There’s a popular marketing statistic that 67% of the buyer’s journey is complete before they contact your sales team. So that means they are looking at solutions online, and getting referrals from their network, and ruling out some options along the way. If 67% sounds like a lot, according to Gartner, by 2025, 80% of B2B sales will occur in digital channels. Sales is not only about matching the right service to the buyer, but making sure prospects have the information they need, at the time they need it. This is known as the buyer’s journey. While this may seem difficult to unpack (Isn’t everyone’s experience different? We’re not mind readers!), the fact is there are probably only one or two types of buyers you need to consider as you develop your marketing and sales tools. These are your Buyer Personas. I recently became certified in the method taught by the Buyer Persona Institute, and I want to share a few key takeaways when it comes to putting yourself in the shoes of the decision makers who may be considering your services.

What’s the Difference Between a Buyer Profile and a Buyer Persona

First, let’s clarify the difference between two terms that sound similar, but are not interchangeable. Your Buyer Profile is made up of demographic and psychographic information. However, this information doesn’t really get at the heart of why a person decides to buy something. Your Buyer Persona describes your buyer’s expectations and needs during the buying journey. This will include what their role is within the organization, their decision making power, what concerns they have to address, their ability to allocate budget and who else they need to work with in order to complete the process. This is what determines whether or not they go with you or the firm down the road, not their demographics. 

Spoiler alert: There is more commonality among your buyers when it comes to their journeys than you may think. In fact, most organizations only have 1 or 2 buyer personas.

Examples of Buyer Personas:

Wondering what a buyer persona might look like? Here are two real fictional personas that might help you to understand.

Solo entrepreneur- She has to do all of the research and decision making on her own. She is responsible for all of the money coming in and going out. She feels she has little wiggle room to take risks. She wants to understand ROI, but gets frustrated when this information is difficult to grasp. She relies heavily on online reviews and ultimately follows a referral.

Manager within an organization- She has a range of priorities, from hiring staff, to allocating the department budget. She has a lot of autonomy when it comes to spending and decision making, but only within her department. She has to consider what other purchases she will make that year, how easy it will be to implement these solutions, finding solutions that will help the staff do their jobs better and not be a burden. She uses a mix of information sources early on, but ultimately the relationship with the sales rep is the defining factor in her choice.

How do you determine your firm’s buyer personas?

Hopefully by now you see the value in understanding your buyer personas and their buyer’s journey. But you’re probably wondering, how the heck do you figure it out? 

You have to ask people who have been through the experience! Investigating  each step of the journey, whether the prospect followed through with the purchase or not will illuminate critical patterns in the buying process.

The first step is choosing a few people to interview with an eye toward some people who did become clients and others who chose your competitors. The Buyer Persona Institute identifies two primary types of buyers you will want to speak with: 

1. Someone who can decide it’s time to start doing things differently. They can also make budgetary decisions
2. The person who ultimately decides which option the company chooses. They work with everyone affected and have the most insight.

Ask the right questions

Now that you’ve got your list of interviews, it’s time to come up with the questions that will provide the information you need. Again, this is about understanding their buying process, not how fabulous your services are.  You want to understand every step in their decision making from when they first decided to spend money to fix their problem, through their research, discussions with possible service providers, and to ultimately making a purchase decision.  What went well?  What was helpful?  What was frustrating?  Did the options all sound the same?  How important was price at the beginning of the process?  How much did price play a role at the end?

Analyse your Data Collection

It’s easy to let our own biases cloud our perception when it comes to our own business and customers. When you’re reviewing the interview data, look for patterns regarding points of frustration and when the decision making process moved forward. Who were the people involved in making the decision? Was the information easy to find? When were buyers overwhelmed? You might be surprised to discover that decision making doesn’t always come down to price, features or benefits.

Now What?

You probably offer a wonderful service, but if you can’t meet your potential buyers where they are, you’ll never close the deal. Understanding your buyer persona will help you craft your marketing communications and sales process in a way that will make your firm stand out from the crowd, even in a saturated market. So often buyers report frustration when it comes to understanding features and benefits, the value and what makes one solution different from another. Developing your messaging and sales tools based on what the buyer needs, not on what you think they need, will make the experience better for them, and will start your relationship off on the right foot. Don’t wait to make a good first impression after someone becomes a client! And just as important, it’s time to stop losing potential clients to competitors or decision fatigue. 

Are you ready to turn more leads into clients? Want to refocus your sales and marketing efforts to meet your buyers where they are? I would love to help you get a better understanding of your buyer personas and how your marketing activity can support their journey. Contact me today.