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Mike Whitty over at Salesperson Inc. shares his view of the 3 different types of
basic shoppers and their thought process.
The Click 'N' Order vs Click 'N' Brick vs Brick 'N' Mortar Customer ?
Mike Whitty
For the longest time, customers purchased items in one of two ways: either by
walking into a store or mail ordering from a catalog. Well, in many cases, the
store is still there, but the mail order catalog is slowly being replaced by the
Internet. It's less costly and can be updated more frequently by providing this
information on the web, then having our poor mail carriers lug these heavy
catalogs around, and reproduce them with the high cost of printing and stamps.
So, to help you understand where your customer future lies in relationship to
the Internet, I've placed customers into three main categories, and attempted to
provide a description of each.
Click 'N' Order Customers
Click 'N' Order customers usually purchase items based on price, information,
and service. A dealership appealing to Click 'N' Order customers usually needs
to provide all three or be so superior in one facet, like offering special
internet pricing, that they don?t mind less concentration on the other two
factors. In reality, many people don?t expect to necessarily save money by
shopping online, especially by the time shipping costs are factored into the
final price. They do expect value-added sellers, and they love buying from the
comforts of their home. For example, automotive dealerships that have online
parts and accessory pages on their websites provide a great deal of information,
selection, and customer service through their website and this can appeal to
many Click 'N' Order customers. Click 'N' Order customers expect their online
experience to be fast and extensive, painless, with more options than Brick 'N'
Mortar. If there are any problems with their online experience, they can
immediately click away to another website. In a few words, Click 'N' Order
customers expect speed, flexibility, and options? they are generally very savvy
shoppers. Plus, they just have a lot of fun buying things in their pajamas and
having them delivered directly to their front door in just a matter of days.
Click 'N' Brick Customers
The Click 'N' Brick customer is on the way to becoming a Click 'N' Order
customer, but hasn't reached the point of feeling comfortable doing financial
transactions online. Though they find the Internet exciting and spend a lot of
time surfing the web, they feel that putting a credit card online is unsafe. But
they do love doing a lot of research to determine what and where to buy. The
Click 'N' Brick customer will gather all the information on the RV of choice,
print it out, and take it right to the dealership to begin the buying and
negotiating process. It's this fact alone that makes the Click 'N' Brick
customer feel more special than the Brick 'N' Mortar Customer when they come
into your dealership. They just know more and feel they have the upper hand when
it comes to buying a new vehicle. It used to be that salespeople hated to see
these customers come into the dealership (like with their Consumer Reports)
since they were more knowledgeable with facts and figures than the typical Brick
'N' Mortar customer. Sometimes they may even know more about the features of the
vehicle and its competition than the salesperson (which isn't a good thing!)
Brick 'N' Mortar Customer
Brick 'N' Mortar customers are a slightly different breed. They may not know how
to search the internet, or may not even have a computer yet. If they do have a
computer, they're afraid to use it. They can and will take more time enjoying
the ?shopping experience.? A Brick 'N' Mortar customer is not as likely to leave
an RV Dealership because there are a lot of customers in the showroom, as an
Internet customer will click off your site if they don't like the experience. A
Brick 'N' Mortar customer at ABC dealer can?t search 10 other dealerships in 10
other states just to verify that ABC dealer has the lowest price while they are
in the showroom. Once a Brick 'N' Mortar customer receives personalized
attention, it is likely they will come back to the same place again. Brick 'N'
Mortar customers like to ?touch and feel? and are more likely to pick up parts
and accessories they didn?t originally intend to purchase when they left home.
The descriptions for each might not be totally accurate with every customer, but
I think you can see that there are differences with each, and they each have
their own idea on how to shop. Since you already have a process in place for the
Brick 'N' Mortar customer, it's time to begin concentrating on the other two for
increasing your future Internet sales. ? Mike Whitty
Thanks for your article Mike.
Mike Whitty is President and Owner of Salesperson Inc.
Your can contact Mike at
http://www.mikewhitty.com or (800) 453-2787
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