Chronicle Editor
Michelle Nonkazimulo Ndiweni
JUST like in our personal lives, personality plays a huge role in ascertaining the strength and length of relationships. How well you get along with people is closely dependent on personalities of both individuals.
The same applies to business scenarios. Ask yourself if your business flatters the personality of your customers. Does your business accentuate it? Does your business embrace your customer? In colloquial language, one may ask if you “click” with your customer.
To make as much sales as possible, it is important for your relationship with your customer to have “that spark. It must have mutual understanding. It should have genuineness, after all, nobody likes a fake relationship.
Customers have varying personalities and thus require varied treatment. It’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of scenario. Some customers like to try out new products, while others don’t. If your customers have the personality trait of wanting to try out new products, you need to give them that.
If you delay and don’t give them new products as often as they require, they’ll probably switch to a company that offers the new products for them to try out. That probably explains why there are so many new and advanced versions of phones right!
If, on the other hand, the customers do not like to try out new things and they are those who believe it is easier to stick to what you know, offering them new products would be frustrating, rather than exciting. So, it’s crucial to be guided by the personality of your customer.
Some customers seek uniqueness as they engage in shopping. Each time they part with money, they seek to have something that nobody else has. It would be a terrible mistake to sell them something that they perceive many people have.
These are the customers who would scroll all the way to the bottom of Pinterest to find an idea unique to them, and expect to make it exactly as is or better. The customer with a need for uniqueness also buys limited editions of products, all in a bid to be unique.
You’d do yourself, your business and your customer a favour by offering this customer unique products at all times.
On the other hand, there are customers that feel they do not want to stand out and thus prefer products that are common, any attempt to sell a unique product to such a customer would be futile.
Similarly, there are consumers who go on a sensation-seeking quest when they go shopping. These have a need for varied, novel and complex sensations and experiences.
With such a customer you need to make sure you design experiences with either a product or service that will keep them on their toes and excited to interact with you.
Take for instance the Boma experience at the Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Customers attend the Boma experience to have a taste of various African dishes in one evening – now that’s exciting for the variety-seeking customer.
Offering variety is not limited to experiences such as the Boma, but places like Oriental Pies in Bulawayo.
They offer a whole variety of pies, whether you want beef or chicken, you have so much beef and chicken to choose from. For example, with beef, they offer steak and kidney pie, pepper steak and so many other flavours of beef.
If, on the other hand your customer prefers the same product at all times, there’s no use stretching your resources to make variety as there is no guarantee that the variety will be bought anyway.
In a nutshell, it is important to stand guided by the personality of your customer to make the most out of your business decisions.
l Michelle N Ndiweni holds a Master of Science Degree in Marketing and is a lecturer at a local University. She is a Marketing Consultant, Researcher and Trainer and may be contacted on the following profile on LinkedIn, <https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-ndiweni-29015176/>
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