Whatever the type of business, be it retail, ecommerce, wholesale, or insurance, there are four basic types of shoppers your sales force will deal with. We will rank them by importance in terms of how heavily you should be working to attract them. After all, in sales, knowing your customer is most of the battle. Once you’ve categorized them into one of these four niches, you will better know how to convert them from shoppers into customers.
Loyal Customer – this is the shopper that has purchased from you before, likely more than once. Those in this category should be making up the bulk of your overall sales and should be your primary source for referrals to find new customers who come to you as our next category of shopper. If your business isn’t catering to the return, loyal customer, it will fail. What your business is doesn’t change this. Loyal customers and the referrals they bring should be your number one source of clientele.
Need-based Customer – this is the person or client who comes to you out of a need for your product or service. They have a specific notion of what it is they want and have found you either through referral from one of your current customers or via your basic advertising. Some need-based customers will arrive thanks to marketing efforts (your name is akin to the product/service they want in their minds like Coca-Cola is akin to “soft drinks”), but most will arrive due to traditional advertising outside of word-of-mouth and referrals. These are the customers that the Yellow Pages, newspaper classifieds, and search engine advertising should be aiming for.
Discount Customers – these are the buyers who come to you because you have advertised a sale or they heard that your prices are the lowest. They’re just looking for a markdown, a good deal, a lower price. They are fickle and are not likely to be repeat customers unless the discount repeats or continues. They may or may not have an immediate need, but price is their primary motivator. Turning the discount customer into a loyal customer is a hit-and-miss proposition. Service and value will be what keeps them coming after the discount is gone.
Window Shoppers – these are the people who somehow just “found” you randomly, either by walking down the street, surfing the Internet, or otherwise located your storefront or business. They likely don’t have a specific need and probably didn’t have your product or service on their list of things they wanted either. They’re just window shopping. Capturing them is a matter of creating an experience or sense of community that draws them to the register (so to speak). Perhaps it’s that “Hi, how are you? Want a cup of coffee?” and the five minutes spent chatting without trying to pitch them on anything that does it. Maybe it’s the “Feel free to browse. Let me know if you have any questions. Here’s my card” that you offered. Whatever it is, it makes them buy. Maybe not today, but perhaps later when they become a Need-based Customer, they’ll remember you and come back.
Once you know the shoppers you’re dealing with, you can work to turn them into customers with more frequency. It doesn’t take long to become an expert at identifying the type of shopper you’re engaging. From there, it’s just a matter of conversion.