People Like Us, Buy From Us

Who buys from us? Who are we trying to sell to? Who are our loyal customers and why?

At the end of the day, the equation is simple,

“People like us buy from people like us.”

You could add an additional word and say,

“People who like us buy from people like us.”

In our search for the perfect customer, people who want to buy from us, we seek to find the rich vein of perfect customers. The digital paradigm tells us that all we need to do is turn up, get on the web and they will be clambering to buy from us. Hopefully, you realise that this story is utter tosh. It doesn’t happen just like that. Being open for business is not enough. Not when there are so many other options.

More importantly, starting with what you, the seller, want is probably the wrong starting place.

So back to my assumption, . “People like us buy from people like us.”

If you divide up your agency’s clients between the ones who love you and are still with you, Type A, and those who are no longer with you, Type B, then you can probably see a pattern.

If we take this concept a stage further then we can see that many people (potential customers) have an internal narrative along the lines of, “People like us do things like this.”

I buy the brand of jeans that fit my idea of what someone like me should look like… I read books that fit my idea of what someone like me should read… I drive the car… I buy the product… You get the idea.

What can I learn from the idea that people buy things that fit their idea of what someone like us should buy? Well figure out who “someone like us” is.

• What is their motivation?: More sales, better quality of life, business exit etc.
• What makes them different?: Carbon neutral offices, 10% profits to charity, diversity etc.
• What is their avatar?: Young, hip and cool, Been-there-done-it, Offices around the world etc.

How does this knowledge help you win and keep their business?

• Step One: Get your foot in the door.
• Step Two: Find out what they need, what their passions are, how you can help.
• Step Three: Talk about their and your passion for X.
• Step Four: Consistently deliver kick-ass service and results.
• Step Five: Rinse, Recycle, Repeat.