WHAT DOES YOUR BUYER REALLY WANT ?
Five Insights Reveal the True Story
THE MOST compelling way to understand people we don ’ t know is through stories : stories about the challenges they face , the options they consider , and how they decide upon a particular course of action .
You probably know that historical figures such as Amelia Earhart and Ernest Shackleton were intrepid risk takers . But this label falls short of explaining their “ adventurer ” persona . Indeed , as every biographer knows , we remember these people because we have heard stories about the circumstances they encountered and the choices they made . Spend more time with their stories and we begin to empathize with their unique circumstances and why they made such fascinating decisions . We can even see where exposure to other options would have led to a very different conclusion .
TELL AN ACTIONABLE STORY ABOUT YOUR BUYER PERSONA .
The biographer ’ s credo is instructive for companies that want insight into strategies that will affect their persona ’ s buying decision . Sadly , many buyer personas fall short . Most are built around buyer profiles , featuring descriptions about their buyer ’ s personality , role , priorities or concerns . If these profiles tell any story at all , they tend to feature “ a-day-in-the-life ” of the buyer , with a timeline that is unlikely to include the buying decision we want to influence . We get lots of context , but little connection ; these profiles lack the essential links between circumstances and a buyer ’ s motivation to invest in a service or product like ours .
The confusion about buyer personas evaporates when companies approach personas with a biographer ’ s mindset , seeking to reveal a story about their buyers ’ perceptions , attitudes and behavior as buyers confront the need to achieve a particular goal , research alternatives , assess the merits of various options and make a buying decision .
Your buyer persona ’ s story will be actionable when it focuses on just five buying insights :
1 . PRIORITY INITIATIVE INSIGHT .
This identifies the conditions that trigger your buyer ’ s decision to search for a product , service or solution like yours . Not to be confused with pain points , your persona ’ s story will tell you what is different about the buyer ’ s environment or attitude at the moment when he or she decides that now is time to take action – investing time , budget or political capital in this type of purchase .
2 . SUCCESS FACTORS INSIGHT .
You don ’ t need personas to identify all of the benefits you can deliver , but it ’ s difficult to know which of these benefits will have the most impact on your buyer ’ s decision to do business with a company like yours . When you understand the emotional and practical outcomes that matter to your buyers , you eliminate the noise and emphasize those benefits that matter to your buyers . This insight makes it easy to develop simple , persuasive messaging and content .
3 . PERCEIVED BARRIERS INSIGHT .
Otherwise known as the “ bad news ” insight , this is the part of your buyers ’ story where you learn why they might choose a competitor ’ s solution or decide to stay with the status quo . Although many companies have heard that their solution is too expensive or missing a critical feature , this insight often reveals that buyers have false notions based on prior experiences or what they ’ ve heard from their peers . Companies that know how and why buyers form these negative opinions can develop effective strategies to change them .
4 . DECISION CRITERIA INSIGHT .
This part of your persona ’ s story details the product or service and company attributes buyers investigate as they weigh
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