Infographic - Deal Seekers Say 4 Things Matter More than Customer Care

If you believe that customer service is your strongest selling point, you might want to think again. New study on deal seekers reveals that shoppers care less about service than they care about four other key factors.

Deal Seekers Tell You What Matters More than Customer Service [Infographic]

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Ask just about any business owner what sets their business apart and you will hear the two magic words: Customer Service. Unfortunately, a new consumer study indicates that customer service does not matter nearly as much to your customers as you think it does.

Many business owners claim that customer service is the one factor that truly sets their business apart; but given the fact that most – if not all – their competitors likely claim the same thing, maybe it should not be surprising that “great customer service” is not what motivates shoppers to buy.

A new report from Experian Marketing Services sheds new light on what consumers value and what motivates them to shop. Dividing consumers into six different categories based on the extent to which deals drive their buying behaviors, you may find it interesting to discover that most consumers put customer service at the bottom of the list of ranking factors further defined by marketingcharts.com study.

The six types of buyers identified in the Experian report, based on whether – and how – their buying behaviors are affected by deals include Deal Indifferents, Deal Seekers, Deal Thrillers, Offline Deal Seekers, Deal Takers and Deal Rejectors. The study described the groups this way:

Deal Indifferents (34% of the population)

The largest group of consumers, at just over one-third of the population, fall into the Deal Indifferents category. Deal Indifferents are not generally enthusiastic shoppers (although they don’t mind shopping as much as Deal Rejectors),most only go shopping when there is something specific they need, and they are not overly concerned about getting the best deal on what they buy.

Neither discounts nor digital media are particularly effective marketing tactics to reach out to Indifferents; you may be more successful in winning them over with marketing that centers around the environment and culture of your business or focusing on convenience.

If more than a third of consumers aren’t motivated to buy based on special offers or discounts, it’s worth taking note of what they say matters most, in order of importance:

1. Brands (100%)
2. Environment (100% – tied for 1st)
3. Convenience (87%)
4. Price (70%)
5. Service (68%)

Deal Seekers (18% of the population)

Deal Seekers are the group most likely to base buying decisions on offers and discounts, and according to the study, represents about one out of every five consumers. Coincidentally, a 2011 Business Insider Chart of the Day notes that of the 83 million deal seekers who subscribe to Groupon, 19% have actually bought a Groupon deal, so there may be more evidence that supports this statistic.

Deal Seekers tend to be younger, love shopping, and are very concerned about getting the best deal on a product or service. Deal Seekers can be reached through just about all digital marketing channels and are motivated to shop by special offers and deep discounts. While price is clearly important to Deal Seekers, this is how they ranked the five factors in order of importance:

1. Environment (100%)
2. Brands (93%)
3. Convenience (80%)
4. Price (73%)
5. Service (68%)

Deal Thrillers (14% of the population)

Like Deal Seekers, Deal Thrillers love deals and are concerned with getting the most for their money, though they strongly agree that the most important thing is getting exactly what they want. They don’t buy unknown brands just to save money and are loyal to their favorite stores and brands.

Personalizing individual offers based on your customer’s favorite brands or frequent purchases or designing your store’s offers around customer preferences could result in offers that are more likely to motivate customers to buy. They want to feel as though they have received a great deal, but don’t necessarily want to shop for it, so marketing messages that include price and value comparisons may also resound with Deal Thrillers.

When it came to the five factors Deal Thrillers say is most important to them, they ranked them this way:

1. Brands (100%)
2. Environment (96%)
3. Convenience (78%)
4. Service (74%)
5. Price (60%)

Offline Deal Seekers (13% of the population)

Offline Deal Seekers love deals just like Deal Seekers do, but do not have as much influence in the digital domain and are not as likely to engage on social media. Offline Deal Seekers will hold off on purchases, and wait until what they want goes on sale. They are also more likely to shop at stores where they don’t normally shop based on a special offer.

Of all the segments, Offline Deal Seekers are most sensitive to price and are highly concerned about whether they got the best deal on a product or service; in fact, 63% say they go straight to the clearance section when they enter a store. They like shopping and browsing more than the average shopper.

Since a larger proportion of this segment is older and retired than in other groups, they are also less inclined to be influenced to purchase based on digital marketing channels (although increasing numbers are digitally savvy, and this may change over the coming years).

The best way to motivate buying is to get Offline Deal Seekers in the door and demonstrate using price and value comparisons that you are offering them the best deal (or the most for their money). Since this group may also wait to make purchases until prices drop, marketing that speaks to the possibility of higher prices or last remaining items may also be effective in motivating them to buy.

They ranked the five factors in this order of importance:

1. Environment (100%)
2. Brands (93%)
3. Convenience (92%)
4. Price (90%)
5. Service (78%)

Deal Takers (12% of the population)

Not to be confused with Deal Indifferents, who don’t really like to shop and are not particularly influenced through digital marketing channels, Deal Takers are happy to take advantage of a deal on something they want to buy, although they are not particularly likely to seek out a special offer before shopping.

Deal Takers are very active and highly influenced by social media as well as other digital marketing. On average, they are more likely to pay attention to reviews and ratings and more likely to actually follow their favorite brands on social media.

Marketing to Deal Takers on price may be somewhat effective, especially for brands and stores they already like. Using reviews, testimonials and ratings to motivate buying should be most effective for consumers that fall into this category.

Of note, particularly since this group may be one of the most brand or store-loyal of all the segments, Deal Takers put the lowest value on customer service of any of the six segments. They ranked the five factors in this order of importance:

1. Environment (100%)
2. Brands (94%)
3. Convenience (82%)
4. Price (75%)
5. Service (66%)

Deal Rejectors (8% of the population)

Of all six segments, Deal Rejectors like shopping the least. They rarely shop and do not buy unknown brands to save money. Only one in five might try a new store based on a deal, nor do they usually seek out the opinion of others before making a purchase.

You are more likely to motivate a Deal Rejector to buy with marketing based on pure convenience or with personalized offers based on their individual brand, product or service purchases; in other words, anything you can do to do the shopping for them! They ranked the five factors this way:

1. Brands (100%)
2. Convenience (96%)
3. Environment (95%)
4. Service (73%)
5. Price (59%)

The Customer Service Marketing Takeaway

It’s time to move beyond knee-jerk responses, cliché’s and pat answers. It is not that customer service does not matter to consumers; it’s that customers expect to have a reasonably good experience no matter where they shop, and regardless of whether buying occurs in store or online. Because consumers expect to have “exceptional customer service” or “great customer service” everywhere they shop, it’s simply not a marketing message that will help you attract customers or turn customers into loyal brand advocates.

Tailor your marketing toward the values that consumers say is important to them (or, even better yet tailor your marketing to what your own customers rate as most important when it comes to choosing businesses to patronize). Go beyond “discounting” as a one-size-fits-all marketing tactic and speak to value and convenience as well. Experiment with A/B offers. Segment marketing tactics for different types of customers.

The more you are able to truly understand and segment your customer base and segments within your target markets and use that information to personalize the way you promote your business based on your audiences, the more effective your marketing is likely to be. What’s more, the same information that makes your marketing more effective in building sales will also help to turn customers into loyal brand advocates and create a referral engine to help grow your organization.