Participating in a recent workshop on communicating with
customers, I was reminded of the significance attached to meeting the needs of
our customers. After all, they do have the money! Concepts around customer
buying behavior are not necessarily new, but they do evolve over time. Jolene Brown was the catalyst for my latest ah-ha when she spoke of the 5 attributes people
seek when shopping. She reminds us that people are not buying the goods we sell
directly. What they actually seek to buy is: 1) time, 2) youth, 3) health, 4)
safety, and 5) experience. It may benefit our businesses to give these concepts
consideration as we finalize the 2011 work and start into planning and
implementing for 2012.
Time
Youth
During a private conversation, a major grocery chain
manager described the basics of their decision making process for locating a
new store. The gist of this process is “we seek a demographic with relatively
high cosmetics transactions.” Having not yet found the secret of immortality we
do strive to stay vibrant and active as we age.
Health
Continuing research into our health status leads scientists
to project that in a few more years, 70% of American adults will be overweight. As we consider the health needs of our customers, are we
providing solutions focused on their demand or our interpretations of what they
should
demand?
Between food safety concerns with conventional food sources and food safety concerns with trendy food sources, it’s no wonder the safety of the food we feed ourselves and our families is a
primary consideration when shopping. Also, agri-tourism opportunities are
evolving as farm marketers develop a more sophisticated and fuller compliment
of venues. As farmers step into these non-production roles the risk they
accumulate and mitigate can be significant.
Experience
More consumers are also seeking the farm experience as a
way to build family quality time and assure themselves of the safety of their
food. Not only do consumers expect a delightful experience each and every time
they purchase an item, more significant for us, the further removed from farm
life consumers get the more they crave a real farm/food experience. The
experiences we make available to our customers begin as we initiate promotions
and awareness efforts and follow through final product use. It may be worth
remembering – our customers’ last impression of us is the one most likely to
stay in their head.
I am wildly optimistic when I think about agricultural
opportunities. We may only be limited by our imaginations. However, challenges
are also many. As we seek new farm ventures, develop and implement plans –
let’s also remember to focus on what potential customers actually want. Growing
and marketing great farm products is not the point. Successful farm marketers
are those businesses that are growing and marketing great farm products that
customers want. We may serve ourselves, our communities and our industry best
when we focus on customer needs more often.
