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Know What Customers Do Before They Are Customers

Qualifier events are those actions customers take before they become customers. It is critical your company knows what these are for your soon to be customers. Qualifier events change between product line, but are pretty consistent over a customer base.

What is it a customer experience before they become a customer?

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If your customers are experiencing any pain, someone will fill that need for them, it might as well be you. The trick is to be in the right place at the right time. And how do you do that?

The only way to be in the right place at the right time is to know your product, the customer, and the things that go on before a customer purchases your offering.

• purchase of new computer systems = need of network services
• hiring of new sales person = need for sales training
• three fold increase in sales = need for financial services
• scandal hits the news = need for damage control

While this process sounds simple, you must find the cause verses the symptom of events -- You don't want to get to the party too late. In the example of a scandal hitting front page, while a customer needs you when the news hits, they needed to hire you prior to the leak.

Make a habit of asking your customers about the events that influenced them to purchase your offering, even learn about the days and months prior to a decision to look for what you offer. With regular surveys you'll develop an understanding of specific events that can be mapped against prospective customers.

Example: If you are a commercial real estate professional you'll know the decision to move to a new facility is a trigger, but even more specific is growth over the current facilities capacity. You would work with bankers, a prospects suppliers, and monitor the trade papers for rapid growth in orders. Even better, you would provide informational resources to help the target company know when (or how) to plan for facility upgrades -- placing the prospect in front of your strategic partners so you know exactly when they will take action.

Your prospective customers are going to do something with or without you -- so you might as well be available to serve them. Looking for qualifier events doesn't have to be difficult, just know your products and when customers need them.

See also: Exploiting Customer Interaction Points for Increased Sales and Simple Ways to Automate Customer Interaction Points No Matter Your Company Size

Justin Hitt helps selling professionals build stronger relationships that increase profits and create loyal customers for business-to-business service firms. For details visit http://HittPublishingDirect.com/

By Justin Hitt at June 18, 2003 1:15 AM  Subscribe in a reader