Customers do not make all purchase decisions the same way. In fact, each customer has a split buying personality. One is inherently NOT loyal and can even be adversial towards vendors. The other seeks trusting, committed relationships and the “value†these relationships deliver. Which one do your business practices court?
The indifferent personality focuses on getting the best trade-off between price and convenience. The underlying goal is to acquire utility to complete a task. The product has no personal meaning beyond utility. Indifference develops because value is in the task completion. The customer simply wants to get the task done and to do so at the lowest price and with the least effort then move on to something more interesting and enjoyable. The next time, the same price/convenience trade-off will come into play and the vendors start from scratch again.
With this buying personality there is no potential of building customer loyalty. There are no barriers to competitors and the battle is fought over price and convenience. Convenience includes the effort it takes to shop around. This type of repeat business is tenuous and should not be confused with loyalty. The customer is emotionally free to move from company to company.
Who courts this indifferent buying personality? For the full paper go to:
www.thewhetstoneedge.com/papers/selling.pdf
