Five things regular customers have in common - Part 2 -

Hello everyone. I am Hayashi, the representative of Monosus.

Since last time , we have been talking about five points that regular customers have in common.

1. They use products and services that match their values and concerns
2. Realizing the value of products and services
3. Able to understand and talk about companies and stores
4. High frequency of repeat behavior
5. Accepts the company's communication rules

Last time, I talked about 1. and 2.
This time I would like to talk about the remaining three.

Able to understand and talk about companies and stores

As we discussed in the 7th issue, many customers who purchase a product or service for the first time
They don't buy your products or services because they want to become your company's customers.
Therefore, I research the products, but I also research the companies and stores thoroughly.
It's rare for someone to be convinced before they make a purchase.

Preference is a word that is often used in marketing.
There is something called.

This is one of the marketing terms that is difficult to translate into Japanese,
It is generally translated as "degree of favorability."
For example, if you go to the beer section of a convenience store and choose a beer from the rows of them,
From a marketing perspective, the beer you choose is determined by your preferences.
The advantage of Preference is that the probability of choosing stock A is 60%, the probability of choosing stock B is 25%,
The point is that it can be expressed in probability theory, such as 10% probability of choosing stock C, and 5% probability of choosing other stocks. (However, detailed research is required,
It is mainly large companies that actually use it.

It is generally said that the most important aspect of marketing activities is how to improve this preference.

However, what constitutes this preference is very vague.
When you are in the beer section of a convenience store, what factors do you consider when deciding on a brand to buy?
When you go to the pharmacy, the factors that determine which shampoo brand to buy are...
When we go through each of these steps one by one, we find that what determines purchasing decisions is often the feeling that "I just like it."
This is a major problem for many marketers.
Consumers themselves do not really understand why they purchased a product or service.

Of course, there may be clear reasons at that moment.
However, if circumstances change, that decision can easily be reversed.

I approach this issue by saying that there are two kinds of preferences.

The two are " tacit intellectual preference " and " explicit intellectual preference ."
When a customer clearly understands why he or she chooses a particular product or service, this is called "explicit preference." Conversely, when the customer makes a choice without really thinking about it, this is called "tacit preference."

Being aware of "why you choose this product or service"
It means being able to explain the reasons for your choice to others.
Having a clear understanding of yourself means that you can put it into words and explain it when asked, whether by yourself or someone else.

So far, we have spoken directly to many of our loyal customers,
Most of them were able to clearly explain why.

There is actually a reason for this.
Many of the regular customers have already told people around them several times why they are regular customers,
As I spoke it out loud a few times, it began to take shape in my mind.
This is because the reasons why you choose that product or service are formalized.

In any case, the third characteristic common to regular customers is,
It's not just about liking a product or service intuitively, but being able to clearly recognize and explain why .

High frequency of repeat behavior

This feature was explained in detail in Part 8.
In the first place, a regular customer is someone who frequently repeats their purchases.
I don't think there's any need to explain that any further.

But the most important of these features is
Many customers who frequently repeat their purchases tend to
What's great is that they began repeating the transaction shortly after their first one.

Of course, there are many exceptions,
The longer the time between the first and second transaction,
It becomes more difficult to get customers to repeat their purchases frequently and become regular customers.

In the business world, we also hear things like " three times is stable, ten times is fixed ."
Three repeat visits means you are a stable customer, and ten or more repeat visits means you are a regular customer.

This is a very easy to understand proverb that has been cultivated in the business world.
I think it would be better to add a time axis to this, such as "stable 3 times per month, fixed 10 times per year."

It may sound a little awkward, but the relationship between repeat behavior and the time axis is very closely linked, so it is important to be very aware of it.

In reality, depending on the characteristics of a product or service, it may not be possible to make 10 purchases in a year.
The important thing is that humans are forgetful creatures .

It is said that humans forget 74% of what they learn after one day.
The same can be said about purchasing behavior.
Because when you first purchase something, you research the product or service.
This is because it is a behavior that is quite similar to learning.

In other words, how hard a company works on its products and services,
And even if we explain our ideas and values, most of them are forgotten within a day.

However, there is a way to prevent this.
That is, to have them review the material .

So, the previous " 3 times a month, stable 10 times a year "
is important.

Also, what I think is particularly important is the part " three times a month ."

If you can get a customer to repeat their purchase three or more times within a month of their initial transaction, that purchasing behavior will become a habit, become established, and make it easier for them to become regular customers.

Repeating an action three times in one month seems like a high hurdle, but
Although the term "repeat behavior" is used here, it does not necessarily have to be "repeat purchasing."

I'll explain this a bit more later, but
The fourth behavior common to regular customers is:
High frequency repeat behavior occurs shortly after the initial purchase .

Accepts the company's communication rules

As customers become regular customers, it is natural that a certain amount of communication will occur between the company and the customer.

Of course, in most cases, it is the company that is doing the talking.
Naturally, the more loyal a customer is, the more likely they are to listen to and respond to a company's messages and actions.

Furthermore, simply waiting for actions or behavior from customers makes it difficult to generate frequent repeat behavior.
Because in most cases, customers aren't expected to make repeat actions more than 10 times a year.

Unless a company makes an effort to encourage repeat purchases, customers will not repeat their purchases in sufficient numbers.

What is important at this time is the message and actions from the company.
That is, the approach is to reach the customer.

In fact, more than half of the concerns of marketers who are trying to attract loyal customers are
Isn't it a matter of not reaching out to customers?

The direct mail I sent was not opened. My e-mail newsletter was not read.
I call and no one answers. I update my blog and no one sees it.

Companies are using every possible means to launch a series of approaches,
In fact, customers don't just avoid them, they often don't even notice.

As mentioned earlier, the company will approach the regular customers, but this is because the customers like the company and accept the approach .
It's not that simple.

No matter how much they like a company, customers who don't have time will not open direct mail.
Even if the phone rings, I don't answer it.

Between regular customers and companies, there is more than just goodwill.
It's a communication rule .

What was even more interesting was that it is not possible to say in general terms which medium is best to use.
In other words, some companies use email, while others use direct mail.
Another company might do most of its business over the phone, and different media are more effective for different companies.

However, it is important that communication rules are established.

For example, if you use the telephone,
When a company says, "We'll contact you by phone,"
Customers understand that "this company will contact you by phone,"
It means it's accepted.

This means that you can contact us by phone.

In the case of direct mail, this means that customers are following the rule of "opening direct mail."

Alternatively, some companies may use a combination of direct mail and phone calls.

This may seem obvious, but
When it comes to developing loyal customers, being able to approach them is a lifeline for implementing a campaign and is like infrastructure.

And most companies fail to achieve this simple reality.

In fact, " Tell us the number of customers you can reliably contact, not the number of people on your list ."
That being said, there are very few companies that can accurately count the number of cases.

Even though most companies communicate with their existing customers,
It is merely a one-sided conversation.
Even though most of the people involved don't even realize it...

The 5 common characteristics of regular customers are
Accept the company's communication rules,
Being approachable by companies .

We will provide more details in the next article when we explain the specific measures we will take.
It is also very important that this communication rule is established before and after the first purchase.

In the last two articles, we have shared five common characteristics of regular customers.

From next time, I would like to explain how to develop specific measures taking these characteristics into account.

Thank you for reading to the end this month as well.

See you next month.