rely on unsuccessful combinations.
Explain causes & how to avoid negative effects. ‘If you don’t have (product), (problem) can happen because __. Tell us what you expect; we’ll explain how to make it happen.’
Suggest criteria for determining if they already have full benefits or should upgrade. Compare benefits of new & previous versions. ‘If you expect (benefit), it’s time to upgrade.’
They might want to upgrade because they don’t have a complete benefit.
You can have methods to design complete benefits by comparing & contrasting product specifications with current & desired conditions. ‘I understand your current conditions are __ & your desired conditions should be __. Product A can fulfill your main expectation. Product B can fulfill your secondary expectations. Let’s consider __.’
People reject some products because they lack time to learn how to use products &/or for setting up projects. What would streamline project set up?
If product instructions cover multiple conditions, you can help people focus on what fits their needs.
People buy multi-purpose products to save money & conserve space. Some multi-purpose products produce lower quality results than specialized products. Help people choose products by comparing needed results & product quality.
Be sure to offer benefits that justify people's personal & financial costs.
Example: Better quality products can produce faster, longer lasting results, so people can reduce some personal & financial costs by not needing to repeat some tasks.
Help people plan, so they can recognize if they’re prepared for conditions. If necessary, you can offer other resources or refer people to other businesses.
Improve Services with Processes
Customer Intimacy can be a matter of using details to create experiences.
Processes make it easier to produce predictable experiences. Processes can be verbal. Ask questions, present ideas & ask for feedback.
After you present products & ideas for customers' needs & desires, ask for details about how well their gaps would be filled. Specific answers can bring chances to explore opportunities.
Here are potential issues:
What interferes with achieving & maintaining positive conditions?
Ask about what people enjoy & present potential options to help them determine what would be comfortable.
Are people confused about conditions &/or potential changes?
People tend to feel more confident about controlling what’s familiar, so they may want similar experiences even if significant changes might bring benefits.
Explore people’s tolerance for risk. Some might feel a situation is risky, but it might feel tame to others.
You can offer different options, so people will be ready for contingencies. People can choose other options if changes don’t match their main plan & resources (including skills).
Here are question examples for starting a verbal process about social experiences.
Group Events: If customers like parties, which factors added enjoyment before? Do customers want more of these factors or do they want a different experience? How much help do they want with planning?
With the answers, you can recommend a product mix to enhance activities & suggest how to make activities fit event expectations.
Events for a few people: Factors/resources: Sunshine & a lawn can be combined with food & games to make a picnic. Would customers enjoy preparing food together? Do they want warm or cold food? Do they like physical activities or board games?
Each answer adds small details but also brings you closer to special experiences.
Here are examples for a verbal process about building projects.
Is the enjoyment based mostly in simple products or skillfully using complex products?
Does this desired experience require adapting current products or using new product versions?
How much time do they have to learn about products?
When people improve their experiences, they can enjoy their memories of experiences. Memories can be valuable because memories last longer than most experiences can. Ongoing experiences can be enhanced which enhances memories.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
If you promote a back support seat for a price, people won’t instantly think about experiencing enjoyable rides without back pain & good health from exercising. Your ads should get people immediately focused on benefits.
Jobs-to-be-done are purposes, experiences &/or tasks that create benefits. Jobs-to-be-done (exercises) can be combined with benefits (enjoyable rides).
Customer Intimate retailers know products are special for specific people because of important benefits. By learning about people & products, you can find products to fit experiences.
Urge people to invest in satisfying experiences when they trade up. Trading up to buy better tools can bring better results without injuries.
Experiences are apt to come from combining products & activity insights. Activity insights explain using products to increase benefits, work around limitations & reduce risks. Example: Ways to use tools without suffering repetitive motion injuries.
Customer satisfaction requires focusing on their details. Dedication to details shows people are important to you.
Some important details are: Do customers want new or repeated experiences? If they want repeated experiences, do they hope to improve results?
Experiences can be as satisfying as the best parts or as unpleasant as the worst parts. Compare customers’ previous experiences & expectations to decrease disappointments & increase satisfaction.
Disappointments are gaps between experiences & expectations. Some gaps can be from misunderstandings or quality problems. Which products & insights could you add to eliminate gaps?
Did customers misunderstand product specifications? Would better products realistically fulfill expectations?
As you help customers review projects, were they disappointed with product instructions or project plans? You might clarify things or adjust results.
As you do this with customers, you’ll gain insights for attracting your niche by improving your offers.
Help Customers Shape Experiences by Shaping Conditions.
Describe how you increase benefits & help people avoid problems.
Example: Using a boat & trailer should include easy transporting, launching & cleaning (removing invasive species).
In which conditions will people use a boat? What’s apt to stick to it?
Focus on making the hardest tasks easier with products &/or technique adjustments. Should people use specialized products for removing specific objects or general cleaning materials?
Customer Intimate retailers should accommodate people’s physical limitations with adapted products & instructions.
Product leaders might brag about the latest technology but neglect personal issues. You should show how products improve customers' lives by addressing personal issues.
Ask customers to express goals & related frustrations, so you can help with plans, materials & tools.
Example: ‘Many things can interfere with your home improvement goals. When you notice problems, bring questions & pictures, so we can keep your projects on track. Whether you need new or established products, we can make technology work for you, so products & methods aren’t confusing.’
Consulting with customers will put you on the front lines of making products fully effective & efficient. As you solve problems, you'll learn about customers’ issues & fine-tune your retail specialty.
When basic competitive offers are similar, you can improve offers by asking about consumers’ details. With details about conditions & people's techniques, you can increase benefits &/or decrease problems by adjusting what people do.
Example: If you & competitors sell similar plants, satisfy customers with better insights about using plant subspecies or planting at different times in different places.
Believable, Meaningful Promises
People are often disappointed by big claims, so sometimes they only believe small improvements. Improvements just have to be significant enough to solve &/or prevent problems.
You’ll learn what customers need & believe by tracking responses to ads & communicating in your store.
Combine benefit promises & explanations about how experiences are improved.
Example: ‘(Product) lets you adjust humidity & heat to achieve your desired comfort. (Product) adds the moisturizing warmth you need on dry, cold winter days. Instead of paying more for a separate heater & humidifier, invest in (product). This one unit requires less space & electricity. You can put it where you need quick, concentrated comfort. Now you don’t have to wait while other products spread humidity & heat in each room.’
Since preferences vary, each improvement can add to your superior options & people can choose the best experiences.
Example: Determine from start to finish what makes boating safe & pleasant. What can you offer to make steps safer or more pleasant? How can you make necessary routines easier & improve results?
You can guide people to choose experiences with product & project checklists plus suggested safety & pleasure criteria. These criteria would include descriptions of important benefits.
Potential Offer: 'When you use these checklists to ensure your safety, it’ll be easier to focus on pleasure. It’ll be easier to plan your pleasure because these experience planners will guide you in choosing & using products.'
Ask about people’s possessions, plus current & desired results, so you can coordinate what they have with new products to avoid gaps.
Check if new technology is backward compatible, so people don’t rely on unsuccessful combinations.
Explain causes & how to avoid negative effects. ‘If you don’t have (product), (problem) can happen because __. Tell us what you expect; we’ll explain how to make it happen.’
Suggest criteria for determining if they already have full benefits or should upgrade. Compare benefits of new & previous versions. ‘If you expect (benefit), it’s time to upgrade.’
They might want to upgrade because they don’t have a complete benefit.
You can have methods to design complete benefits by comparing & contrasting product specifications with current & desired conditions. ‘I understand your current conditions are __ & your desired conditions should be __. Product A can fulfill your main expectation. Product B can fulfill your secondary expectations. Let’s consider __.’
People reject some products because they lack time to learn how to use products &/or for setting up projects. What would streamline project set up?
If product instructions cover multiple conditions, you can help people focus on what fits their needs.
People buy multi-purpose products to save money & conserve space. Some multi-purpose products produce lower quality results than specialized products. Help people choose products by comparing needed results & product quality.
Be sure to offer benefits that justify people's personal & financial costs.
Example: Better quality products can produce faster, longer lasting results, so people can reduce some personal & financial costs by not needing to repeat some tasks.
Help people plan, so they can recognize if they’re prepared for conditions. If necessary, you can offer other resources or refer people to other businesses.
Improve Services with Processes
Customer Intimacy can be a matter of using details to create experiences.
Processes make it easier to produce predictable experiences. Processes can be verbal. Ask questions, present ideas & ask for feedback.
After you present products & ideas for customers' needs & desires, ask for details about how well their gaps would be filled. Specific answers can bring chances to explore opportunities.
Here are potential issues:
What interferes with achieving & maintaining positive conditions?
Ask about what people enjoy & present potential options to help them determine what would be comfortable.
Are people confused about conditions &/or potential changes?
People tend to feel more confident about controlling what’s familiar, so they may want similar experiences even if significant changes might bring benefits.
Explore people’s tolerance for risk. Some might feel a situation is risky, but it might feel tame to others.
You can offer different options, so people will be ready for contingencies. People can choose other options if changes don’t match their main plan & resources (including skills).
Here are question examples for starting a verbal process about social experiences.
Group Events: If customers like parties, which factors added enjoyment before? Do customers want more of these factors or do they want a different experience? How much help do they want with planning?
With the answers, you can recommend a product mix to enhance activities & suggest how to make activities fit event expectations.
Events for a few people: Factors/resources: Sunshine & a lawn can be combined with food & games to make a picnic. Would customers enjoy preparing food together? Do they want warm or cold food? Do they like physical activities or board games?
Each answer adds small details but also brings you closer to special experiences.
Here are examples for a verbal process about building projects.
Is the enjoyment based mostly in simple products or skillfully using complex products?
Does this desired experience require adapting current products or using new product versions?
How much time do they have to learn about products?
When people improve their experiences, they can enjoy their memories of experiences. Memories can be valuable because memories last longer than most experiences can. Ongoing experiences can be enhanced which enhances memories.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Monday, July 29, 2019
Customer Intimacy Focuses On Important Experiences
This article emphasizes aspects of Customer Intimacy beyond The Discipline of Market Leaders by Michael Treacy & Fred Wiersema. (Check search engines for book summaries.)
Stephen R. Covey (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) advised being effective with people & efficient with things.
Operational excellence specialists seem to push customers to fit processes. Big discount retailers make processes effective & efficient by pushing customer self-service.
Customer intimate retailers should develop processes to produce experiences for customers’ unique conditions.
Some consumers hope for satisfying experiences by trading up to high technology products from product leaders. People might trade up slowly because of limitations. When people are ready, you can help them add new technology to what’s familiar.
Customer Intimacy should start with customers' desired solutions & experiences. Customer Intimacy can continue with suggested improvements customers haven’t considered.
Combine & adapt familiar & new technology, then show customers which tasks will produce long-term solutions & satisfying experiences. Discuss long-term issues like preserving progress by adapting to change & overcoming limitations of products, services & results.
Customer Intimacy Focuses On Important Experiences
Though intimacy seems foreign for businesses, it’s essential for great business relationships.
Customer Intimate retailers are interested in people’s experiences. Intimacy isn’t superficial. Intimacy is dedication to the details of improving customers’ lives.
Retailers might fake intimacy by greeting customers without guiding them in achieving goals. Since some retailers cut service & seem to disregard customers’ experiences, you can easily show your concern for customers is real.
You can support customers with products & guidance to fulfill their responsibilities including finishing projects & maintaining reliable results.
You should specialize in specific experiences & offer all people need, so they don't get incompatible products & advice from multiple stores. Since experiences fail when cheap products fail, emphasize success more than low prices.
Customer Intimacy is based on helping people be effective & efficient. Example: Offer kits of products, information & templates for producing experiences & solutions. Adaptable templates describe options & product lists help people avoid delays & mistakes. After customers choose templates & products, you can help them plan experiences. Plans specify actions for changing conditions & fulfilling desires.
Ask about needs before purchases to show you care & so plans produce satisfying experiences.
You can find opportunities with an outside perspective (thinking outside of the box). You should learn about customers' experiences to gain an inside familiarity.
Familiarity with customers' desires & frustrations suggests which opportunities fit their lives. You can produce new experiences by connecting inside & outside perspectives.
Increase Protection, Reduce Frustrations
Discount stores can frustrate people with cheap products & often temporary results. People might tolerate frustrations because they don’t know about better options. When you advertise, describe better options instead of just prices.
As much as practical in your specialty, help people protect themselves from problems. People need your help because protection requires identifying problems & knowing which products to use.
Customer Intimacy specialists consult with people for long-term resolutions of specific needs. Update your offers by monitoring technology & people’s issues through observation & asking questions. Did customers get their expected results? Do products work as manufacturers promised? If people are dissatisfied, determine if they misunderstood product specifications.
Care Takers Offer More Value
Encourage people to stay with you by explaining how their needs are apt to change along with conditions. Track people's results as conditions change, so you can offer what's needed for maintenance or improvement.
As their primary source, you can ensure products & information will be compatible. To be a trusted source, you should warn about changes, so customers have time to prepare. Describe negative changes, so people can recognize symptoms. Offer step-by-step solutions & preventions by guiding people in choosing products.
Customer Intimacy implies serving customers as they want to be served & should include becoming part of consumers’ lives based on their preferences. Full service Customer Intimate retailers satisfy customers by being shaped by customers’ needs.
I wrote in my previous article (How Will You Improve Customers’ Lives Today?), some people buy commodities from discount stores, so they can afford to trade up to other high quality products. Customer Intimate retailers know which high quality products are important to people.
Combine the concepts of trading up to high quality products & Customer Intimacy to give people reasons to trade up in your store.
Successful Customer Intimacy depends on helping customers use products & information to produce satisfactory results.
Combine deep product knowledge with customer situation knowledge, so you can prescribe solutions & preventions. As you track customers' results, offer customized improvements they won't likely get from competitors. You can master customization with processes & you'll increase quality, effectiveness & efficiency as you increase your mastery.
Asking & answering questions can be processes for guiding customers’ choices & achieving long-term satisfaction. Examples: What would happen as a result of __? Would __ improve your experiences?
Your expertise with processes & inventory can assure customers you have options for long-term results they want.
Based on product specifications & the gap between current conditions & customers’ desires, what can you combine?
Some retailers guide customers only based on product specifications & standardized instructions. People need personalized instructions to fit their plans because differences in conditions affect results. Personalized results are worth the investment of trading up.
Combining Disciplines
You can specialize in customer intimacy & with a secondary emphasis in product leadership & operational excellence.
Combining customer intimacy & with product leadership should include product knowledge in helping people with results in local conditions.
Customer intimate operational excellence includes processes to reduce operating costs & provide excellent service. Reducing operating costs is important for profitability & charging prices customers judge as fair.
Process Example: Provide problem information on paper &/or web pages for identifying symptoms. It can include pictures & checklists. Customers can use these at home & have some answers when you help find solutions by comparing products. This information can be self-service up to the point customers need advanced help or are ready to buy.
Your charts can have basic information with references to deeper knowledge on other pages, so people can focus on what’s important to them. Note: Charts help people serve themselves while you serve others. Written words are easier to understand because accents make words hard to understand.
As people use these resources, ask how to improve the format & which information you should add. Ask for suggestions to determine ways to adopt & adapt new practices.
Take less time to fulfill expectations, process orders & gain knowledge by standardizing your usual practices. Since standardized practices can be faster, you can have more time to focus on unique issues.
Intimacy Includes Empathetic Understanding
Here’s an intimate business example: Patients are more comfortable with diagnoses from empathetic doctors, who listen.
It takes more than professional knowledge because people want their concerns to be understood. Doctors tend to rush through appointments to be efficient. When people are dissatisfied with the service, they might distrust a doctor, diagnosis & prescription.
Stephen R. Covey advised us to seek to understand people before we seek to be understood. When we understand people, it’s easier to communicate in ways they understand.
People are more apt to agree when solutions involve their concerns.
When we understand each other, we can focus effectively because we reduce vagueness & doubt. If we don’t understand each other, we might assume we’re right & each go in the wrong direction.
Part of your expertise should be product knowledge, so you can apply specifications & instructions to consumers’ needs. It’s important to remember established products can be unfamiliar products for some people.
It can be as basic as when people assume they can easily use familiar tools, but they have trouble later. Example: Using a rake seems simple, but people get blisters & aches. You can have printed suggestions about adapting handles & methods, physical warm-up exercises & how to deal with leaves.
Offer More & Better Value
Big retailers serve people in the aggregate & aggravate people who need individual results. You should know how to help individuals overcome local challenges.
You can use external & point-of-purchase promotions to emphasize experiences. Example: ‘You can go any store to find products. It takes more than products to fulfill your needs, so we focus on your satisfaction. We can guide you through details of updating what you enjoy or creating new experiences. Updating experiences can include new techniques or technology. We'll combine information & products to make conditions fit your expectations.’
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Stephen R. Covey (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) advised being effective with people & efficient with things.
Operational excellence specialists seem to push customers to fit processes. Big discount retailers make processes effective & efficient by pushing customer self-service.
Customer intimate retailers should develop processes to produce experiences for customers’ unique conditions.
Some consumers hope for satisfying experiences by trading up to high technology products from product leaders. People might trade up slowly because of limitations. When people are ready, you can help them add new technology to what’s familiar.
Customer Intimacy should start with customers' desired solutions & experiences. Customer Intimacy can continue with suggested improvements customers haven’t considered.
Combine & adapt familiar & new technology, then show customers which tasks will produce long-term solutions & satisfying experiences. Discuss long-term issues like preserving progress by adapting to change & overcoming limitations of products, services & results.
Customer Intimacy Focuses On Important Experiences
Though intimacy seems foreign for businesses, it’s essential for great business relationships.
Customer Intimate retailers are interested in people’s experiences. Intimacy isn’t superficial. Intimacy is dedication to the details of improving customers’ lives.
Retailers might fake intimacy by greeting customers without guiding them in achieving goals. Since some retailers cut service & seem to disregard customers’ experiences, you can easily show your concern for customers is real.
You can support customers with products & guidance to fulfill their responsibilities including finishing projects & maintaining reliable results.
You should specialize in specific experiences & offer all people need, so they don't get incompatible products & advice from multiple stores. Since experiences fail when cheap products fail, emphasize success more than low prices.
Customer Intimacy is based on helping people be effective & efficient. Example: Offer kits of products, information & templates for producing experiences & solutions. Adaptable templates describe options & product lists help people avoid delays & mistakes. After customers choose templates & products, you can help them plan experiences. Plans specify actions for changing conditions & fulfilling desires.
Ask about needs before purchases to show you care & so plans produce satisfying experiences.
You can find opportunities with an outside perspective (thinking outside of the box). You should learn about customers' experiences to gain an inside familiarity.
Familiarity with customers' desires & frustrations suggests which opportunities fit their lives. You can produce new experiences by connecting inside & outside perspectives.
Increase Protection, Reduce Frustrations
Discount stores can frustrate people with cheap products & often temporary results. People might tolerate frustrations because they don’t know about better options. When you advertise, describe better options instead of just prices.
As much as practical in your specialty, help people protect themselves from problems. People need your help because protection requires identifying problems & knowing which products to use.
Customer Intimacy specialists consult with people for long-term resolutions of specific needs. Update your offers by monitoring technology & people’s issues through observation & asking questions. Did customers get their expected results? Do products work as manufacturers promised? If people are dissatisfied, determine if they misunderstood product specifications.
Care Takers Offer More Value
Encourage people to stay with you by explaining how their needs are apt to change along with conditions. Track people's results as conditions change, so you can offer what's needed for maintenance or improvement.
As their primary source, you can ensure products & information will be compatible. To be a trusted source, you should warn about changes, so customers have time to prepare. Describe negative changes, so people can recognize symptoms. Offer step-by-step solutions & preventions by guiding people in choosing products.
Customer Intimacy implies serving customers as they want to be served & should include becoming part of consumers’ lives based on their preferences. Full service Customer Intimate retailers satisfy customers by being shaped by customers’ needs.
I wrote in my previous article (How Will You Improve Customers’ Lives Today?), some people buy commodities from discount stores, so they can afford to trade up to other high quality products. Customer Intimate retailers know which high quality products are important to people.
Combine the concepts of trading up to high quality products & Customer Intimacy to give people reasons to trade up in your store.
Successful Customer Intimacy depends on helping customers use products & information to produce satisfactory results.
Combine deep product knowledge with customer situation knowledge, so you can prescribe solutions & preventions. As you track customers' results, offer customized improvements they won't likely get from competitors. You can master customization with processes & you'll increase quality, effectiveness & efficiency as you increase your mastery.
Asking & answering questions can be processes for guiding customers’ choices & achieving long-term satisfaction. Examples: What would happen as a result of __? Would __ improve your experiences?
Your expertise with processes & inventory can assure customers you have options for long-term results they want.
Based on product specifications & the gap between current conditions & customers’ desires, what can you combine?
Some retailers guide customers only based on product specifications & standardized instructions. People need personalized instructions to fit their plans because differences in conditions affect results. Personalized results are worth the investment of trading up.
Combining Disciplines
You can specialize in customer intimacy & with a secondary emphasis in product leadership & operational excellence.
Combining customer intimacy & with product leadership should include product knowledge in helping people with results in local conditions.
Customer intimate operational excellence includes processes to reduce operating costs & provide excellent service. Reducing operating costs is important for profitability & charging prices customers judge as fair.
Process Example: Provide problem information on paper &/or web pages for identifying symptoms. It can include pictures & checklists. Customers can use these at home & have some answers when you help find solutions by comparing products. This information can be self-service up to the point customers need advanced help or are ready to buy.
Your charts can have basic information with references to deeper knowledge on other pages, so people can focus on what’s important to them. Note: Charts help people serve themselves while you serve others. Written words are easier to understand because accents make words hard to understand.
As people use these resources, ask how to improve the format & which information you should add. Ask for suggestions to determine ways to adopt & adapt new practices.
Take less time to fulfill expectations, process orders & gain knowledge by standardizing your usual practices. Since standardized practices can be faster, you can have more time to focus on unique issues.
Intimacy Includes Empathetic Understanding
Here’s an intimate business example: Patients are more comfortable with diagnoses from empathetic doctors, who listen.
It takes more than professional knowledge because people want their concerns to be understood. Doctors tend to rush through appointments to be efficient. When people are dissatisfied with the service, they might distrust a doctor, diagnosis & prescription.
Stephen R. Covey advised us to seek to understand people before we seek to be understood. When we understand people, it’s easier to communicate in ways they understand.
People are more apt to agree when solutions involve their concerns.
When we understand each other, we can focus effectively because we reduce vagueness & doubt. If we don’t understand each other, we might assume we’re right & each go in the wrong direction.
Part of your expertise should be product knowledge, so you can apply specifications & instructions to consumers’ needs. It’s important to remember established products can be unfamiliar products for some people.
It can be as basic as when people assume they can easily use familiar tools, but they have trouble later. Example: Using a rake seems simple, but people get blisters & aches. You can have printed suggestions about adapting handles & methods, physical warm-up exercises & how to deal with leaves.
Offer More & Better Value
Big retailers serve people in the aggregate & aggravate people who need individual results. You should know how to help individuals overcome local challenges.
You can use external & point-of-purchase promotions to emphasize experiences. Example: ‘You can go any store to find products. It takes more than products to fulfill your needs, so we focus on your satisfaction. We can guide you through details of updating what you enjoy or creating new experiences. Updating experiences can include new techniques or technology. We'll combine information & products to make conditions fit your expectations.’
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
How Will You Improve Customers' Lives Today?
In my previous article (Offer a Full Range of Better Benefits), I wrote about people trading up. It means they buy high priced, high quality product versions. They reject middle quality products that have lower beneficial functions.
Based on what Michael J. Silverstein & Neil Fiske wrote in their book "Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods" & some articles, trading up isn't only based on logical benefits. People want emotional advantages of status, satisfaction & comfort. Some brands & products are chosen based on consumers' statuses & personalities.
Mid-priced products without emotional engagement could face "death in the middle".
People will buy commodities to save money because they won't spend extra for average products. They buy low cost commodities, so they can afford other high quality products.
Some mid-level quality products are barely above commodities. Unless mid-level quality is perceived as worth a mid-level price, people trade down & buy low cost commodities.
It can be hard to quantify mid-level value & prices. Example: Are 25% better results from a mid-priced product a better bargain than a 25% cheaper commodity? It might not be enough to make a product worthwhile.
If a mid-quality product is $25 & a high quality product is $50, you can discuss advantages, priorities & restrictions. If mid-quality product results won't fulfill people's top criterion, trading up for high quality feels necessary.
Guide customers' decisions with questions. Example: How long are the results needed? Explain the advantages, so people can choose. People trade up to buy from among the top tiers of luxury. Example: Luxury cars have various options like leather seats. People might opt for basics (regular seats) because a brand as a status symbol is more important than optional features. Seats aren't publicly conspicuous.
Status is a result people will gladly buy. Ask which results are people's top criteria, so you can provide maximum satisfaction.
Reputations for People & Products
When status is the desired product result, it's a matter of product reputation.
When there's one chance to make a great impression, some people don't settle for less than the best. They buy products with reputations for dependable results & might still need your advice to use products for optimal results.
When people's reputations depend on your advice, you can build a reputation competitors can't match.
When their reputations are at risk, people might trade up to avoid negative perceptions. When people trade up, they spend a lot of money, so you can justify investing in knowledge you need for superior customer service.
You can help people realistically invest to fulfill their criteria. What are the long-term advantages & disadvantages of fulfilling their minimum criteria? How much more would it cost to fulfill their maximum criteria? Is that improvement worth $XX?
Since establishing & maintaining a reputation is a high priority, people are willing to invest in high quality results. When your store is linked to high quality, you can attract people based on their priorities. Example: 'We have what you need for high quality results because we know how important your priorities are. So, never compromise when you need __.'
Ask for details to help people trade up to get functional improvements like durability. Ask about how products will be used because durability depends on quality & conditions.
How do customers expect products to make their lives easier? How do they expect higher quality products to improve results?
With those answers, you can help customers choose satisfactory products.
People might trade up to avoid disappointing recipients who depend on a result. To help people be satisfied, ask about their roles & what they expect.
Role fulfillment can involve using products to produce results for others. Example: When parents pay for higher quality because they want what's best for their children.
How Will You Improve Customers' Lives Today?
You should know how each of your products & services can be used to improve customers' lives, so you can make compelling offers.
Some aspects of compelling offers are: preventing or mitigating damage; reducing stress by resolving issues; easy to implement solutions; increasing enjoyment & satisfaction; &/or decreasing pain & dissatisfaction.
As you review current inventory & suppliers' offers, consider how products prevent problems or improve the future. Also consider what you can combine to make easier, more satisfactory offers.
Is a product, service or combination a commodity commonly available in many stores? If it's a commodity, competition will probably be based on convenience &/or price.
Your offers should be proprietary because eventually it becomes harder to increase convenience & decrease prices. You can make some product offers proprietary by adding services &/or information.
When you have proprietary compelling offers, consumers might recognize the value & pay profitable prices. If it's a proprietary offer, competition will probably be based on functionality, durability &/or dependability.
People might trade up to buy it.
Qualifications & Quality
When people want to trade up, vendor credibility can matter because people expect the best results without frustration. When a store seems to lack credibility, people might reject it to avoid frustration.
Establish credibility by asking questions that elicit meaningful answers. Example: You might suspect damage is caused by mice. When you know mice enter through very small holes, you can ask customers to describe their walls. Using poisons won't help much until the holes are patched.
Competitors, who have less information, can be less qualified to offer solutions.
You can be more qualified based on how you use product & local information to combine products & services into solutions. Learn enough to connect causes (holes), effects (damage) & desired results (fixing damage & banishing mice). Example: People will be frustrated with poisons & traps. Poisons & traps don't fix the problem because they can't keep mice from entering.
You can offer repair products & information about finding mouse holes. Example: 'We'll help you fix the real problems instead of selling what seems to be right.'
Increase your qualifications by answering these questions: Which problems arise locally? What are the possible causes? What worked before & what made it work? What could've made it better? What's changing & could make different products & skills necessary?
What would make products better suited for changed conditions? Depending on what customers need & can afford, which products are good, better or best? They might stop the damage now. When they can afford repairs, they might choose basic repairs & trade up later. You can help people step up until they can trade up.
People can afford to trade up when they reduce other spending. You can attract them by helping to reduce some spending with plans. When people have plans, they can buy what they need without spending extra.
When you provide instructions, people can have money for trading up because they avoid waste by using materials correctly. As you obtain products, learn the skills for producing the results, so you can add instructions.
If you don't find applicable instructions, adapt an instructional model from similar project instructions.
Develop Trade Up Offers
To help consumers plan their best experiences, you need to know what their best options are.
Use these guidelines & questions to develop offers people will trade up to buy.
What's happening now/recently happened/will happen & how can this product (combination) make it better?
How can we help customers use this product (combination)?
What's the maximum value in this product line?
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Based on what Michael J. Silverstein & Neil Fiske wrote in their book "Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods" & some articles, trading up isn't only based on logical benefits. People want emotional advantages of status, satisfaction & comfort. Some brands & products are chosen based on consumers' statuses & personalities.
Mid-priced products without emotional engagement could face "death in the middle".
People will buy commodities to save money because they won't spend extra for average products. They buy low cost commodities, so they can afford other high quality products.
Some mid-level quality products are barely above commodities. Unless mid-level quality is perceived as worth a mid-level price, people trade down & buy low cost commodities.
It can be hard to quantify mid-level value & prices. Example: Are 25% better results from a mid-priced product a better bargain than a 25% cheaper commodity? It might not be enough to make a product worthwhile.
If a mid-quality product is $25 & a high quality product is $50, you can discuss advantages, priorities & restrictions. If mid-quality product results won't fulfill people's top criterion, trading up for high quality feels necessary.
Guide customers' decisions with questions. Example: How long are the results needed? Explain the advantages, so people can choose. People trade up to buy from among the top tiers of luxury. Example: Luxury cars have various options like leather seats. People might opt for basics (regular seats) because a brand as a status symbol is more important than optional features. Seats aren't publicly conspicuous.
Status is a result people will gladly buy. Ask which results are people's top criteria, so you can provide maximum satisfaction.
Reputations for People & Products
When status is the desired product result, it's a matter of product reputation.
When there's one chance to make a great impression, some people don't settle for less than the best. They buy products with reputations for dependable results & might still need your advice to use products for optimal results.
When people's reputations depend on your advice, you can build a reputation competitors can't match.
When their reputations are at risk, people might trade up to avoid negative perceptions. When people trade up, they spend a lot of money, so you can justify investing in knowledge you need for superior customer service.
You can help people realistically invest to fulfill their criteria. What are the long-term advantages & disadvantages of fulfilling their minimum criteria? How much more would it cost to fulfill their maximum criteria? Is that improvement worth $XX?
Since establishing & maintaining a reputation is a high priority, people are willing to invest in high quality results. When your store is linked to high quality, you can attract people based on their priorities. Example: 'We have what you need for high quality results because we know how important your priorities are. So, never compromise when you need __.'
Ask for details to help people trade up to get functional improvements like durability. Ask about how products will be used because durability depends on quality & conditions.
How do customers expect products to make their lives easier? How do they expect higher quality products to improve results?
With those answers, you can help customers choose satisfactory products.
People might trade up to avoid disappointing recipients who depend on a result. To help people be satisfied, ask about their roles & what they expect.
Role fulfillment can involve using products to produce results for others. Example: When parents pay for higher quality because they want what's best for their children.
How Will You Improve Customers' Lives Today?
You should know how each of your products & services can be used to improve customers' lives, so you can make compelling offers.
Some aspects of compelling offers are: preventing or mitigating damage; reducing stress by resolving issues; easy to implement solutions; increasing enjoyment & satisfaction; &/or decreasing pain & dissatisfaction.
As you review current inventory & suppliers' offers, consider how products prevent problems or improve the future. Also consider what you can combine to make easier, more satisfactory offers.
Is a product, service or combination a commodity commonly available in many stores? If it's a commodity, competition will probably be based on convenience &/or price.
Your offers should be proprietary because eventually it becomes harder to increase convenience & decrease prices. You can make some product offers proprietary by adding services &/or information.
When you have proprietary compelling offers, consumers might recognize the value & pay profitable prices. If it's a proprietary offer, competition will probably be based on functionality, durability &/or dependability.
People might trade up to buy it.
Qualifications & Quality
When people want to trade up, vendor credibility can matter because people expect the best results without frustration. When a store seems to lack credibility, people might reject it to avoid frustration.
Establish credibility by asking questions that elicit meaningful answers. Example: You might suspect damage is caused by mice. When you know mice enter through very small holes, you can ask customers to describe their walls. Using poisons won't help much until the holes are patched.
Competitors, who have less information, can be less qualified to offer solutions.
You can be more qualified based on how you use product & local information to combine products & services into solutions. Learn enough to connect causes (holes), effects (damage) & desired results (fixing damage & banishing mice). Example: People will be frustrated with poisons & traps. Poisons & traps don't fix the problem because they can't keep mice from entering.
You can offer repair products & information about finding mouse holes. Example: 'We'll help you fix the real problems instead of selling what seems to be right.'
Increase your qualifications by answering these questions: Which problems arise locally? What are the possible causes? What worked before & what made it work? What could've made it better? What's changing & could make different products & skills necessary?
What would make products better suited for changed conditions? Depending on what customers need & can afford, which products are good, better or best? They might stop the damage now. When they can afford repairs, they might choose basic repairs & trade up later. You can help people step up until they can trade up.
People can afford to trade up when they reduce other spending. You can attract them by helping to reduce some spending with plans. When people have plans, they can buy what they need without spending extra.
When you provide instructions, people can have money for trading up because they avoid waste by using materials correctly. As you obtain products, learn the skills for producing the results, so you can add instructions.
If you don't find applicable instructions, adapt an instructional model from similar project instructions.
Develop Trade Up Offers
To help consumers plan their best experiences, you need to know what their best options are.
Use these guidelines & questions to develop offers people will trade up to buy.
What's happening now/recently happened/will happen & how can this product (combination) make it better?
How can we help customers use this product (combination)?
What's the maximum value in this product line?
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Offer a Full Range of Better Benefits
Depending on people's goals, you can combine top-level products & good enough products. In some cases, people want good enough results, so they trade down. When people want high quality, they trade up.
Example: If people want an outdoor furniture set, they might invest in high quality chairs & a medium quality table.
Offer products in contexts of enhancing experiences or solving & preventing problems.
People might buy from discounters without knowing how well products fulfill goals.
People might get inferior project results because they don't know how to do unfamiliar steps.
Your full product & benefit offers (including checklists & instructions) can help people avoid mistakes & wasted resources.
If you can't offer a full range, team up with businesses offering what you don't have.
You can offer plans & methods based on local conditions, plus goal-compatible tools & materials. Example: ‘We suggest options based on your needs, goals & resources, so you get reliable results & avoid unpleasant surprises. Effective, efficient products & methods make results easier & longer lasting.'
Even if people can start projects, they might lack resources to finish. You can offer options to do projects on a comfortable schedule. When you provide step-by-step plans, people can buy products they can afford for each step.
Broadest Possible Benefits Can Improve Experiences
Task results can be self-expressions for personal satisfaction &/or public display.
Some people are motivated by the satisfaction & pleasant memories of producing results. Others grudgingly do what's necessary & feel relief when they finish. When you understand people's reasons, you can make compelling offers based on producing their desired results. Ask about people's satisfaction or dissatisfaction with conditions & results, so you can improve your offers.
Differentiate your store from discounters by emphasizing how product quality & your advice affect satisfaction.
You can attract a bigger niche by increasing value with these full benefit ranges & options for various conditions.
By streamlining projects & making techniques easier, you can help customers manage projects & make experiences less stressful & more beneficial.
You can increase benefits & decrease stress by helping people set budgets & choose products based on their goals & finances. Encourage customers to trade up & down to get the qualities they want.
Producing Experiences
Broadest possible benefits can include enhancing experiences beyond what customers thought is possible or affordable.
Offer experiences in your promotions. In your store, guide customers through processes of creating & expanding experiences. Describe how you help people experience benefits. Example: ‘Tell us what you want to experience from your (product or situation). Whether you want task supplies or full project kits, we'll help you choose the right products & methods to produce satisfying results.'
By asking about customers' conditions, your specific offers can beat competitors' typical product & price list ads. Example: ‘Describe what you have & what you want. We'll recommend high quality products & guide you in creating great experiences.'
As you serve customers, you can collect testimonials comparing your offers with competitors.
Up to a point, people willingly sacrifice some benefits when they buy from discounters. When they've sacrificed to the point of dissatisfaction, they want better options.
Offer customized options discount stores don't have, so people can precisely solve or prevent problems. Example: ‘You can end discount store disappointments by investing in the top quality advice & products to get results you need. Since we're in your community, we understand your needs. We customize products for local conditions.'
Some people buy low-priced, low status products because high status versions don't have any advantages for them. Example: Consumers, who want basic transportation, aren't impressed by luxury cars. They reserve money for what's personally important to them.
Michael J. Silverstein & Neil Fiske wrote about it in "Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods... And How Companies Create Them". They explained how some consumers pay premium prices when products are too important to scrimp on because of strong emotional engagement.
Learn the emotional appeal of important product attributes. Emphasize how you help people get high quality benefits from those attributes. When people trade-up to buy high quality from you, offer what they need to optimize the quality. Quality can be optimized with supplementary products & services sold separately or in kits.
Show how to optimize experiences by combining effects of products & services. When you show concern about experiences, you show concern about people. You can help people create experiences based on their budgets by trading-up & trading-down.
Consider what consumers want when they trade-up from other stores. If consumers aren't fully satisfied with trade-up products, what would improve their experiences? Develop ways to preserve current benefits, plus optimize results & experiences to fulfill related desires.
You can review products & services with customers, explain benefits & ask which benefits would improve experiences. Would improved experiences be longer, more frequent & maybe exciting or mellow?
Explain how to use the full potential of products & services. When it's necessary, determine what you can add &/or adjust to produce more potential. It'll give you a competitive edge.
Trade-Ins Can Be Another Income Stream
People can start trading up with second-hand products. You can accept second-hand products as trade-ins.
You can get a basic idea of trade-in value from sales made through auction web sites. Check RetailWire, Retail TouchPoints & trade groups for ideas & guidelines.
Some online businesses are in the resale market. You can check their web sites for the viability of some product lines.
When you accept trade-ins, you'll help people buy new goods.
When there's a resale or trade-in value, people might be more comfortable with purchasing luxuries.
Until people can afford the newest, top-level models, they can enjoy core brand benefits of older models.
By accepting the brands you sell as trade-ins, you'll imply those brands have lasting value. It can be an incentive to buy from you instead of discount store versions. Explain benefits of upgrades, so people appreciate products & set purchase goals.
You can build your clientele year by year as people trade-up & upgrade.
You can profit at each step as people incrementally upgrade by trading in to get more advanced or upscale models.
In addition to benefits of new models, emphasize the value of core brand benefits to attract buyers of older models.
There can be viable markets for new or used products that fulfill the Ladder of Benefits in "Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods... And How Companies Create Them".
Here's a summary of the Ladder of Benefits: 1- Products must have differences in design, technology, or both. 2- Technical differences must provide superior performance. 3- Technical & functional benefits must inspire emotional engagement.
This is a noted fact: People tend to buy based on emotion despite how much they might focus on logical criteria.
Use emotional appeals to persuade people to buy with logical justifications. Example: People might want a Jacuzzi for emotional reasons. They can justify it logically by focusing on how a Jacuzzi can ease back problems & relax people enough to help them sleep. Emotionally, it's a luxury. Logically, it's an investment in good health.
Suggest getting advice: ‘Ask your chiropractor how much better your treatments will be when your muscles stay relaxed at home.'
Build emotional engagement by connecting luxury & logic. Massagers can ease back problems, but a Jacuzzi has some style. Massagers are limited to muscles. A Jacuzzi creates an experience & massages bodies better than massagers.
If manufacturers haven't added enough functional, beneficial style, ask customers what you can add. Would it be better with aromatherapy & therapeutic ointments?
I'm emphasizing functional & beneficial because a massager could have a beautiful set of controls. Each switch could have a function but be hard to use. Hard-to-use switches aren't beneficial.
When you order inventory, consider who will use products & in which conditions.
When you explain how functions produce benefits, use emotional appeal, so consumers understand how functions will help. Example: ‘As you adjust heat & vibrations, you'll enjoy more relaxation & comfort. You'll easily learn how to reset the controls & reset how you feel.'
Functional & Distinctive Advantages
Some people buy products to be distinctive as individuals or group members. People's distinctiveness can depend on knowing how to use a product's functional advantages to create & maintain results. Your store can be a major part of it.
In your ads, describe functional advantages & offer lessons for creating advantages in customers' conditions. Providing lessons requires you to learn about customers' conditions, which will help you improve your business (you can make better offers). Improving your business helps you improve customers' lives.
Retail success is easier with influence & influence is easier with knowledge. Knowledge leads to better quality.
Improving quality shows your concern for people. Associate your store with high quality & concern for people.
You can show you care by learning how to help people.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
Example: If people want an outdoor furniture set, they might invest in high quality chairs & a medium quality table.
Offer products in contexts of enhancing experiences or solving & preventing problems.
People might buy from discounters without knowing how well products fulfill goals.
People might get inferior project results because they don't know how to do unfamiliar steps.
Your full product & benefit offers (including checklists & instructions) can help people avoid mistakes & wasted resources.
If you can't offer a full range, team up with businesses offering what you don't have.
You can offer plans & methods based on local conditions, plus goal-compatible tools & materials. Example: ‘We suggest options based on your needs, goals & resources, so you get reliable results & avoid unpleasant surprises. Effective, efficient products & methods make results easier & longer lasting.'
Even if people can start projects, they might lack resources to finish. You can offer options to do projects on a comfortable schedule. When you provide step-by-step plans, people can buy products they can afford for each step.
Broadest Possible Benefits Can Improve Experiences
Task results can be self-expressions for personal satisfaction &/or public display.
Some people are motivated by the satisfaction & pleasant memories of producing results. Others grudgingly do what's necessary & feel relief when they finish. When you understand people's reasons, you can make compelling offers based on producing their desired results. Ask about people's satisfaction or dissatisfaction with conditions & results, so you can improve your offers.
Differentiate your store from discounters by emphasizing how product quality & your advice affect satisfaction.
You can attract a bigger niche by increasing value with these full benefit ranges & options for various conditions.
By streamlining projects & making techniques easier, you can help customers manage projects & make experiences less stressful & more beneficial.
You can increase benefits & decrease stress by helping people set budgets & choose products based on their goals & finances. Encourage customers to trade up & down to get the qualities they want.
Producing Experiences
Broadest possible benefits can include enhancing experiences beyond what customers thought is possible or affordable.
Offer experiences in your promotions. In your store, guide customers through processes of creating & expanding experiences. Describe how you help people experience benefits. Example: ‘Tell us what you want to experience from your (product or situation). Whether you want task supplies or full project kits, we'll help you choose the right products & methods to produce satisfying results.'
By asking about customers' conditions, your specific offers can beat competitors' typical product & price list ads. Example: ‘Describe what you have & what you want. We'll recommend high quality products & guide you in creating great experiences.'
As you serve customers, you can collect testimonials comparing your offers with competitors.
Up to a point, people willingly sacrifice some benefits when they buy from discounters. When they've sacrificed to the point of dissatisfaction, they want better options.
Offer customized options discount stores don't have, so people can precisely solve or prevent problems. Example: ‘You can end discount store disappointments by investing in the top quality advice & products to get results you need. Since we're in your community, we understand your needs. We customize products for local conditions.'
Some people buy low-priced, low status products because high status versions don't have any advantages for them. Example: Consumers, who want basic transportation, aren't impressed by luxury cars. They reserve money for what's personally important to them.
Michael J. Silverstein & Neil Fiske wrote about it in "Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods... And How Companies Create Them". They explained how some consumers pay premium prices when products are too important to scrimp on because of strong emotional engagement.
Learn the emotional appeal of important product attributes. Emphasize how you help people get high quality benefits from those attributes. When people trade-up to buy high quality from you, offer what they need to optimize the quality. Quality can be optimized with supplementary products & services sold separately or in kits.
Show how to optimize experiences by combining effects of products & services. When you show concern about experiences, you show concern about people. You can help people create experiences based on their budgets by trading-up & trading-down.
Consider what consumers want when they trade-up from other stores. If consumers aren't fully satisfied with trade-up products, what would improve their experiences? Develop ways to preserve current benefits, plus optimize results & experiences to fulfill related desires.
You can review products & services with customers, explain benefits & ask which benefits would improve experiences. Would improved experiences be longer, more frequent & maybe exciting or mellow?
Explain how to use the full potential of products & services. When it's necessary, determine what you can add &/or adjust to produce more potential. It'll give you a competitive edge.
Trade-Ins Can Be Another Income Stream
People can start trading up with second-hand products. You can accept second-hand products as trade-ins.
You can get a basic idea of trade-in value from sales made through auction web sites. Check RetailWire, Retail TouchPoints & trade groups for ideas & guidelines.
Some online businesses are in the resale market. You can check their web sites for the viability of some product lines.
When you accept trade-ins, you'll help people buy new goods.
When there's a resale or trade-in value, people might be more comfortable with purchasing luxuries.
Until people can afford the newest, top-level models, they can enjoy core brand benefits of older models.
By accepting the brands you sell as trade-ins, you'll imply those brands have lasting value. It can be an incentive to buy from you instead of discount store versions. Explain benefits of upgrades, so people appreciate products & set purchase goals.
You can build your clientele year by year as people trade-up & upgrade.
You can profit at each step as people incrementally upgrade by trading in to get more advanced or upscale models.
In addition to benefits of new models, emphasize the value of core brand benefits to attract buyers of older models.
There can be viable markets for new or used products that fulfill the Ladder of Benefits in "Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods... And How Companies Create Them".
Here's a summary of the Ladder of Benefits: 1- Products must have differences in design, technology, or both. 2- Technical differences must provide superior performance. 3- Technical & functional benefits must inspire emotional engagement.
This is a noted fact: People tend to buy based on emotion despite how much they might focus on logical criteria.
Use emotional appeals to persuade people to buy with logical justifications. Example: People might want a Jacuzzi for emotional reasons. They can justify it logically by focusing on how a Jacuzzi can ease back problems & relax people enough to help them sleep. Emotionally, it's a luxury. Logically, it's an investment in good health.
Suggest getting advice: ‘Ask your chiropractor how much better your treatments will be when your muscles stay relaxed at home.'
Build emotional engagement by connecting luxury & logic. Massagers can ease back problems, but a Jacuzzi has some style. Massagers are limited to muscles. A Jacuzzi creates an experience & massages bodies better than massagers.
If manufacturers haven't added enough functional, beneficial style, ask customers what you can add. Would it be better with aromatherapy & therapeutic ointments?
I'm emphasizing functional & beneficial because a massager could have a beautiful set of controls. Each switch could have a function but be hard to use. Hard-to-use switches aren't beneficial.
When you order inventory, consider who will use products & in which conditions.
When you explain how functions produce benefits, use emotional appeal, so consumers understand how functions will help. Example: ‘As you adjust heat & vibrations, you'll enjoy more relaxation & comfort. You'll easily learn how to reset the controls & reset how you feel.'
Functional & Distinctive Advantages
Some people buy products to be distinctive as individuals or group members. People's distinctiveness can depend on knowing how to use a product's functional advantages to create & maintain results. Your store can be a major part of it.
In your ads, describe functional advantages & offer lessons for creating advantages in customers' conditions. Providing lessons requires you to learn about customers' conditions, which will help you improve your business (you can make better offers). Improving your business helps you improve customers' lives.
Retail success is easier with influence & influence is easier with knowledge. Knowledge leads to better quality.
Improving quality shows your concern for people. Associate your store with high quality & concern for people.
You can show you care by learning how to help people.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
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