Customer Doing to Customer Being

As a marketing professional, it is imperative that I am tuned in with my customers. I make an attempt to go beyond a transnational sale and make it a more meaningful exchange for both of us. While ruminating on this idea and seeking insights to add in my blog, I began to reminiscence...

It was not like this year’s back. When I mean year’s back, I am doing a rollback to my childhood. As a kid I used to accompany my father when he went to meet his other business trader (sellers). It was my routine and I loved going with him. These jaunts perhaps led to my becoming a marketing professional.

Those outings were always the same. My father would move to make a purchase. He would ask the vendor for the price. The price was given with a definitive approach not expecting my father to negotiate. If my father did venture to bargain, the vendor would simply turn to him with a look that said it all “Take it or move on...”. Believe me, these episodes always left me agitated. Though I was just a kid, I did not like it. Not only was the power of balance tilted towards the seller, the vendor did not treat his buyers with respect, the deference that we afford our buyer’s today.

The reason being, at that time it was the seller’s market. The market was not consumer driven.  Products were limited and so was the range. While people had provisions for their daily living, there was a struggle for the proverbial ‘jam on the bread’. It is no wonder then that the market was a seller’s market. A consumer did not have much choice or voice as he has today.

As time passed, the Internet boomed into our lives. Markets opened up, especially after liberalization, and the balance of power began to tilt towards the buyer. This is when ‘Customer Doing’ began.

To explain further here is a hypothetical situation. A marketer of a brand in fashion would begin customer engagement like this:  

Fashion Brand Manager: Hello ma’am, can I take a few minutes?

                                       Are you aware of our brand?

                What do you think about our latest collection, its quality?

You see ma’am, we have an amazing collection which will enhance your fashion quotient....

 Fashion-conscious Customer: Yeah..maybe but I am not sure. Your collection is good, quality is fine, but I want to see what other brands are offering...                                     Thank you.

Here is ‘my tweak of those times’ : Nobody bothered to understand the customer’s life-state and address the issue.

I say, in this case, do we know exactly what our buyer was looking for? Is our fashionista client actually looking for fashion or something else? We don’t have answers to such questions, do we? This is what I call the customer/consumer doing’ zone when our “Our Marketing-Doing was enough to move our sales graph upwards”. It did not go beyond the sales graph.

Now in the current context, things have changed, mind-set has shifted. Today’s time is more to do with ‘Being than Doing’.

What do I mean by “Customer- being’?

It’s all about going into the depth of the life of consumer/customer and create customer/consumer avatar like a ready reckoner

Now check out the ‘Customer- Being’ conversation:

Brand Manager: Good afternoon! My name is Dhaval. I am building a fashion app that will help you choose the perfect outfit that matches the weather. Do you have any problems with choosing what to wear?

Customer: Yes actually, I am always confused as to what to wear. Even though I read the weather forecast, I still fail to put together the right outfit. Imagine my frustration!

*A customer is qualified and frustrated and has a tension. It is time to dig deeper.

Brand Manager: Besides the above, are there any other problems you experienced in selection of outfit?

Customer: Yes, compared to the average person, in certain weather conditions, I feel very cold when others feel fine, even warm. I guess I have a special need. I have a certain preference when it comes to clothing. If you’re making an app to suit this need by taking my own personal needs into account it will be great.

Brand Manager: Interesting, this is a new idea. What you’re telling me is that you have unique needs for your daily clothing choices and thus have difficulty in choosing the right outfit.

Customer: Bingo.   

The above was the difference in the conversation between ‘Doing and Being”.

 In ‘Customer-Doing’ you tend to be in solution mode, whereas in ‘Customer-Being’ you go beyond the transaction and understand the current life situation impacting the life of the consumer. This approach will help you to shift from crafting brand/product mix to brand/purpose mix

I can proudly say in today’s Indian context, many brands have started moving from buyers’ market to purpose-driven market. When you have the right purpose to communicate, the correct objective of reaching your TG it is then that you generate love from the consumers and, I guess, you start generating profit YoY

Moving on...

Soon I foresee a time when the customer will be like Queen Bee and all her wishes will be fulfilled. A ‘Kalpavrisksha’ times will emerge and the customer will get whatever she so desires at any given time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalpavriksha

I am pinning this for the year 3100 A.D

My insight of Customer being:

"They(customer) don’t know that we(Brand Manager) are trying to know what they(customer) need to know"

Stay Inspired