Clicks 'n Conversions Blog

This article was first published November 26, 2008 on the Tatum Marketing blog

Last week my partner and I, and a couple of dozen other investors, arrived in Buenos Aires on a due diligence trip. What followed was five admittedly-fun days of cocktail parties, tango exhibitions, tours to our various properties, and activities galore.

We made new friends and had a cool time. Unfortunately, that’s not the only reason we were there.

The investment group had an agenda. They were trying to get our commitment for increasing our investment. We also had an agenda. We wanted to understand how the initial funding had been spent and what was planned for the future.

The hosts didn’t think this through. They thought all they had to do was entertain us. Because the information we were seeking was not made available, at the end of the trip we found ourselves with more questions and doubts than we’d had at the beginning. This is not a good way to get investors or customers.

Understanding your prospects’ intentions, concerns, expectations and questions is fundamentally important to good marketing. It’s a step that simply can’t be skipped. And it’s one that needs to be revisited regularly – especially when changes occur in the economy.

I suggest that now is a very good time to ask the following questions:

• Who are these people that are potentially interested in our product?
• Who all is involved in the buying decision?
• What business problem or challenge are they trying to solve or avoid?
• What questions are they likely to ask?
• What answers will move them to the next stage?
• Where do they go for this information?

When the economy tanks, as it has for most of us, you also need to ask yourself whether or not yours is a “must have” purchase or just a “nice to have”. “Must haves” still get bought. “Nice to haves” can be postponed. What can you do to make yourself a “must have”?