4 Types of Customers and How to Market to Them

One of the first things that every serious retailer needs to know is that there are various types of customers, which all belong to a different stage of the consumerist cycle. Seeing how they have diverse motifs and a different conversion potential, each of these groups requires a different approach. With this in mind, here are four most common types of customers, as well as some ideas on how to work on your relationship with them in order to achieve better results.

1.      Potential customer

According to the lifecycle theory in marketing, every single person you reach out to needs to go through several stages until they become a paying customer. In other words, a potential customer is a person at the very beginning of this sales funnel. One of the ways to make this conversion happen is by adhering to the good old rule of seven. It states that an average person needs to hear about your product at least seven times in order to actually make a purchase.

2.      Qualified leads

No matter how skillful most marketers are, some people simply won’t buy from them. Some people, despite all your efforts, may not be interested in your product, find it useful or, in some cases, even belong to the completely opposite group of your target demographics. On the other hand, some people may be so open to your product that they don’t need convincing whatsoever. They are usually referred to as qualified leads or even low-hanging fruit because of how easy it is to pick them up. Needless to say, this particular group needs to be your number one focus, seeing how converting them requires the least amount of effort.

3.      Potential repeat customers

Once you manage to make people buy from you, the hardest part of the job is over, right? Well, not exactly. You see, when it comes to new customers, you need to start thinking beyond your first sale. Unless you are selling luxury products (yachts or real estate), making a single purchase per client won’t be nearly enough. Your main goal is to turn these people into repeat customers and there are only two ways of doing so. First, you need to make a positive impression during the sale process and second, you need to have a well thought-out post-purchase plan for keeping the customer. Email marketing is your safest bet here. If you pull this off, you could see how only 8 percent of your repeat customers can make up about 40 percent of your entire profit.

4.      Brand ambassadors

While every business has an agenda, it doesn’t always end with you making a sale or even turning someone into a brand ambassador. Even in this digital era, you need to keep in mind that a word-of-mouth recommendation still is one of the most persuasive marketing tools. This is where brand ambassadors come in. These people are your regular customers that are so obsessed with your product that they simply must tell the world about it. Unlike influencers, brand ambassadors require no material compensation but are doing so out of their conviction. Needless to say, this makes them the most cost-effective marketing tool.

Conclusion

In most cases, in order for one to become a brand ambassador, they need to go through all three previous stages. Nonetheless, not every customer will get there, even if you do manage to get everything right. Just keep in mind that there are some people who will never buy from you (no matter what you do) and those who won’t do it more than once (in pretty much the same manner). Still, the only way you can know this for sure is by giving your best to reach out to these people and try to make your point of view more appealing.