{"id":639,"date":"2017-02-27T15:56:35","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T21:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fundusphoto.com\/?p=639"},"modified":"2017-02-27T15:56:35","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T21:56:35","slug":"better-buyer-part-3-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/?p=639","title":{"rendered":"Be A Better Buyer &#8212; Part 3 of 4"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-640 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/thank-you-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/strong>Are you a good buyer? How so? How do you make buying decisions? What\u2019s important to you? Have you brands and products you repeatedly use? How open are you to a new idea, brand or product?<\/p>\n<p>What causes this loyalty?<\/p>\n<p>Think like a buyer for a moment and accept that there are ample choices of high-quality products and services from which to choose\u00a0because there are.<\/p>\n<h2>How are your suppliers and vendors appreciating you?<\/h2>\n<p>[1] Have you received a handwritten thank you note?<\/p>\n<p>[2] Have you received any free expert advice, tips or news?<\/p>\n<p>[3] Have you ever received a book?<\/p>\n<p>[4] Are you part of a customer loyalty program?<\/p>\n<p>[5] Have you been treated to a meal? Or a coffee? Or golf? Or a game?<\/p>\n<p>[6] Have you ever received a gift?<\/p>\n<p>[7] Have you received a surprise upgrade?<\/p>\n<p>[8] Have you received a surprise discount?<\/p>\n<p>[9] Have you ever been asked for feedback?<\/p>\n<p>[10] Have you ever received a gift card?<\/p>\n<p>[11] Have you ever been \u201ccustomer of the day, week, month or year\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>[12] Have you ever received a milestone award \u2013 ie. your 10<sup>th<\/sup> order, or 3<sup>rd<\/sup> visit.<\/p>\n<p>[13] Have you ever received the \u201cHello Norm!\u201d welcome?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>From the sitcom Cheers. Loyal patron Norm Peterson was always welcomed upon arrival by everyone saying, \u201cHello Norm\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[14] Have you ever received a phone call of thanks?<\/p>\n<p>[15] Have you ever received word that a donation was made in your name to your favorite cause?<\/p>\n<p>[16] Have you ever been invited to join a VIP list or club giving you preferred service, pricing or some other exclusive benefit?<\/p>\n<p>[17] Have you ever received a free car wash?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>How are you being treated?<\/p>\n<p>Do your suppliers and vendors appreciate you?<\/p>\n<p>Are you a name and a face, or just a number?<\/p>\n<p>And does this matter to you?<\/p>\n<h2>How might your customers answer these questions as applied to you?<\/h2>\n<p>These \u201cniceties\u201d may be unnecessary for you and your business, but if your customers are clients \u2013 people with whom you develop a relationship &#8212; and if you work with them more than once, and if their repeat business is important to you, perhaps you should revisit some of these ideas.<\/p>\n<p>And if you are the client and you work repeatedly with a supplier, and their impeccable service and quality matters to you, perhaps you might be more appreciative of them.<\/p>\n<p>Be a better buyer.\u00a0Choose your providers wisely. Cultivate a strong relationship with them and occasionally, say thanks.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There are 2 earlier posts in this series<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php\/be-a-better-buyer\/\">Be a Better Buyer<\/a> \u2013 dozens of factors that buyers should consider when buying. We can and should be more discriminating in our purchase decisions.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/better-buyer-part-2-dale-brodsky\">Be a Better Buyer \u2013 part 2<\/a> \u2013 consider the representative \u2013 are you negotiating with a captive sales rep or an independent supplier, or business owner? Are they pursuing what is best for you or for them?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Steve Gatter is an advocate and adviser to small business owners. His website is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.underdog704.com\">www.underdog704.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you a good buyer? How so? How do you make buying decisions? What\u2019s important to you? Have you brands and products you repeatedly use? How open are you to a new idea, brand or product? What causes this loyalty? Think like a buyer for a moment and accept that there are ample choices of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[44,45,46,47,31,42,32],"class_list":["post-639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-buying","tag-buying-new-equipment","tag-customer-appreciation","tag-customer-loyalty","tag-customer-service","tag-purchase-decision","tag-purchasing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}