Blog: Understanding your clients’ buying process

Worldwide Financial Planning’s Peter McGahan on why understanding how your clients progress from enquiry to product purchase is key to running a successful business.

How are your clients influenced to make a decision? It is a good idea to think about how each of your customers might buy a product. Each person will be different. Few customers concerned about IHT, for example, will use Twitter to keep up to date. Use a ‘purchase ladder’, taking into account the following:

Awareness: If a significant number of your target audience is not yet aware of you, work must be done to build your profile.

Knowledge: If your target audience is aware of you, but does not know what you stand for or how you are different from the competition, work must be done to get this detail across.

Liking: People do business with the people they like. Warmth drives consideration and should not be underestimated. If your target audience knows what you do, but does not like you, consider whether it is because you do not yet have a relationship with them or because they do not like what you offer.

Consideration: Customers need to become convinced you are the right company to do business with. This is a far more rational decision process. Therefore you must identify what it is that really motivates your target audience and act accordingly.

Preference: In order for a target customer to prefer you to your competitors, you need to deliver what you have promised. This is a combination of proving your unique selling points and building a warm relationship with your client. So, how good and warm are you really? Do you simply think you are good but actually sit on forums all day trying to convince yourself you are good by having a pop at other advisers?

Purchase: If your customers prefer you to the competition and are still not buying, there may be a fundamental flaw in a key element of your marketing mix: product, price, distribution or your promotion. Undertake an objective assessment using competitive analysis of what you are doing versus what they are doing.

Advocacy: If your target audience buys only from you, you need to ensure that your loyalty and retention strategies maintain this position. Use client testimonies on your website.

Peter McGahan is an IFA with Worldwide Financial Planning.