On A Buying Journey For The Perfect Gift

Greetings … tis the holiday season and as always, hoping you are healthy and able to feel some “joy” during this, for many, favorite season of the year.

Los Angeles is pretty much in “lock-down” as far as socializing goes, but thanks to “take-out” and zoom, some fun is happening. Also living in a Mayberry Village of decorated houses is just a treat! Will be doing a walking tour of the neighborhood one of these holiday evenings with eggnog!! Some Christmas cheer!

I was surprised last weekend to learn the stores were open for shopping so I did venture out for some Christmas shopping the old fashioned way. While in one store, I realized I was experiencing a great example of what I have been sharing here on LinkedIn and in my work with my clients ….. and that is understanding the buyer journey and the types of connections & communications needed for each stage of the journey.

The buyer journey is also the seller journey so I’m thinking that sharing my Christmas shopping story might be helpful as you head into 2021. Here is an diagram of the buyer journey to have as a reference …

My goal was to find one specific gift …. it had to be something fun & new for my friend to wear .. of good quality & reflect that I cared! It also had to be from this one store as I only had this one afternoon to shop & no other stores were close by.

I entered the store with a totally open mind … no set ideas, other than the above criteria, as to what I was looking for. Wandering was my first objective .. just wanted to wander around the store & discover where the store displays led me, what would attract me? It didn’t take long to confirm I was attracted to the sections with featured well-known brand names. (attract).

Once in these brand-name sections a few items “caught my eye” that I grabbed off their racks to keep on my arm as I continued to wander. All maybe’s for being “the gift” with each item having “something” that worked…. lots of maybe’s! (connect).

The time came for some decisions to be made, so I started really looking at the items I had gathered on my arm and asking myself questions… would she wear this, what does “she” really like, does it look like the right size, color, where would it be worn, etc… and in this process, I took my shopping to another level of connectivity to “my friend” that totally removed any of my own biases for what might “work.” This process of actively “engaging” with my selected items as a match for my friend’s happiness, enabled me to narrow down my selections significantly! Most of what was on my arm went back on their racks AND NOW … having this new-found clarity, and a little more wandering, the perfect item jumped off a new rack with the right everything!! I felt that wonderful #connection one gets when we know we’ve got the perfect gift for someone we care about. (engage)

This was it! But will it fit into my budget? Actually no, it was over my budget quite a bit, BUT I was so happy with it I was fine with its additional cost … almost happy to spend more!! The store did the right thing as well … they were giving $20 credits plus reward points for my January shopping … a loyalty business tactic that was appreciated. (convert)

What’s interesting is if I had seen this perfect “item” when I first walked into the store, I would not have connected to it …. I would have walked by it. What enabled me to find it was working the layers of connectivity “to my friend’s taste, needs, likes & wants” etc. …. narrowing down what really worked and what didn’t work “for her” …. that is what created my successful buying journey and what contributes to all successful buying/selling journeys.

All and all, an important message for our business communications and what I hope you’ll walk away with from this story … working the layers of connectivity between our solutions and our prospect’s needs …. creating “exact” matches …. is what creates good business and is what maximizes our success. 

Till the next time, be #communicationsstrong 

Here’s to your communications success!

margie