Personality
Set You Apart.
How do you make your purchase decisions? All right, since you can't
answer right now, I'll tell you how I make mine and then we'll compare.
A true story that shows how I make my purchase decisions:
I needed to buy a road bike and I did what everybody recommend...
"just go to ebay man", so off to the largest online auction
house in the world, ebay.com.
After all the bike research was done, I narrowed it down to selecting
from two bikes that first, met my budget, second, met my need (in
need I'm including appeal as well) and third...well I'll tell about
the third in a second.
The budget and the need are the first two standards you have to
agree on in order to get through 75% of the decision-making cycle,
pretty much right?
Do I have the money for it and is it going to do what I need it
to do?
Every company out there that is successfully trying to sell something
knows this. We set a competitive price and try to meet or create
a need for the product -- basic business marketing.
Making the Choice
Nevertheless I still had to select one bicycle from two bicycles
that both met my budget, need and were identical.
What made the difference? Why did I buy one over the other?
I had some questions that were unanswered as well, so I went about
emailing the owners and asking them stuff like "What year is
it?" or "Is the seat soft because I have a delicate behind?"
you know, regular questions.
In the days that followed there was back-and-forth email communications
in which both sellers answered the questions in about the same time?
I noticed that I started leaning toward purchasing the bike from
one seller more than the other... guess why?
The Key Decision-Making Factor
Here's the third and final part of the decision making cycle for
me and probably for a lot of other people.
The guy I bought the bike from was nicer...yes he was cooler, more
detailed in his answers, warmer, friendlier and seemed to genuinely
care more about me. Bear in mind, I've never met the seller and
we only communicated through email, yet I liked him more... this
say's a lot about email as medium of communication.
I ended up paying a bit more than what my budget had. But hey, this
guy took care of me.
The truth, I finalized my decision based on personality; it was
his individuality that came through in those email messages. So,
it was his bike I focused my bidding on.
You see we can compete toe-to-toe in price and features that meet
or exceed our needs. However, we can also compete in terms of who
we are. Here lies a world of subtle but powerful influences.
Our competition can match us in every way, but the one thing that
is unique and incomparable is our personality. This personality
profile includes our willingness to solve their issues, our availability,
our flexibility, our dedication to their success, our humor, our
word etc...
Do you think you need personality when you sell a perfect product
like a Coca Cola?
Think about the commercials on TV, Coke has young people smiling,
kids playing and old cute couples sitting tougher enjoying a laugh...
guess what they're selling? You already know what a Coke tastes
like.
Now the question is how do our clients learn about this very important
and critical part of their purchase decision cycle? Or better yet,
no matter how big or small your company is, how do they learn about
you, [contact-first name]?
Here is where an enewsletter comes in to play at full force.
Enewsletters Convey Personality
You see, an enewsletter program can help you present your product/service
but more importantly your personality. It will also allow you to:
Express your expert opinions, thoughts and experiences.
Reach every single one of your prospects and clients on a regular
basis.
Keep you in your clients' or prospects' mind.
Is enewsletter program out of reach?
Try scheduling a non-business lunch invitation with your clients.
Or perhaps a little golf on the weekends or better yet, send them
a thank you for your business card. All these suggestions will work
well to present who you are to them.
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Bottom
Line:
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Just
like in the semi-final portion of a beauty pageant where
all the girls remaining are beautiful and perfect. |
How do the judges decide which one to pick?
They ask the semi-finalist a question and it's their answer
and their personality that wins the crown. Go ahead, let enewsletters
show them you are more than a just pretty face. (See my picture
above)
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So
that's what I say...but what do you think? You do you make your
purchase decisions? Let me know, just reply with your comments.
Marcos and Group - making eNewsletters that show personality.
P.S. Don't forget to rate this article.
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