buying pattern business plan

How to Predict and Analyze Your Customers’ Buying Patterns

Published: November 23, 2020

Buyers don't think like marketers or salespeople. Anyone who works in these departments can admit that. More importantly, buyers don't think like each other either.

Each consumer follows their own set of buying patterns, whether they recognize it or not. For instance, someone who walks to work every morning may grab a coffee from the Starbucks on the corner — to them, that's part of their routine. To Starbucks, that's an established buying pattern.

But if this person happened to move neighborhoods, they’d likely establish a new routine (and buying pattern).

Buying patterns are important to recognize, analyze, and measure because they help businesses better understand and potentially expand their target audience. Buying patterns also fall in step with the customer journey, although they connect more with the psychology and motivations behind each stage.

In this post, we are going to discuss buying patterns and how to predict those of your customers.

What are buying patterns?

Buying patterns refer to the why and how behind consumer purchase decisions. They are habits and routines that consumers establish through the products and services they buy.

Buying patterns are defined by the frequency, timing, quantity, etc. of said purchases.

These patterns are determined by factors such as:

• Where someone lives
• Where they work
• How much money they make
• What they enjoy and prefer
• What their friends and family recommend
• What their goals and motivations are
• The price of the product or service they're interested in (and any active sales or discounts)
• Any product displays
• The necessity of the product or service
• Festivals, holidays, rituals, or celebrations

For example, let’s say the customer mentioned in the introduction is named Robert. Robert’s coffee-buying pattern is one coffee every weekday morning, and this pattern is primarily influenced by where he lives and what he likes to drink.

Therefore, when Robert moves neighborhoods, he’ll likely choose a new morning routine (and establish a new buying pattern) that allows him to still snag that morning coffee.

So, in this case, why should Starbucks care?

Well, by understanding Robert’s buying pattern, Starbucks could better understand the buyer persona he represents, predict in-store traffic, and analyze how they could better market their products to similar customers.

Predicting Customer Buying Patterns

Many, many things influence a customer’s buying behavior and patterns. In the case above, Robert’s neighborhood and coffee cravings influenced his daily Starbucks routine, but that’s just one example of his buying patterns. Robert also has established buying patterns for his groceries, gym usage, clothing purchases, and more.

These types of purchases fall into four consumer behavior categories:

• Routine purchases (e.g. weekly grocery shopping)
• Limited decision-making purchases (e.g. a new salon recommended by a friend)
• Extensive decision-making purchases (e.g. a new car)
• Impulse purchases (e.g. a pack of gum at the register)

Buying patterns are present in all of these types of consumer behavior, but they’re most prevalent and predictable through routine purchases. (We’ll dive more into these types and examples in the following section.)

Marketers at companies in all these industries work to uncover and understand the buying patterns of their customers. Most buying patterns are established through the typical buyer journey : awareness, consideration, and decision.

When a pattern is established, however, the buyer then no longer has to become aware of their problem and consider a solution — they simply repeat the decision stage over and over, thus creating the pattern.

So, how can marketers and salespeople uncover the current buying patterns of their customers? The most straightforward way is to ask. Once you set a baseline of customer behavior and expectations, you can then start to predict their patterns — and those of similar shoppers.

Here are some questions to ask in a customer survey or focus group:

• Why did you first purchase [product or service]?
• Who in your household decided to purchase [product or service]? Does this person make all the buying decisions?
• Where do you go when looking for [product or service]?
• How long does it take to decide to buy [product or service]?
• Do you buy other [products or services]? Why?
• What’s your budget for [product or service]?
• How far would you travel to buy [product or service]?

These questions help you understand the why and how behind your customer purchase decisions, thus uncovering their buying pattern as it relates to your product or service.

The most important takeaway about buying patterns is that they’re ever-changing. Not only do they differ between your customers and buyer personas , but they may also change as an individual’s life changes — as we saw above with Robert.

Customer Buying Pattern Examples

In the previous section, I outlined the four main types of consumer behavior. Below, I’ll unpack an example of a customer buying pattern for each of the types of consumer behaviors.

1. Routine Purchases

I mentioned above that routine purchases typically yield buying patterns. This is true because these patterns are the most prevalent and predictable.

For example, let’s say Betty goes grocery shopping every Monday morning after taking her kids to school. She buys many of the same items every week since her kids are young and prefer to repeat their favorite meals for dinner. Sometimes, she’ll splurge on an extra dessert or fancy coffee, but for the most part, she sticks to the same list.

On one Monday, her kids’ school is closed for maintenance. She has to take them to the grocery, vastly changing her grocery routine as her kids pull a variety of snacks and treats off the shelves. She decides to buy a few to placate her kids and treat them to a special day off.

This is also an example of how a buying pattern can be altered based on who accompanies the decision-maker.

2. Limited Decision-Making Purchases

Limited decision-making purchases are typically rendered through a trusted recommendation by a friend or family member. Because of the recommendation, the decision-maker doesn’t consider it to be a tough decision or feel the need to do much research. This type of purchase can actually be the catalyst for an altered buying pattern.

For example, let’s say Georgia has gone to the same hair salon for five years. She's never disliked her services there, but when her friend mentions an amazing new salon that has opened down the street, Georgia is curious to try it.

When she goes, she is so impressed with the service that she decides to make it her new routine salon, thus altering her buying pattern due to outside influence or recommendation.

3. Extensive Decision-Making Purchases

Extensive decision-making purchases are usually those that are for expensive, seldomly-made purchases. These may include a new car, computer, or even a home. Because of their ticket size, there’s little room to establish a buying pattern between purchases.

However, some consumers are loyal to certain brands or stores. For example, let’s say Austin decides it’s time for a new car. He and his family have always owned Fords, so when it comes time to shop for cars, he doesn’t think twice about looking for a new Ford.

While he’s uncertain of what model he’ll buy (sedan versus SUV), he knows for sure that he’ll purchase a Ford vehicle, thus creating a buying pattern between his few-and-far-between car purchases.

4. Impulse Purchases

Impulse purchases are exactly how they sound — impulsive purchases made with little planning, research, or forethought. For this reason, buying patterns are hard to establish with these kinds of purchases.

However, one consistent factor in impulse buying is convenience; consumers often make impulsive purchases when they need something quickly or see something they (think they) need. The convenience factor of impulse purchases allows for buying patterns around location and proximity.

For example, let’s say Gio likes to add a little something extra to his takeout purchases when he orders on his food delivery app. He often changes where he gets food from, but he typically throws in an add-on (e.g. fries, a drink, or a cookie) when prompted before check-out.

In this case, there’s no buying pattern established in what Gio orders or where he orders from, but the app tracks his add-on purchases to analyze how often he makes impulse buys on the app. Then, they know to continue prompting those add-ons or perhaps increase the number of products listed.

Tools for Analyzing Customer Buying Patterns

Customer buying pattern analysis is all about analyzing customer behaviors , and there are plenty of tools that can help.

1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics provides a deep-dive view of your customers’ behaviors on your website. From traffic numbers to user demographics, Google Analytics can show you how your customers are interacting with your website. It can also help you establish baseline behaviors from which you can track patterns (or new behaviors that indicate breaks in patterns).

2. Facebook Audience Insights

If your audience is active on your Facebook Page, you can learn a lot about their behaviors and patterns through Facebook Audience Insights. These patterns may not always result in a purchase, but understanding how your audience behaves on social media can teach you how to optimize your social and other promotional content to better entice them to buy.

For example, if you see your followers engage the most on posts that ask a question, perhaps you start posting inquiries that relate to your product or service (versus blatantly promotional posts that don’t otherwise interest your audience).

3. HubSpot CRM

Here at HubSpot, we’re strong advocates of customer relationship management (CRM) tools. So much so that we offer a free one. Not only do CRMs help align your sales, marketing , and customer service teams, but they provide natural, seamless places to store and track customer behaviors — including buying patterns.

If you link your CRM to your register and/or ecommerce platform and track your customer’s purchases, it will quickly show you patterns in purchase frequency, timing, and more. All you have to do is stay diligent in your data collection.

4. HubSpot Service Hub

HubSpot Service Hub includes valuable Customer Feedback Software that can help you run surveys and collect insights about your customer buying patterns. The tool offers many pre-written and templatized survey options so you can dive right into gathering information around your customer behaviors and preferences.

For example, if you surveyed 25 known customers through HubSpot Service Hub, their answers and preferences would then be recorded in your HubSpot CRM, making it easier for you to track behaviors and establish buying patterns.

Buying patterns can tell you a lot about who’s buying from you and why. Use this information to better understand your customers, and fashion your marketing to match their expectations and meet them where they are.

To dig deeper, read our blog post on marketing psychology next.

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How to Predict and Analyze Your Customers’ Buying Patterns

• May 12, 2024
• by Steven Austin

The Psychology of Buying Patterns: An In-Depth Guide for Businesses in 2024

As a business owner or marketer, understanding how and why your customers make purchasing decisions is critical to driving sales growth. Enter the concept of buying patterns—the habits, routines, and psychology that shape when, where, and how often consumers buy certain products or services.

By gaining insight into your customers‘ buying patterns, you can optimize your marketing efforts, predict sales trends, and ultimately boost your bottom line. But in today‘s fast-paced digital world, consumer buying patterns are constantly evolving.

In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll dive deep into the psychology of buying patterns and arm you with the knowledge and strategies you need to decipher your customers‘ purchasing habits in 2024 and beyond.

What Are Buying Patterns?

Put simply, buying patterns refer to the recurring behaviors exhibited by consumers when making purchase decisions. Rather than one-off or random transactions, buying patterns are predictable, consistent routines centered around specific products or services.

For example, a busy professional who grabs coffee from the same cafe every weekday morning on her way to the office has an established buying pattern. Her daily coffee run is a habitual behavior influenced by factors like her work schedule, location, budget, and personal preferences.

Buying patterns can apply to both B2C and B2B transactions and span virtually every industry. Whether it‘s a monthly subscription box, weekly grocery haul, or quarterly bulk purchase of office supplies, most consumers and businesses alike have ingrained buying patterns.

The 4 Main Types of Buying Patterns

Not all buying patterns are created equal. Consumer behaviors generally fall into one of four categories:

Routine purchases These are buying patterns on autopilot, typically for essential or replenished goods. Routine purchases are frequent and predictable, requiring little to no research or decision making. Examples include toiletries, food staples, or gas fill-ups.

Limited decision purchases As the name implies, limited decision purchases require minimal contemplation. These often stem from a recommendation or specific need and involve only light research or comparative shopping. Booking a yoga class package or buying a bestselling novel are common examples.

Extensive decision purchases High-ticket or technically complex items, like cars, appliances, or enterprise software, prompt extensive decision making before purchase. Consumers put substantial time and effort into researching options, reading reviews, and deliberating before buying.

Impulse purchases Impulse buys are made spontaneously, triggered by emotions or external stimuli rather than necessity. Candy bars at the grocery checkout line, limited-time online flash sales, or purchases made under the influence of alcohol all count as impulse buying patterns.

Key Factors That Shape Buying Patterns

So what compels consumers to develop buying patterns in the first place? A complex matrix of factors—both internal and external—merge to influence how customers allocate their spending:

Demographics: Statistical data like age, gender, income bracket, education level, and marital status all play a role in buying patterns. For example, a single recent graduate will spend differently than a married Baby Boomer.

Psychographics: A consumer‘s goals, pain points, interests, opinions, and aspirations also shape their buying patterns. Two people in the same demographic group may exhibit vastly different purchasing habits based on psychographic factors.

Location: Where a customer lives and works heavily influences their buying patterns, from the stores they frequent to the price points they consider reasonable. The buying patterns of a suburban soccer mom will diverge from a young urbanite.

Economic trends: Societal factors like inflation rates, consumer confidence indices, and employment levels invariably impact consumer spending. During an economic downturn, even affluent shoppers may alter their buying patterns to be more conservative.

Marketing and advertising: Businesses can sway buying patterns through strategic promotional efforts. Targeted ads, personalized email offers, and eye-catching store displays are all designed to trigger purchases (impulse or otherwise).

Pricing: The cost of an item is one of the primary considerations in most buying patterns. Consumers actively seek out coupons, discount codes, and cost comparisons, especially for big-ticket purchases. Anchor pricing can set the bar for what a customer perceives as a "good deal."

Seasons and holidays: Buying patterns ebb and flow throughout the calendar year. Winter coat sales peak when temperatures plummet, while Christmas-themed products start hitting shelves as early as October. Seasonal buying patterns are often deeply ingrained.

Societal norms: Cultural context also molds buying patterns. Diamond engagement rings, for instance, didn‘t become the "standard" for proposals until the 1940s, when De Beers launched its now infamous "A Diamond Is Forever" campaign. Today, this cultural custom shapes the buying patterns of countless couples.

Why Understanding Buying Patterns Matters for Your Business

Developing a deep knowledge of your customers‘ buying patterns is more than just an academic exercise. These insights can unlock huge growth opportunities and give you an edge over competitors. Here‘s why decoding buying patterns is a business imperative:

Improve inventory management: When you know the cadence at which customers purchase certain items, you can optimize your inventory to meet demand without tying up excess capital in languishing stock.

Refine pricing strategy: Understanding what price points motivate or deter customers helps you set competitive yet profitable rates. You can also better time promotions to drive sales around buying patterns.

Enhance marketing ROI: Segmenting customers based on buying patterns allows you to craft more targeted, relevant messaging that resonates. Personalization is the name of the game.

Predict sales trends: Analyzing historical buying pattern data helps you anticipate demand fluctuations and revenue cycles, so you can plan accordingly. You‘re less likely to be blindsided by shifting consumer habits.

Boost customer loyalty: When you demonstrate an understanding of your customers‘ purchasing preferences and behaviors, you forge a deeper sense of connection. Shoppers feel like you "get" them, breeding loyalty and retention.

How to Identify and Analyze Your Customers‘ Buying Patterns

Now for the million-dollar question: How can you uncover your unique customers‘ buying patterns? A multipronged approach that blends quantitative data and qualitative insights is key.

• Dive into your CRM data If you use a customer relationship management platform, you‘re likely sitting on a treasure trove of buying pattern data. Your CRM can reveal key metrics like:
• Purchase frequency
• Average order value
• Lifetime customer value
• Product affinities
• Channel preferences

Segment your CRM data by demographic factors, engagement level, and buying behaviors to start identifying patterns and persona types.

Analyze your sales data Your sales data is equally illuminating for buying patterns. Look at historical sales by product category, time period, and customer segment. Do you see any consistencies or anomalies? Platforms like Amazon, Shopify, and Square all offer robust analytics to help connect the dots.

Conduct voice-of-customer research To get inside your customers‘ heads, go straight to the source. Surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews provide valuable qualitative context for the buying patterns you identify in your data. Ask questions like:

• What triggers you to purchase [product/service]?
• How often do you buy [product/service]?
• What criteria do you consider when purchasing [product/service]?
• Where else do you buy similar products/services?
• What would convince you to buy [product/service] more often?

Observe in-store/on-site behaviors Don‘t overlook the power of astute observation. How do shoppers navigate your store or website? Which products do they gravitate toward? How much time do they spend deliberating? Take detailed notes, or even consider hiring a mystery shopping firm for an outside perspective.

Look to the competition Buying patterns extend beyond just your business. Scope out your competitors‘ marketing tactics, pricing strategies, and social media comments. Peruse industry research and trend reports. The more holistic your view of the competitive landscape, the better you can cater to and shape customer buying patterns.

How to Adapt Your Marketing to Customer Buying Patterns

Armed with an intimate understanding of your customers‘ buying patterns, you can optimize your marketing to drive more (and more profitable) sales. Consider these strategies:

Implement segmented email campaigns: Use your buying pattern insights to develop distinct email marketing journeys based on customer segment. The content, cadence, and offers should align with each persona‘s unique purchasing behaviors and preferences.

Leverage retargeting: If a high-value customer segment routinely buys a certain product, retarget them with related products to cross-sell and encourage larger orders. Conversely, retarget shoppers who‘ve abandoned their carts with exclusive discount codes to nurture them down the purchase path.

Personalize recommendations: Anticipate your customers‘ needs by suggesting products or services that complement their established buying patterns. This demonstrates that you understand—and want to add value to—their lived experience.

Launch loyalty programs: Since frequent, high-volume buyers are often your most profitable customers, reward their loyalty with perks like discounts, free shipping, or exclusive access to new products. Motivate them to keep doing more of what they‘re already doing.

Dial in your marketing timing: Reach customers when they‘re most receptive to buying, whether that‘s via time-sensitive flash sales, holiday-pegged promotions, or location-based mobile alerts. Match your marketing to real-life shopping rhythms.

Get active on social: Social commerce is skyrocketing. Weave your buying patterns intelligence into your social strategy, spotlighting user-generated content from your most ardent fans and partnering with relevant influencers to sway purchase decisions at critical junctures.

Prioritize customer retention: It costs far more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. Instead of fixating on lead generation, focus on nurturing relationships with your most consistent buyers through stellar customer service, personalized perks, and authentic engagement.

Trends Shaping the Future of Buying Patterns

As technology evolves and consumer preferences shift, buying patterns will inevitably transform too. These three trends are poised to shake up the purchasing landscape in the coming years:

The "New Normal" of Ecommerce: The COVID-19 pandemic massively accelerated the adoption of online shopping. Over 2.14 billion people worldwide now buy goods and services online. While some consumers have returned to brick-and-mortar, 57% still prefer to shop digitally. Seamless ecommerce experiences are no longer a nice-to-have; they‘re table stakes.

Personalization at Scale: Consumers today expect brands to cater to their unique needs and wants with curated recommendations, customized messaging, and bespoke products—even in an increasingly digital world. Using data and predictive analytics, forward-thinking retailers are finding innovative ways to deliver hyper-personalized marketing at scale.

Conscientious Consumerism: Buying patterns are gradually shifting from mindless to mindful. Sixty percent of consumers now consider factors like sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and ethical business practices when choosing where to shop. Brands that align with customers‘ values and make a positive societal impact can earn enduring loyalty.

Ready to Put Buying Pattern Insights into Action?

Decoding your customers‘ buying patterns is no small undertaking, but the payoff is well worth the effort. You‘ll gain a crystal-clear picture of what motivates your shoppers to click "add to cart"—and be able to replicate that success over and over.

The key is to commit to an ongoing process of data mining, analysis, and optimization. As buying patterns inevitably shift, make a practice of proactively seeking out insights and adapting your strategies accordingly.

Need help getting started? The experts at [Your Company] are here to guide you through collecting, interpreting, and activating buying pattern data to accelerate your sales. We can arm you with the tools and knowledge you need to make shopping with your brand irresistibly convenient and compelling.

Contact us today to start turning your customers‘ buying patterns into your competitive edge.

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Buying patterns: what are they, and how to influence them

I coined the term Buying Patterns decades ago to explain the route people take to becoming buyers: Buying Patterns: the sequence of 13 steps people take between discovering a problem and choosing/buying a solution as they seek to resolve a problem in a way that minimizes disruption to their culture.

A buying decision is a change management problem well before it is a solution choice issue. People don't want to buy anything; they want to resolve a problem in the least disruptive way. Indeed people only become buyers when they’re certain they cannot resolve the problem using familiar resources, and explore every avenue to fixing the problem themselves first. Buying anything is the very last thing people do.

In case you’re one of those sales folks who try to motivate a sale by pushing your information, or lowering the price; or you’re wondering why your prospect isn’t returning calls or in the pipeline for so long; or thinking they’re in pain; this is what’s going on: they’re doing necessary work behind the scenes to find the most efficient route to resolving their problem in a way that ensures maximum buy-in and the least disruption. I can’t say this enough: people buy only if they’ve determined they cannot fix a problem themselves with known resources AND a purchase will ‘cost’ less than the cost of the disruption they’re facing in their status quo. This article lays out what people go through en route to buying anything, regardless of need or the efficacy/size/price of the solution, whether buying a new car, choosing an external trainer, buying software or a new phone, or deciding on family therapy. And because they’re recurrent and generic, I consider these steps to be a pattern.

Buyers have no pain

I don’t understand why ‘pain’ is so often paired with why/how buyers make buying decisions. Indeed, the ‘pain’ issue has been invented by sellers who assume potential/targeted buyers would function better if they bought the seller’s solution, and by not buying they’re obviously in pain. This is bogus.

A buying decision is a systems issue; it’s not a pain thing. If adding an external/new solution causes too many problems that the stakeholders believe will leave them worse off, they will not buy regardless of their need or the efficacy of your solution. They must weigh all the issues involved and get buy-in from the stakeholders before any action is taken or not. And the sales model doesn’t enter into this Pre-Sales, hidden, unknowable area as it’s not product/solution-related. But with a different hat on, it’s quite easy to be involved and facilitate the route to a purchase.

David Sandler called me in 1993 to buy me out before he died. He said he’d made an error stating that ‘buyers are liars’ and saying ‘buyers are in pain’, stating that after reading one of my books, and looking at the problem from the buying decision/change management side, he finally understood the focus should be on facilitating the buying steps. “I thought I had gone outside the box with Sandler Sales; I realize now I was still considering sales from a solution placement perspective. I didn’t understand how far outside the box I needed to go to include the buying decision process.”

Think about it. Before you buy a new car, you try to fix the one you have; make sure you’ve got the funding; try to sell the current one; make sure your spouse is in agreement, etc. You don’t start off with a purchase, regardless of the problems with your current car. Or in business, if you need a new CRM system, for example, you don’t begin by buying a new system: you begin by meeting with the managers and users to determine why the current system is problematic; trying to get the current one fixed; finding workarounds to try to resolve the problem easily; and making sure that there’s a process in place to manage any user, technology, training, time disruption that might come with bringing in new technology. Again, buying anything is the very last thing that happens.

Selling vs. buying

Choosing a new solution is a systems problem that involves careful orchestration, even when some of the process is unconscious. As a frustrated sales person, I developed a new model called Buying Facilitation® to make the journey through the steps of change, choice, and buy-in, conscious. I’ve identified each step and carefully defined what’s involved in each step to make it possible to intervene in any segment so sellers can assist people in navigating the journey first, before trying to sell anything. This sequence – Buying Facilitation® first, sales second – ensures you’ll find (and quickly close) a much larger number of people who WILL buy (rather than those who SHOULD buy) and keep you from wasting time on those who will never buy (but you think they ‘should’ because you think they’re ‘in pain’).

People who may become buyers must do this anyway, and due to the solution-placement focus of the sales model and avoidance of all things ‘change management’, do it by themselves as we sit and wait. But we can find the people who WILL buy on the first call, and help them traverse their journey. But we need a different hat on before we begin selling. Again, we wait while they do this anyway – why not add a new skill set before selling, and then just sell to the ones who will buy?

Here’s a simple story to explain what’s going on behind the scenes.

In 1995 I was running a Buying Facilitation® training at IBM. One day my client asked me to help enlist a new Beta site for one of their new systems. There was a small ‘Mom & Pop’ shop (i.e. family run business) located nearby, and from their records they knew this company was using a system far too small for the growth they’d incurred over the past years, causing very slow response times. Letting them have a free new system in exchange for IBM having them close by to test, would be a win/win. But even after two sales folks had visited them with the promise of a new, free, system that would substantially speed up their response times, the company had no interest. Could I try to get them to become a beta site?

Here was our conversation:

SDM: Hi there. I'm a trainee calling from IBM and have a question for someone who is using your computers.

SON: Hi. I'm Joe. I'm one of the owners. Maybe I can help.

SDM: Thanks. I wonder how your current system is running?

SON: It's OK.

SDM: I know our folks were out there, offering you a faster system to beta test, and you weren't interested. I'm curious now what's stopping your current system from being better than OK?

SDM: DAD? I don't understand.

SON: I know our system is very, very slow. But my father is in charge of the technology here, and he's 75 years old. He'll be retiring in a year or so, and I don't want to overwhelm him with learning anything new. So I'll make whatever changes necessary after he leaves.

SDM: Ah. So what I hear you saying is that your main criteria is not to overwhelm Dad and don't mind how slow the system is in the meantime.

SON: Right.

SDM: You already know we want to give you an upgrade in exchange for being a beta site for us. From what I know about it, they've made it very simple to use and easy to learn. Maybe you and Dad could visit another beta site here in Rye to see if Dad likes it and finds it easy to use? I'd be happy to pick you up and take you there. And if Dad is happy, then maybe you'd be comfortable accepting it to beta test for us?

SON: Oh. I wasn't aware we could do that. Your colleagues were trying to sell me on the features of the new capabilities, and that wasn't my problem. Sure, Dad and I would be willing to go to the beta site. Thanks. Having a quicker response time would be great for us if we could make that happen, and Dad is comfortable with it.

Focused on placing a solution through the strength of the product, through assumed needs and pain, the emphasis was ‘features, functions, and benefits’ instead of the real, unknowable criteria; there was no way an outsider could guess that Dad was the problem that had to be solved. Offering product or price (free) details were moot. The group’s Buying Patterns were systemic, focused on ensuring their culture remained operational. And every buying experience uses the same process, obviously in different scales of complexity.

By overlooking the full set of Buying Patterns to focus merely on placing solutions, sellers automatically restrict their full set of prospective buyers: people who will become buyers haven’t yet decided to go outside for a solution and have no reason (other than research into different ways they can fix the problem themselves) to heed your content/pitch. That’s why content marketing is spectacularly unsuccessful (close rate 0.00059%).

Selling doesn't cause buying

Please understand this: there is no way for outsiders to fully understand what’s going on behind the scenes in any person or group’s route to a decision. We don’t live in the prospective buyer’s environment; we cannot know the system, the relationships, givens, rules or priorities, of the people involved. Until they figure out how they need to resolve their problem, there is no way a seller can determine how, or why, your solution would benefit them; even they can’t know the full fact pattern until they’ve gone through their steps. And your pitching and biased questions, will only uncover the low hanging fruit who have managed the first 9 of their Buying Patterns and already become buyers.

Obviously when it’s time to buy, buyers take very specific actions as they choose one solution over another, choices based on price, reputation/brand of the solution, decision makers, etc. This is when the conventional sales tools of pushing information and content details, explaining features and functions, finding optimal demographics etc. are vital. Selling depends on information sharing. But selling doesn’t cause buying.

I’m aware that many sellers believe Buying Patterns are how buyers buy. But by focusing merely on the final stages when they actually choose a solution, you restrict your ability to facilitate those  who will buy  but haven’t completed their process and could use your help.

Once you understand and recognize

• the full range of steps people go through as they become buyers (Pre-Sales),
• how the buying decision path begins much earlier than choosing the solution, with very specific stages that can be tracked,
• the point at which the change issues have been factored in and it’s agreed to seek an external solution,

you can facilitate them through the process to become buyers. Then you can employ your sales strategy as well as your marketing and digital offerings to target each stage. By ignoring this, you’re severely restricting your market.

Stages of buying patterns

Here are the Pre-Sales areas folks go through as they become buyers. And note: as outsiders we cannot be directly involved in their internal process, but we can use our knowledge of these steps to facilitate the progression so long as our first focus is to facilitate change:

WHAT'S THE STATUS QUO? WHAT'S MISSING?

until or unless every element of the status quo is understood by the prospective buyer, they cannot identify exactly what’s missing. In the Dad example, what was missing was not the computer issue, but the ability to have Dad learn how to support a new one; a delay in purchasing new software is most likely not a technology issue, but might be a recent reorganization, or a merger, or a change in leadership. And an outsider can never, ever understand because they’re, well, outsiders. It’s like asking someone to know if any pieces are missing in a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle by looking at the picture on the closed box. Sure, an outsider can know what it will look like when completed, but cannot know if anything is missing until the puzzle is almost completed by the users. This stage includes meetings, research, identifying stakeholders.

RULE: a seller can facilitate someone through the process of recognizing the full fact pattern of givens within their status quo, including the people, culture, and rules, to help them learn what is keeping them from having an optimal environment. In other words, help people, in a way that does not bias their discovery, recognize if anything is missing from their status quo. Until or unless they can see this in an unbiased way, they will prefer to maintain their status quo. And posing questions biased by a seller’s need to place a solution cannot do this. The focus must be to facilitate change, first.

GATHER THE FULL SET OF STAKEHOLDERS

Until or unless everyone involved with creating the problem and using any new solution is brought in, the full problem set cannot be understood. Too often only recognized leaders take the lead, or only one person recognizes a problem and fights with the status quo to be willing to change (This is often the one person we speak with, and we can’t really know if s/he’s speaking for the entire Buying Decision Team or just for him/herself, even if we ask.). Everyone’s voice must be included – Dad, and Joe in accounting. This stage includes meetings to determine who will touch the final solution and agreement as to how to involve them.

RULE: a seller can facilitate a prospective buyer through a discovery to ensure every single stakeholder is included to buy-in to any change. Until all folks who will touch the final solution are included, there is no way for them to understand their needs. Speaking with anyone about needs before this has occurred is a waste of time (i.e. all those names on your call back list and pipeline].

Speaking with anyone about needs before all folks who will touch the final solution are included is a waste of time (i.e. all those names on your call back list).

TRY TO FIX THE PROBLEM WITH KNOWN RESOURCES

U ntil it’s fully understood that the problem cannot be resolved with anything that’s already been accepted by the culture – other departments or items, familiar vendors or products – and all workarounds have been tried, they will never consider bringing in anything brand new as it will be disruptive to the culture. It’s a systems thing: systems work hard at maintaining their status quo (homeostasis) as anything new runs the risk of creating problems by not fitting in. This stage includes internal research, and delegating folks to outreach for familiar resources: can our old vendors fix this? Do our colleagues know anyone they respect? Can the other department help? Until a workaround is sought and dismissed, there will be no initiative to make a purchase.

RULE: people never start off seeking an external solution but must try to fix the problem themselves. Sellers can help folks discover how to fix their own problem: What’s stopping you from using the vendors you used last year? Have you tried getting help from other departments? They are going to do this anyway as it’s part of their process. They’ll do it when you hang up, in fact. Either you help them through this, or are relegated to sitting helplessly while they do it themselves as you continue to think they’re prospects and put them in your pipeline. By helping them, you can provide further support and help them speed up their own process. In reality, this is the simplest stage, as if they could fix it, they would have done so already.

MANAGING CHANGE TO AVOID DISRUPTION

Once folks realize that :

1. They have a problem that all stakeholders have fully defined and agree is a problem; 2. They cannot fix it themselves;

then it's necessary to go "outside" for a solution.

This is the most problematic step in the Buying Pattern because anything new will cause some sort of disruption: technology might not integrate; users must agree to use and get trained; familiar patterns of use will be scrapped for new routines; people fallout must be managed.

The cost of the new must be calculated against maintaining the status quo – if they are going to have to fire a whole department when bringing in new software, is it worth it just to speed up their output? When they figure this element out, they’re ready to choose a solution. This stage includes lots of research within the group/company/family to ferret out problems that change would incur, and figuring out the cost of each.

RULE: facilitate people to recognize what might be in jeopardy if something new is brought in. Until they weight the risk between the status quo vs a fix, and can calculate that bringing something new is has a lower cost than maintaining the status quo, they cannot buy anything as the risk is too high.

CHOOSE A VENDOR/SOLUTION

This is the last stage - where sales usually enters! Once it’s calculated that it will cost less to bring in a new solution than maintaining their status quo, AND there is buy-in from the stakeholders, they become buyers. This is the low hanging fruit. These folks are ready for a pitch because they know how to manage the change and understand the costs of buying something. This stage involves sellers pitching, content marketing, website design, etc.

These elements comprise Buying Patterns. And to lead folks through these stages I my ‘new sales paradigm’ Buying Facilitation® uses a new form of question called a Facilitative Question that avoids any bias from the Asker and leads people through their Buying Patterns steps to design their own, unique, solution criteria that can then be easily matched by our products.

So one question for the Managing Change phase might be   “How will you and your Buying Decision Team go about identifying the elements a new solution would need to include, to avoid disrupting your status quo?”   instead of “Let me tell you how my product can help you fix that.”

First facilitate their journey through their Buying Patterns, facilitate Buyer Readiness – and THEN sell to those who are ready. You’ll avoid chasing people who will never buy, and speed up the buy cycle for those who will buy. And you’ll get results: my students using Buying Facilitation® close 40% against the control groups closing 5% using the same list and the same solution. By focusing on the tail end of the Buying Decision Path, sellers restrict their close rate by a factor of 8.

Sales vs. facilitating buying patterns

I always ask: Do you want to sell? Or have someone buy? They are two different activities. People become buyers ONLY when there is no way to resolve their own problem AND they know the cost of bringing in something new. There will be NO purchase until the entire series is handled somehow, even on a small item purchase. It has nothing to do with pain, or the marketing efforts, or the pitch deck, or the product. You’re products are great. The problem is you’re only focusing on those who already show up as buyers and ignore managing the full set of Buying Patterns where a far larger group of real prospects reside.

Note: trying to understand these yourself is a frustrating exercise, as we can do little more than pose questions biased by our own curiosity and generally have no way to even consider the unique situations within each potential prospect’s environment, i.e. Dad.

I understand that the sales industry doesn’t consider these elements part of the sales process. Sales continues to assume a purchase is based on how we position our solutions, when in fact that relegates us to picking off the few who show up. Let’s help those who will/can buy, facilitate them through their Buying Patterns, and when it’s time, THEN pitch to those who are ready to buy it.

I know you’re all getting accustomed to the definition of Buying Patterns now circulating. But by forgetting the original intent of the term, you overlook the change management portion of Buying Patterns: by merely focusing on the low hanging fruit, you’re missing an opportunity to prove your value by facilitating them through the process. By focusing on this small group, you’re losing the opportunity to facilitate that percentage of people on your lists will become buyers once they get through their Pre Sales change issues. You can speed it up with them, help them get it right, and then be there when they are ready to buy.

Shift the focus from selling based on the value of the solution, to first managing change: It’s a wholly different initiative and strategy using different terms, different goals, different outcomes and a different set of skills (i.e. Listening for systems Facilitative Question, etc.) . Because net net, until people understand the entire range of internal issues that will be activated as a result of adding something new, nothing will be purchased. It’s not about your solution. And as long as you continue to merely focus on that final element, you’ll only close the 5% you’re currently closing.

People who will become buyers must go through this process anyway, regardless of their need or the efficacy of our solution. But they do this without us, as we wait, hope, push, and pitch, and lose an opportunity to both serve and differentiate ourselves. We assume they’re in pain because they’re not responding to our efforts.

Instead of the time and resource we use pushing content, why not use a different skill set (i.e. Buying Facilitation®, or some form of facilitation model that’s manages change) first to help them become buyers. Using a change management focus at the beginning you’ll even be able to recognize who WILL become a buyer on the first call, reducing your prospecting time to one quarter the time you’re now using, and close 40% of the list you’re now closing at a 5% rate.

Membrain note: In the next article on this topic, we'll dive deeper into the 13 steps all buyers must take before they make a purchase, whether you want it or not.

Sharon-Drew Morgen is an original thinker, inventor of Buying Facilitation®, Facilitative Questions, 13 steps of systemic change, and the HOW of change. Author of the award-winning blog sharon-drew.com and 9 books including the New York Times Business Bestseller Selling with Integrity, Dirty Little Secrets: why buyers can’t buy and sellers can’t sell and WHAT? Did you really say what I think I heard? Sharon-Drew trains, coaches, speaks in several industries, including sales, healthcare, communication, change, Servant Leadership. She lives on a houseboat in Portland, Oregon, USA.

Find out more about Sharon-Drew Morgen on Twitter or --> LinkedIn

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How to Conduct a Market Analysis in 4 Steps — 2024 Guide

Posted february 5, 2021 by noah parsons.

Understanding your customers is the key to success for any startup. If you don’t have a deep understanding of who your customers are, you’ll have trouble developing products that truly fit their needs, and you’ll struggle to develop a successful marketing strategy.

This is where a market analysis comes in. It may sound like a daunting and complex process, but fortunately, it’s not.

What is a market analysis?

A market analysis is a thorough qualitative and quantitative assessment of the current market .

It helps you understand the volume and value of the market, potential customer segments and their buying patterns, the position of your competition, and the overall economic environment, including barriers to entry, and industry regulations.

Why you should conduct a market analysis

Whether you are writing a one-page plan or putting together a detailed business plan for a bank or other investor, a solid market analysis is expected. But, don’t just do a market analysis because you’re developing a plan. Do it because it will help you build a smarter strategy for growing your business.

Once you have in-depth knowledge of your market, you’ll be better positioned to develop products and services that your customers are going to love. And while diving into market research may seem like a daunting task it can be broken up into four simple elements:

• Industry overview: You’ll describe the current state of your industry and where it is headed.
• Target market: Who are your actual customers? You’ll detail how many of them are there, what their needs are, and describe their demographics.
• Competition: Describe your competitors’ positioning, strengths, and weaknesses.
• Pricing and forecast: Your pricing will help determine how you position your company in the market, and your forecast will show what portion of the market you hope to get.

How to conduct a market analysis

Now, let’s go into each step in more detail so you know exactly what you need for your market analysis.

1.  Industry overview

In this step, you’ll describe your industry and discuss the direction that it’s headed. You’ll want to include key industry metrics such as size, trends, and projected growth.

Industry research and analysis is different than market research . When you’re researching your industry, you’re looking at all of the businesses like yours. This is different than market research, where you are learning about your customers.

Your industry overview shows investors that you understand the larger landscape that you are competing in. More importantly, it helps you understand if there’s going to be more demand for your products in the future and how competitive the industry is likely to be.

For example, if you are selling mobile phones, you’ll want to know if the demand for mobile phones is growing or shrinking. If you’re opening a restaurant, you’ll want to understand the larger trends of dining out. Are people eating at restaurants more and more over time? Or is the market potentially shrinking as consumers take advantage of grocery delivery services?

If you’re in the United States, the U.S. Census has excellent industry data available . I’ve also found Statista to be useful. You should also look up your industry association—they often have a wealth of information on the trends in your industry.

2. Define your target market

Your target market is the most important section of your industry analysis. This is where you explain who your ideal customer is.

You may find that through the course of your analysis, that you identify different types of customers. When you have more than one type of customer, you do what’s called market segmentation. This is where you group similar types of customers into segments and describe the attributes of each segment.

You’ll need to start broadly and refine your research by defining the following elements.

Market size

Unlike industry size, which is usually measured in dollars, your market size is how many potential customers there are for your product or service. We’ve got a great method for figuring out your market size that you can read about here .

Demographics

Describe your customer’s typical age, gender, education, income, and more. If you could paint a picture of your perfect customer, this is where you’ll describe what they look like.

Where are your customers located? A specific country, region, state, city, county, you’ll want to describe that here. You may even find that your customer base is segmented based on location which can help you determine where you’ll be doing business.

Psychographics

It’s here that you need to get inside the mindset of your customers, know their needs, and how they’ll react. What are your customers’ likes and dislikes? How do they live? What’s their personality?

This piece can even help you better approach analyzing the competition.

This is essentially an extension of some of your psychographic information. Explain how your customers shop for and purchase products like yours.

Customer behavior is always changing. If there are trends that you’ve noticed with your target market, detail them here.

3. Competition

Your market analysis isn’t complete without thinking about your competition . Beyond knowing what other businesses you are competing with, a good competitive analysis will point out competitors’ weaknesses that you can take advantage of. With this knowledge, you can differentiate yourself by offering products and services that fill gaps that competitors have not addressed.

When you are analyzing the competition, you should take a look at the following areas.

Direct competition

These are companies that are offering very similar products and services. Your potential customers are probably currently buying from these companies.

Indirect competitors

Think of indirect competition as alternative solutions to the problem you are solving. This is particularly useful and important for companies that are inventing brand new products or services. For example, the first online task management software wasn’t competing with other online task managers—it was competing with paper planners, sticky notes, and other analog to-do lists.

How you’re different

You don’t want to be the same as the competition. Make sure to discuss how your company, product, or service is different than what the competition is offering. For a common business type, such as hair salons, your differentiation might be location, hours, types of services, ambiance, or price.

Barriers to entry

Describe what protections you have in place to prevent new companies from competing with you. Maybe you have a great location, or perhaps you have patents that help protect your business.

The best way to research your competition is to talk to your prospective customers and ask them who they are currently buying from and what alternate solutions they are using to solve the problem you are solving. Of course, spending some time on Google to figure out what else is out there is a great idea as well.

4. Pricing and forecast

The final step in a market analysis is to figure out your pricing and create a sales forecast to better understand what portion of the market you think you can get.

Pricing your product or service

First, think about your pricing . Of course, you should ensure that your price is more than what it costs you to make and deliver your product or service. But, beyond that, think about the message that your price sends to consumers.

Customers usually link high prices to quality. But, if you are pricing on the higher end of the spectrum, you need to make sure the rest of your marketing is also signaling that you are delivering a high-quality product or service. From what your business looks like to its logo and customer service experience, high-prices should come with a high-quality experience during the entire sales process.

On the other end of the spectrum, maybe you’re competing as a low-priced alternative to other products or businesses. If that’s the case, make sure your marketing and other messaging are also delivering that same, unified message.

Forecasting for initial sales volume

Once you have an idea of your pricing, think about how much you expect to sell. Your industry research will come into play here as you think about how much of the overall market you expect to capture. For example, if you’re opening a new type of grocery store, you’ll want to know how much people spend on groceries in your area. Your forecast should reflect a realistic portion of that total spend. It’s probably not realistic to gain 50 percent of the market within your first year.

However, don’t make the mistake of assuming that you can easily get 1 percent of a very large market. 1 percent of a 3 billion dollar market is still $30 million and even though 1 percent seems like a small, attainable number, you need to understand and explain how you will actually acquire that volume of customers.

When you build your forecast, use it as a goal for your business and track your actual sales compared to what you had hoped you would sell. Tools like LivePlan can help you automatically compare your forecast to your accounting data, so it’s easy to do. But, even if you use a spreadsheet, tracking your progress will help you adjust your business strategy quickly so that you can do more of what’s working and less of what isn’t.

Prepare your business with a market analysis

Creating a good market analysis is a very worthwhile exercise. It will help you uncover your blind spots and prepare you to compete with other businesses. More importantly, it will help you understand your customers so you can deliver the best possible service to them.

Looking for some examples of market analysis? Take a look at our free sample business plans on Bplans . There are more than 500 of them across a wide range of industries, and each one of them has a market analysis section.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2018 and updated for 2021.

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Noah Parsons

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Buyer behavior

Last updated: 7 April, 2023

Types of buyer behavior

Buyer behavior patterns.

Model of buyer behavior

Buyer behavior analysis

Checkout our sales pipeline templates freebies.

Buyer behavior refers to the decision and acts people undertake to buy products or services for individual or group use. It’s synonymous with the term “consumer buying behavior,” which often applies to individual customers in contrast to businesses.

Buyer behavior is the driving force behind any marketing process. Understanding why and how people decide to purchase this or that product or why they are so loyal to one particular brand is the number one task for companies that strive for improving their business model and acquiring more customers. 

Buyer behavior is always determined by how involved a client is in their decision to buy a product or service and how risky it is. The higher the product price, the higher the risk, the higher the customer’s involvement in purchase decisions. Based on these determinants, four types of consumer buyer behavior are distinguished:

Complex buying behavior

This type is also called extensive. The customer is highly involved in the buying process and thorough research before the purchase due to the high degree of economic or psychological risk. Examples of this type of buying behavior include purchasing expensive goods or services such as a house, a car, an education course, etc.

Dissonance-reducing buying behavior

Like complex buying behavior, this type presupposes lots of involvement in the buying process due to the high price or infrequent purchase. People find it difficult to choose between brands and are afraid they might regret their choice afterward (hence the word ‘dissonance’). 

As a rule, they buy goods without much research based on convenience or available budget. An example of dissonance-reducing buying behavior may be purchasing a waffle maker. In this case, a customer won’t think much about which model to use, chousing between a few brands available. 

Habitual buying behavior

This type of consumer buying behavior is characterized by low involvement in a purchase decision. A client sees no significant difference among brands and buys habitual goods over a long period. An example of habitual buying behavior is purchasing everyday products.

Variety seeking behavior

In this case, a customer switches among brands for the sake of variety or curiosity, not dissatisfaction, demonstrating a low level of involvement. For example, they may buy soap without putting much thought into it. Next time, they will choose another brand to change the scent. 

Each consumer may have unique buying habits. Still, there are typical tendencies, which allows distinguishing the following buyer behavior patterns:

Place of purchase

If customers have access to several stores, they are not always loyal to one place. So even if all items are available in one outlet, they may divide their purchases among several shops.

Items purchased

There are two things to consider: the type of the product customers purchase and its quantity. As a rule, people buy necessity items in bulk. In contrast, luxury items are more likely to be purchased in small quantities and not frequently. The amount of goods people buy is influenced by such factors: 

• Product durability
• Product availability
• Product price
• Buyer’s purchasing power 
• Number of customers for whom the product is intended

The analysis of a buyer’s shopping cart may bring many valuable insights about buyer behavior.

Time and frequency of purchase

With the development of e-commerce , purchases have become only a few clicks away. Anyway, marketers should understand how often and at what time of the year or day people tend to buy more goods. The product purchase frequency may depend on the following factors:

• Product type
• Customer’s lifestyle
• Product necessity
• Customer’s traditions and customs

Method of purchase

People buy goods in different ways: some go to the store, while others prefer ordering items online. Some pay cash, while others use a credit card. Among customers who buy goods in online stores, some pay on delivery, while others are ready to pay right after they place an order. The way customers choose to purchase products tells a lot about their buyer persona .

Model of consumer buying behavior

The buyer behavior model is a structured step-by-step process. Under the influence of marketing stimuli (product, price, place, and promotion) and environmental factors (economic, technological, political, cultural), a customer understands the need to make a purchase.

The decision-making process they undergo afterward is affected by their characteristics, such as their beliefs, values, and motivation, resulting in the final decision to either buy or not to buy. 

Most buyers go through several stages when making a purchase decision:

1. Need recognition

At the first stage, the buyer recognizes that there is a need for a product or service. For instance, they might realize that, since their company is growing, manual email outreach is no longer effective, so they need an email automation solution .

2. Information search

After understanding the need for a product or service, the buyer starts looking for information. They might obtain it from different sources (friends, commercials, mass media). For example, a prospect may start browsing email automation solutions, read reviews, etc.

3. Evaluation of alternatives

Once all the necessary information has been gathered, the buyer starts to evaluate a choice. They might compare key features and pricing, looking for advantages of one tool over all others.

4. Purchase decision

After evaluation, the buyer makes a purchase decision. For example, they start their free trial or purchase a paid plan. 

5. Post-purchase evaluation

After purchasing the product or service, the buyer assesses whether it has met their expectations. At this stage, they might also leave an online review about the purchase or share their feedback with subscribers, colleagues, or friends. 

There are cases, however, when some stages of the decision-making process are skipped. For example, the customer already knows a lot about a product and does not need to search for information. Another situation is when the buyer might see a product in the store and decide to buy it impulsively. Besides, there are situations when, after evaluating alternatives, the customer goes back to the information search step.

To offer relevant products and services to the target audience, marketers should analyze what and how people buy. Companies adhere to several ways of monitoring consumer buying behavior:

Using computer software

Computer software provides companies with valuable information about the customers’ purchase experience. This allows analyzing what products or services are preferable among certain groups of buyers, how the customers’ location influences their purchase habits, etc.

Analyzing customers’ reviews

Another way of analyzing buyer behavior is to study the customer’s feedback. Online reviews can often reveal more than just people’s feelings about the purchase. They might also share some information about how they choose items or the way they prefer buying goods. 

Conducting online surveys

Some companies also conduct online surveys , which gives them an opportunity to research the buyer behavior at any angle they need. Surveys allow requesting direct information about what people like to buy, what product qualities they value the most, what determines their purchase decision, and so on.

The analysis of buyer behavior tendencies will help companies find the right marketing strategies to attract potential customers and convert them.

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Crafting the Customer Analysis in Business Plan: A Comprehensive Guide

In today’s competitive business environment, understanding your customers is the key to success. Customer analysis in business plans plays a crucial role in driving business growth and providing a competitive edge.

Short Summary

The essence of customer analysis.

Customer analysis is an essential element of any business plan, emphasizing the comprehension of target customers, their requirements, and how your product or service fulfills those requirements. By performing customer analysis, businesses can better tailor their products and services to their target audience , ultimately leading to increased sales and a thriving business.

Purpose of Customer Analysis

The primary objective of customer analysis is to recognize potential customers, prioritize customer segments, and provide guidance for marketing and product development strategies. Understanding your customers’ wants, needs, pain points, and objectives is crucial to creating targeted marketing campaigns and product offerings that resonate with them.

By closely monitoring customer feedback and support requests (Voice of Customer analysis), businesses can gain insight into customer pain points and preferences and even discover unexpected uses for their products.

Key Components of Customer Analysis

The essential elements of customer analysis encompass target market identification, demographic analysis, and behavioral analysis. Demographic analysis provides insights into factors such as age, income, and location, which can be used to create targeted marketing strategies.

Behavioral analysis, on the other hand, entails comprehending the customer’s decision-making process for the purchase, including the steps taken, information sources consulted, and who has the authority to make the final decision. By understanding these components, businesses can better cater to their customer’s needs and preferences, ultimately leading to success.

Conducting an Effective Customer Analysis

An effective customer analysis involves a thorough research process that focuses on customer pain points, goals, and insights on what influences their buying decisions. This process begins with identifying your target market, which is crucial in ensuring a successful business.

By analyzing customer demographics and examining customer behavior and purchasing patterns, businesses can tailor their marketing strategies and product offerings to address the specific needs and preferences of their target customers.

Identifying Your Target Market

Identifying your target market is the first step in conducting a comprehensive customer analysis. By precisely defining the target customer your company is serving, you can focus your marketing efforts and resources on the most profitable customer segments.

Small businesses with 10 to 50 employees located in large metropolitan cities on the West Coast can benefit from having a business plan. This plan should provide clear guidance and instructions for the successful execution of tasks, including target market analysis.

With a clear understanding of your target market, you’ll be better equipped to develop a targeted marketing strategy that resonates with your audience and drives sales.

Analyzing Customer Demographics

A comprehensive view of the messaging that is most likely to appeal to customers and the marketing channels that are most effective in reaching them can be achieved when customers seek multiple bids, as it provides valuable insights into their preferences and decision-making process.

By constructing a marketing strategy around the types of people who have already made a purchase, you can maximize the return on investment of your marketing budget.

Examining Customer Behavior and Purchasing Patterns

Analyzing customer behavior and purchasing patterns can yield valuable insights through customer behavior analysis. By monitoring customer interactions with your products and services, such as website visits, purchases, and customer reviews, you can identify customer needs and preferences and devise strategies to enhance customer retention and loyalty.

Utilizing Customer Analysis Results

Customer analysis results can be leveraged to enhance marketing strategies, drive product development and innovation, and strengthen customer retention and loyalty. By recognizing customer feedback and customer support requests, businesses can acquire advantageous insights into customer behavior and preferences, which can be utilized to provide direction to marketing and product development strategies.

In this section, we will explore how customer analysis results can be utilized to improve various aspects of your business.

Enhancing Marketing Strategies

By tailoring marketing strategies based on customer analysis, businesses can optimize their marketing efforts and achieve greater success.

Driving Product Development and Innovation

Insights from customer analysis can guide product development and innovation, ensuring that products and services meet customer needs and preferences. By understanding customer pain points and objectives, businesses can create new products and services that address these needs, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Strengthening Customer Retention and Loyalty

Understanding customer needs and preferences through customer analysis can help businesses improve customer retention and loyalty. By tailoring products and services to the specific needs and preferences of your target audience, you can enhance customer satisfaction and encourage repeat business.

Furthermore, by identifying gaps in the customer experience and optimizing touchpoints, businesses can improve the overall customer journey and nurture long-lasting relationships with their customers.

Tools and Techniques for Customer Analysis

In this section, we will explore the different tools and techniques that can be used in customer analysis.

Data Collection and Analysis

Creating buyer personas.

Creating buyer personas is an essential technique in customer analysis, as it helps businesses visualize their ideal customers and tailor marketing and product development strategies accordingly.

Customer Journey Mapping

Customer journey mapping is an invaluable tool in customer analysis, as it enables businesses to identify gaps in the customer experience and optimize touchpoints to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. A customer journey map is a visual representation of the stages a customer goes through when interacting with a business, from initial awareness to loyalty.

By understanding the customer journey and identifying areas for improvement, businesses can enhance the overall customer experience and nurture long-lasting relationships with their customers.

Case Study: Successful Customer Analysis in Action

As a result, their current customers experienced increased sales, customer loyalty, and overall business growth and success.

In conclusion, customer analysis is a powerful tool that can drive business growth and success by helping companies understand their target customers, tailor their marketing strategies, and develop products and services that meet customer needs and preferences.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a customer analysis in a business plan.

A customer analysis is an essential part of a business plan, which identifies target customers and outlines how a product or service meets their needs.

It helps businesses understand their customers better, so they can create marketing strategies that are tailored to their target audience. It also helps them identify potential opportunities and threats in the market.

What is an example of customer analysis?

This process helps businesses better understand their target audience and develop strategies to reach them. It also helps to identify potential opportunities for growth and improvement. By understanding customer behavior, businesses can create more effective marketing campaigns and better serve their customers.

What should be included in a customer analysis?

What is the primary objective of customer analysis.

By understanding customer needs and preferences, businesses can create targeted marketing campaigns and product offerings that are tailored to the needs of their target audience. This helps to ensure that the company is reaching the right people.

How can customer analysis help improve marketing strategies?

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3.1 Understanding Consumer Markets and Buying Behavior

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• 1 Define consumer buying behavior.
• 2 Explain the nature of the buyer’s black box.
• 3 Describe how consumer behavior is characterized into types.

Consumer Markets and Consumer Buying Behavior Defined

How many buying decisions did you make today? Perhaps you stopped on the way to work or class to buy a soft drink or coffee, went to the grocery store on the way home to get bread or milk, or ordered something online. You likely make buying decisions nearly every day and probably don’t give most of those decisions much thought. But the way you make those decisions is significant for marketers, because if they can understand why you buy what you buy and when you buy it, they can use that information to boost revenue.

Consumer buying behavior refers to the decisions and actions people undertake to buy products or services for personal use. In other words, it’s the actions you take before buying a product or service, and as you will see, many factors influence that behavior. You and all other consumers combine to make up the consumer market .

The Buyer’s Black Box

It stands to reason that the hundreds of millions of people who make up the global consumer market don’t all buy the same products and services. Why do certain people prefer different items than others? The answer lies in the factors that influence consumer buying behavior. One model of consumer buying behavior is what’s known as the buyer’s black box , which is named as such because little is known about what goes on in the human mind. It’s also known as the stimulus-response model.

As illustrated in the model shown in Figure 3.2 , consumer buying behavior is based on stimuli coming from a variety of sources—from marketers in terms of the 4Ps (product, price, promotion, and place) , as well as from environmental stimuli, such as economic factors, legal/political factors, and technological and cultural factors.

These stimuli go into your “black box,” which consists of two parts: buyer characteristics such as beliefs and attitudes, motives, perceptions, and values, and the buyer decision-making process, which is covered later in the chapter. Your response is the outcome of the thinking that takes place in that black box. What will you buy, where, when, how often, and how much?

Types of Consumer Buying Behavior

Buying behavior is not influenced solely by the external environment. It’s also determined by your level of involvement in a purchase and the amount of risk involved in the purchase. There are four types of consumer buying behavior, as shown in Figure 3.3 .

Complex buying behavior occurs when you make a significant or expensive purchase, like buying a new car. Because you likely don’t buy a new car frequently, you’re highly involved in the buying decision, and you probably research different vehicles or talk with friends or family before reaching your decision. By that time, you’re likely convinced that there’s a significant difference among cars, and you’ve developed your own unique set of criteria that helps you decide on your purchase.

Dissonance-reducing buying behavior occurs when you’re highly involved in a purchase but see little difference among brands. Let’s say you’re replacing the flooring in your kitchen with ceramic tile—another expensive, infrequent purchase. You might think that all brands of ceramic tile in a certain price range are “about the same,” so you might shop around to see what’s available, but you’ll probably buy rather quickly, perhaps as a result of a good price or availability. However, after you’ve made your purchase, you may experience post-purchase dissonance (also known as buyer’s remorse) when you notice some disadvantages of the tile you purchased or hear good things about a brand you didn’t purchase.

Habitual buying behavior has low involvement in the purchase decision because it’s often a repeat buy, and you don’t perceive much brand differentiation. Perhaps you usually buy a certain brand of organic milk, but you don’t have strong brand loyalty. If your regular brand isn’t available at the store or another brand is on sale, you’ll probably buy a different brand.

Variety-seeking buying behavior has the lowest customer involvement because brand switching is your norm. You may not be unhappy with your last purchase of tortilla chips, but you simply want to try something new. It’s a matter of brand switching for the sake of variety rather than because of dissatisfaction with your previous purchase.

Link to Learning

The 4ps and consumer behavior.

Watch this short, humorous 4Ps video as a way to help you remember the concept. This video also includes several examples of target markets and how a marketer might respond.

Consumer behavior is an important marketing topic, and depending on the marketing program at your institution, you may have the opportunity to take a consumer behavior course and learn more about the topics covered above. Studying consumer behavior is important in marketing because it will teach you how to best know your customer, an integral aspect to marketing a product or service. You can also watch this selfLearn-en video to get a stronger grasp of consumer behavior.

As mentioned, environmental factors have an impact on consumer behavior. Can you think of a recent environmental influence that has had a significant impact? The coronavirus pandemic has probably been the most influential in recent years, and for many reasons! We still have a lot to learn about the impacts of the pandemic, and new information is being released daily about changing human behavior and the impact on marketing. For example, in this Google article, the author shares a cultural anthropologist’s insights for understanding consumer behavior and how it relates to three core needs all people experience—self-care, social connection, and identity—and how these needs correlate to recent YouTube video trends. Learn about how marketers can respond to this trend.

Continually trying to understand environmental influences will keep you on the cutting edge and ahead of the competition. It’s a great practice to always be looking for the latest information so that you can shift your strategies as needed. Bain & Company is an example of one company that wanted to understand how the pandemic changed consumer behavior. The company ran a survey in 2021 to better understand the impact of the pandemic, and it found five trends from the data.

A survey from Accenture , one of the top-ranked consulting firms in the world, found that the pandemic caused 50 percent of consumers to evaluate their purpose and what’s important to them. Read more about the findings in this article.

Always be looking for information to be the best marketer you can be!

Knowledge Check

It’s time to check your knowledge on the concepts presented in this section. Refer to the Answer Key at the end of the book for feedback.

• Dissonance-reducing buying behavior
• Variety-seeking buying behavior
• Complex buying behavior
• Habitual buying behavior
• technological
• Product choice
• Brand choice
• Social stimuli
• Purchase timing
• the consumer market
• the buyer’s black box
• consumer buying behavior
• complex buying behavior

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Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/principles-marketing/pages/1-unit-introduction

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• Book title: Principles of Marketing
• Publication date: Jan 25, 2023
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/principles-marketing/pages/1-unit-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/principles-marketing/pages/3-1-understanding-consumer-markets-and-buying-behavior

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What is Buyer Behavior: definition, types, patterns, and analysis

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What is Buyer Behavior?

Complex buying behavior

Dissonance-reducing buying behavior, purchase behavior that is habitual, behavior that seeks variety, buying location, purchased products, purchase frequency and timing, purchase method, making use of computer software, examining customer feedback, conducting online polls, how can graphy help you scale your online course business.

In this blog, you will learn about buyer behavior including its types, patterns, and its analysis. 

Are you a creator trying to understand your buyer’s behavior? No matter what line of business you are in, it is imperative to understand the buyer’s behavior. Don’t you feel that if you know what your buyer is looking for, you can shoot up your online course business 10x faster?

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Well, you must be thinking that it’s a must-to-know thing, but you may be struggling a bit to comprehend it. If you are one who wants to know about it, then you are at the right place, just like the other 40000+ creators. 

So without any further delay, let’s understand the definition of buyer behavior along with their types, patterns, and analysis.

Table of Contents

Buyer behavior refers to the decisions and actions people take when purchasing products or services for personal or collective use. It is synonymous with the word “consumer’s buying behavior,” which often refers to individual customers rather than businesses.

Any marketing strategy is propelled forward by buyer behavior. Knowing the following is the number one priority for businesses skimming to enhance their business plan and acquire more customers.

• Why and how do people try to buy this or that product, or 
• Why are they so patriotic toward one brand?

Types of buyer behavior

Buyer behavior is always ascertained by how invested a client is in their purchase decision and how volatile it is. The higher the price of the product, the greater the risk, and the greater the customer’s involvement in purchasing decisions. Four different types of consumer buyer behavior are classified depending on these factors:

Now that we know the types of buyer behavior, let’s understand them a bit step-by-step.

This method is also known as extensive. Because of economic or psychological risk, the customer is deeply engaged in the purchasing process and conducts extensive research prior to purchase. 

Buying expensive products or services, such as a house, a car, or an education course, is an example of this sort of purchasing behavior.

This type, like complex buying behavior, requires a high level of engagement in the purchasing process due to the high cost or occasional purchase. People have difficulty choosing between brands because they are afraid of regretting their decision later (thus the term “dissonance”).

They typically purchase items based on convenience or availability of funds without conducting extensive research. 

The purchase of a waffle maker is an instance of dissonance-reducing purchasing behavior. In this situation, a customer will not give much thought to which model to use, instead selecting from a few brands available.

This category of consumer purchasing behavior is distinguished by a lack of participation in the purchase decision. A client sees no discernible difference between brands and purchases habitual goods over time. 

Purchasing everyday items is an illustration of habitual purchasing behavior.

In this circumstance, a customer switches brands for a wide range of options or eagerness rather than dissatisfaction, indicating a low degree of engagement. 

For instance, they may buy soap without giving it much thought. They will select a different brand next time to switch the aroma.

A pattern of buyer behavior

Each buyer may have distinct purchasing habits. However, there are common inclinations that enable the following buyer behavior patterns to be distinguished:

Customers who have access to multiple stores are often not loyal to a single location. Though all goods are present in a single store, they may split their buying among several stores.

There are two factors to take into account:

• The type of product purchased by customers and 
• The quantity purchased. 

People usually buy necessities in mass. Luxury products, on the other hand, are much more likely to be bought in small quantities and infrequently. The quantity of inventory purchased is driven by variables such as:

• Product longevity
• Product accessibility
• Product cost
• The purchase power of the buyer
• The customer base for whom the product is designed

The evaluation of a buyer’s shopping basket can provide many useful insights into buyer behavior.

With the advancement of e-commerce, purchases are now only a few mouse clicks away. In any case, marketers need to understand how frequently and at what time of year or day individuals are likely to purchase more goods. The duration of product purchases may be based on the following factors:

• Product classification
• Customer’s way of life
• Product requirement
• Customer customs and traditions

People purchase goods in a range of methods: 

• A few go to the store, whereas others prefer to purchase items online.
• Some people pay in cash, whereas others pay with a credit card.
• Customers who buy goods from online stores compensate on delivery, while some are happy to pay immediately after placing an order. 

The manner in which customers purchase products reveals a great deal about the buyer’s persona.

Consumer buying analysis

Marketers must analyze what and how people buy, in addition to offering suitable products and services to their target audience. Companies use several methods to monitor consumer purchasing behavior:

The computer software gives businesses useful insights into their customers’ purchasing experiences. This enables analysis of which products or services are preferred by specific segments of customers, how customers’ location drives their purchasing habits, and so on.

Another method for analyzing buyer behavior is to examine customer feedback. Online reviews frequently reveal more than just people’s reactions to a purchase. They may also disclose information about how they select items or how they tend to shop for goods.

Some businesses also undertake online surveys, which allows them to study buyer behavior from any perspective they desire. Surveys allow you to ask people directly:

• What they wanted to purchase, 
• What item qualities do they appreciate the most,
• What influences their purchasing behavior, and so on.

The analysis of buyer behavior inclinations will assist businesses in determining the best marketing strategies to attract and switch potential customers.

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Buying Pattern - Meaning, Importance, Types, Factors & Example

What is buying pattern.

Buying pattern refers to the typical way in which consumers would buy goods or avail services considering the frequency, quantity, duration, timing etc. In simple words, buying patterns indicate or may predict how consumers purchase goods or services but are highly susceptible to change.

This is an important concept from the perspective of a marketer in predicting the consumer behavior and making sure that the product or a service is available when the customer needs it.

Importance of Buying Pattern

Marketers often try to understand buying pattern and its relation with geographical, demographic and psychological characteristics of the consumer. In order to understand the buying patterns, marketers conduct comprehensive surveys. Typical questions to understand the buying pattern for a particular product would be:

1. Do you purchase a particular product?

2. How often is it purchased?

3. What is the typical SKU you buy?

4. What is the maximum budget assigned to buying product?

5. Have you considered alternatives?

This along with demographic and psychological information including age, gender, occupation, household income, household size, education level, geographic location, hobbies, interests etc. could provide valuable insights. Understanding the buying pattern allows the company to decide on strategies for market segmentation, distribution and sales promotions.

• Buying Motives
• Buying Criteria
• Buying Behavior
• Buying by Specification
• Buying Structure

Types of Buying Pattern

The buying pattern can be of different types:

1. Low Involvement Buying

This can be the regular buying of things like groceries which a customer has bought a lot of time and many customers would show similar buying pattern across regions. A milk carton may be bought daily in the morning without a lot of involvement and decision process on a daily basis. For a marketer, the most important part here is distribution and availability at the right time and right place.

2. Impulse buying

In impulse buying, there may or may not be a clear pattern. It can be bought immediately without lot of decisioning when the opportunity presents itself. From marketer's perspective, they need to be available at the points where customer can consider the products quickly and buy them e.g. near point of sales (POS) terminals.

3. High Involvement Buying

It is for a product which will take some time in decision making and would take into considerations a lot of things and factors as discussed earlier. Buying an air conditioner nearing the summer season would prompt a lot of buyers to consider buying an AC but the pattern would be similar.

Factors in Buying Pattern

There are certain factors in determining the buying pattern:

1. Frequency

The frequency of purchase is very important in determining a customer's buying pattern. A customer may buy the product daily e.g. Milk or once every month like a subscription to a service. Marketers can use this trend to better price the product or launch more SKU (stock keeping unit) for the products.

2. Quantity

The quantity of the product bought by the customer tells a lot about the pattern and trends of a particular product in a market. A customer may buy less quantity of a product based on many parameters or may buy a lot of quantity for usage over a longer period.

This factor is about a particular pattern in the time of buying. Like woolen clothes would be bought just before winters or air conditioners might sell more during the summer season. Marketers can come up with interesting offers based on the timing in the buying pattern.

Buying Pattern Example

For example, consider John, a fresh college graduate, who has taken up a job at a multinational and follows the 9-to-9 work schedule. His typical buying pattern for groceries might involve going to the local convenience store once a week and the supermarket twice a month, for both major and fill-in trips. Since he lives alone in his apartment, he generally opts for smaller SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) and more variety. Now consider the launch of an online portal for groceries that encourages buying larger SKUs. Since it’s much more convenient for John to order groceries online, his trips to the two stores would come down drastically and buying pattern would change significantly.

Hence, this concludes the definition of Buying Pattern along with its overview.

This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team . It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

Browse the definition and meaning of more similar terms. The Management Dictionary covers over 1800 business concepts from 5 categories.

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What is Buying Pattern Analysis? Steps of Buying Pattern Analysis

June 10, 2023 | By Hitesh Bhasin | Filed Under: Marketing

Table of Contents

What is Buying Pattern Analysis?

Buying pattern refers to the consumer ’s purchase pattern and can be defined as “the characteristic way in which consumers purchase products or services in terms of quantity, frequency, timing, etc. Buying behavior of a consumer and depends on various factors and hence is not consistent. Studying this buying pattern of consumers is called Buying Pattern Analysis .

For example, a consumer, who is single, might be used to buying a particular brand of the pulse every once in a month from a particular shop. However, when he gets married, the numbers of family members increase and thus he might have to double the number of pulses purchased or buy the same amount of pulse twice in a month. Thus, we see that his buying pattern i.e. frequency and quantity change according to circumstances. Studying this pattern would help businesses target more consumers.

Types of consumer buying pattern

1. Minor repurchase

This kind of purchase is done routinely and consumers return to the same product unconsciously. For example, buying the same brand of soft drink

2. Minor new purchase

Though these kinds of purchase are new to the consumer, the consumer knows about the product category. For example, buying clothes from a new brand comes under this. The buying pattern here needs the moderate amount of time and effort.

3. Major new purchase

In this kind of purchase, the consumer has no previous experience and thus is clueless. This kind of purchase is very important to the consumer and this is one of the most difficult types if consumer buying pattern. A simple example here would be a consumer deciding to buy a Sedan. Since he has no prior experience of purchasing a sedan, he would need to gather considerable information, evaluate them carefully and then decide.

4. Major re-purchase

These kinds of purchase, though important to the consumer, are easier to make since the consumer has prior experience. Upgrading from an old laptop to a new one would come under this category.

Why is Buying pattern analysis important?

The reasons for a change in the buying pattern of consumers can be multi-fold and hence it becomes imperative for businesses to keep a tab on this changing buying pattern of their target consumers. It is commonly known that key to a flourishing marketing strategy lies in understanding buyer behavior.

Hence, it becomes crucial for businesses to understand buying pattern of their target consumers and craft their marketing strategies around it. Another reason for understanding the buying pattern is that it helps in crafting a successful marketing mix strategy that will help businesses meet the need and wants of their target consumers.

The stages of Buying are as follows

There are 6 stages of consumer buying behavior . The image below adequately represents the various kinds of buying pattern that a consumer follows:

Process of Buying Pattern Analysis

1. problem recognition.

This is the first stage of the consumer buying pattern and involves the consumer identifying his needs and wants. The act of identifying the need can be internal or external. When the consumer identifies his needs on his own, it is called as internal stimuli. An example here would be the customer’s old Television set breaking down and the customer realizing that he needs to buy a new television set.

On the other hand, when a business makes the customer realize that he can choose from LCD, CRT or Plasma television sets; this would be called as external stimuli. External stimuli are always triggered by an advertisement while internal stimuli are a result of a genuine need of the consumer.

Businesses can target external stimuli by gathering information about target consumers needs and then creating and marketing a product that would take into account these stimuli.

2. Search for information

Once a consumer has identified his problem, he starts searching for information that would address his problem. Information can be searched by the discussion with friends, family, and experts. It can also be gathered from commercial sources such as advertising campaigns, displays, discussions with salesmen and others.

A consumer can also gather information from public sources such as consumer rating organizations or mass media. An important aspect to remember here is the effort consumers might take to search for information for products they intend to purchase. A simple rule of thumb here would be that the efforts to search for information for products that are inexpensive and trivial would be far less than for products that are expensive.

3. Evaluation of alternatives

The efforts taken to search for information will yield some options for the consumers. Now, the consumer has to evaluate all the available options. When evaluating options, consumers have to decide on two levels – Product type and brand. They have to create a set of potential solutions for their needs and then assess various brands that would meet their need.

In the first example of a customer deciding on buying a new television set, he would have to first evaluate which type of Television set he wants – i.e. Plasma, CRT, LCD or LED; and then evaluate various brands. While evaluating his alternatives, a consumer considers various aspects such as features of the product, advantages of the product, importance of every advantage, cost of the product as well as the satisfaction that would be gained by investing in the product.

4. Final buying decision

This stage involves the consumer’s decision about which product to purchase or not purchase at all. It also involves decisions such as from where and when to buy the product and how to pay for the product. In this stage, the consumer – who finally decides to buy to buy a product – goes with the product that got the highest points while evaluating multiple products and brands.

5. Post-purchase evaluation

This stage involves the consumer evaluating the product after purchase. This stage too is critical and cannot be ignored by businesses since a product that performs well in the post-purchase evaluation will be viewed positively by the consumer while a product that performs poorly will either be returned or viewed negatively by the consumer.

To help consumers at the final stage of buyer pattern, businesses need to be proactive and encourage consumers to contact their customer care executives whenever needed. Market research for this stage too would help businesses get a pulse of their consumers and thus improve on their product if needed.

Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Consumer Behavior

Related posts:

• Factors Influencing Consumer Buying Behavior
• Personal factors affecting consumer buying behavior
• What is Consumer Buying Behavior? Types and Stages
• The importance of consumer buying behavior
• What is Impulse Buying? 9 Factors to Promote it
• Media Buying – Definition, Importance, Stages and Tips
• Bulk Buying – Definition, Tips, Sites and Disadvantages
• Steps in Prospecting – Prospecting steps
• Brand Strategy – Steps, Components and Why it is Important for Business
• What is Customer Acquisition? Definition, Steps, Channels, Calculation & Strategies

About Hitesh Bhasin

Hitesh Bhasin is the CEO of Marketing91 and has over a decade of experience in the marketing field. He is an accomplished author of thousands of insightful articles, including in-depth analyses of brands and companies. Holding an MBA in Marketing, Hitesh manages several offline ventures, where he applies all the concepts of Marketing that he writes about.

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Buying Patterns: what are they, and how to influence them

• February 1, 2021
• Buying Facilitation® , Sales
• 10 Comments

Have you ever wondered why people don’t buy, even when it seems your solution is perfect for their needs? Have you considered that maybe your Selling Patterns don’t match their Buying Patterns? Or that they don’t have the ‘need’ you think they do?

With a focus on finding people with a need that is resolved by your solution, sellers overlook two very important factors in the buy/sell equation:

• people don’t become buyers until they’ve determined they cannot resolve a problem themselves and
• the ‘cost’ of a purchase must be equal to, or less than, the ‘cost’ of staying the same.

A purchase is a change management problem well before it’s a solution choice issue. And ‘need’ may have little to do with a purchase.

DO YOU WANT TO SELL? OR HAVE SOMEONE BUY?

As they seek to resolve a problem, people go through an internal, systemic process of managing change that determines whether or not they can buy anything. Sales doesn’t address this to their detriment, connecting with people only once they’ve determined they’re buyers.

By overlooking the possibility of facilitating folks to first manage their change, we not only omit the possibility of connecting with the people who WILL buy when they are ready, but restrict our pool of prospects to those who show up. The problem is until they’ve addressed their change they aren’t yet buyers and can’t hear or heed your message, even if they need it.

Think about this: instead of trying to motivate a sale by pushing content, or lowering the price; or wondering why your prospect isn’t returning calls or in the pipeline for so long; or thinking they’re in pain; help them do the Pre-Sales work they must do before they become a buyer. You’re waiting (and calling, and calling) anyway. Might as well use a different skill set and help them where they most need help.

Here’s the takeaway idea: Enter as a change facilitator, help the folks who will be buyers (easy to spot with a change hat on rather than a sales hat) manage their change, and then you’re part of their team once they’ve become buyers.

Helping people who may become buyers is a very quick process, far quicker than trying to sell those few who are ready and wasting time pushing out content to the rest.

In this article I will introduce you to the steps, the Buying Patterns, people go through en route to buying anything, regardless of need or the efficacy/size/price of the solution.

I’ve spent years unpacking these buying decision steps after I personally went from a seller to a buyer. There is a sequence of  13 steps  people take between discovering a problem and choosing/buying a solution. But first let me explain why the sales model doesn’t facilitate buying.

WHY PAIN & NEED ARE IRRELEVANT

There are two approaches sellers operate from that actually limit success: seeking folks with a ‘need’, and believing they have pain.

Let’s take a look at the fallacy of a ‘need’ criteria. Do you need to lose, say, 10 pounds? You have a need, yet you haven’t resolved it. What about getting more organized? Or exercise more?

People don’t buy based on need. They may have a need they’re not ready to resolve, or circumstances make it difficult, or colleagues that have different ideas or or.

If adding an external/new solution causes too much disruption they will not buy  regardless of their need or the efficacy of your solution. They must weigh all the issues involved – most of which are historic and unique – and get  buy-in  from the stakeholders before any action is taken or not. And using the sales model, there’s no way to get inside the mind of a would-be buyer to help them.

Now let’s look at pain .

I don’t understand why ‘pain’ is so often paired with  why/how buyers make buying decisions . Indeed, the ‘pain’ issue has been  invented by   sellers  who assume potential/targeted buyers would function better if they bought the seller’s solution, and by not buying they’re obviously in pain. This is bogus.

As outsiders we have absolutely no idea what’s going on in someone’s environment. It might not be pain at all, but a very cogent decision that works for them and we’ll never understand.

David Sandler  called me in 1993 to buy me out before he died. He said he’d made an error stating that ‘buyers are liars’ and saying ‘buyers are in pain’. Once he understood my thinking he realized that the problem was in the tenacious focus of placing solutions and the ommission of facilitating the necessary buying decision/change management process.

“I thought I had gone outside the box with Sandler Sales; I realize now I was still considering sales from a solution placement perspective. I didn’t understand how far outside the box I needed to go to include the buying decision process. Good job, Sharon-Drew.”

Here’s a simple story to explain what’s going on behind the scenes, and how little it’s got to do with what a seller is selling, need, or pain.

In 1995 I was running a Buying Facilitation® training at IBM. One day my client asked me to help enlist a new Beta site for one of their new systems. There was a small ‘Mom & Pop’ shop (i.e. family run business) located nearby, and from their records they knew this company was using a system far too small for the growth they’d incurred over the past years, causing very slow response times.

Letting them have a free new system in exchange for IBM having them close by to test would be a win/win. But even after two sales folks had visited them with the promise of a new, free, system that would substantially speed up their response times, the company had no interest. Could I get them to become a beta site? Here was our conversation:

SDM: Hi there. I’m a trainee calling from IBM and have a question for someone who is using your computers.

SON: Hi. I’m Joe. I’m one of the owners. Maybe I can help.

SDM: Thanks. I wonder how your current system is running?

SON: It’s ok.

SDM: I know our folks were out there offering you a faster system to beta and you weren’t interested. I’m curious now what’s stopping you from upgrading your current system to be better than OK?

SDM: DAD? I don’t understand.

SON: I know our system is very very slow. But my father is in charge of the technology here, and he’s 75 years old. He’ll be retiring in a year or so, and I don’t want to overwhelm him with learning anything new. So I’ll make whatever changes necessary after he leaves.

SDM: Ah. So what I hear you saying is that your main criteria is not to overwhelm Dad and don’t mind how slow the system is in the meantime.

SON: Right.

SDM: You already know we want to give you an upgrade in exchange for being a beta site for us. From what I know about it, they’ve made it very simple to use and easy to learn. Maybe you and Dad could visit another beta site here in Rye to see if Dad likes it and finds it easy to use? I’d be happy to pick you up and take you there. And if Dad is happy, then maybe you’d be comfortable accepting it to beta test for us?

SON: Oh. I wasn’t aware we could do that. Your colleagues were trying to sell me on the features of the new capabilities, and that wasn’t my main problem. Sure, Dad and I would be willing to go to the beta site. Thanks. Having a quicker response time would be great for us if we could make that happen and Dad is comfortable with it.

The sellers used ‘features, functions, and benefits’ as their Selling Pattern; there was no way an outsider could guess that Dad was the problem that had to be solved. Offering a needed product or cheap price (free) details were moot. And so long as the seller focused on the sale, on the need, on the pain, there was no buy.

A BUYING DECISION IS SYSTEMIC AND STRATEGIC

A buying decision is a change management problem well before it is a solution choice issue. People don’t want to buy anything; they want to resolve a problem in the least disruptive way.

Indeed  people only become buyers when they’re certain they cannot resolve the problem using familiar resources, and explore every avenue to fixing the problem themselves first.  Buying anything is the very last thing people do.

Think about it. Before you buy a new CRM system, for example, you don’t begin by buying a new system: you begin by meeting with the managers and users to determine why the current system is problematic; trying to get the  current one fixed; finding workarounds  to try to resolve the problem easily; and making sure that there’s a process in place to manage any user, technology, training, time disruption that might come with bringing in new technology.

Again, buying anything is the very last thing that happens. By overlooking Buying Patterns, sellers automatically restrict their full set of prospective buyers.

Obviously when it’s time to buy, buyers take very specific actions as they choose one solution over another, choices based on price, reputation/brand of the solution, decision makers, etc. This is when the conventional sales model kicks in. But  selling doesn’t cause buying .

STAGES OF BUYING PATTERNS

Here are the Pre-Sales stages folks go through as they become buyers:

What’s the status quo? Whats’ missing: until or unless every element of the status quo is understood, buyers cannot identify exactly what’s missing. In the Dad example, what was missing was not the computer issue, but the ability to have Dad learn how to support a new one; a delay in purchasing new software is most likely not a technology issue, but might be a recent reorganization, or a merger, or a change in leadership.  And an outsider can never, ever understand because they’re, well, outsiders . This stage includes meetings, research, identifying stakeholders.

RULE: a seller can facilitate someone through the process of recognizing the full fact pattern of givens within their status quo, including the people, culture, and rules, to help them learn what is keeping them from having an optimal environment. Guesswork is detrimental because it’s such an idiosyncratic process. Using these steps, sellers can get out of the guessing game and merely facilitate the change.

Gather the full set of stakeholders: until or unless everyone involved with creating the problem and touching a new solution is brought in the full problem set cannot be understood. Everyone’s voice must be included – Dad, and Joe in accounting. This stage includes meetings to determine who will touch the final solution and agreement as to how to involve them.

RULE: a seller can facilitate a prospective buyer through a discovery. Until all folks who will touch the final solution are included, there is no way for them to understand their needs. Speaking with anyone about needs before this is a waste of time (i.e. all those names on your call back list and pipeline].

Try to fix the problem with workarounds: until it’s fully understood that the problem cannot be resolved with anything that’s already been accepted by the culture – other departments or items, familiar vendors or products – and all workarounds have been tried, they will never consider buying anything as it will be disruptive to the culture. This stage includes internal research, and delegating folks to outreach for familiar resources: can our old vendors fix this? Can the other department help?  Until a workaround is dismissed, there will be no initiative to make a purchase.

RULE: people always begin by trying to fix the problem themselves. Sellers can help here: What’s stopping you from using the vendors you used last year? Have you tried getting help from other departments? Either you help them through this, or sit helplessly while they do it themselves as you continue to think they’re prospects and put them in your pipeline. In reality, this is the simplest stage.

Managing change to avoid disruption: once folks agree

• They have a problem that all stakeholders have fully defined;
• They cannot fix it themselves;
• The ‘cost’ of a purchase is manageable;

then it’s necessary to go ‘outside’ for a solution.

The cost of the new must be calculated against maintaining the status quo. When they figure this element out, they’re ready to choose a solution. This stage includes lots of research within the group/company/family to ferret out problems that change would incur, and figuring out the human, time, money, strategic, costs.

RULE: facilitate people to recognize what might be in jeopardy if something new is brought in. Until they weight the risk between the status quo vs a fix, and can calculate that bringing something new is has a lower cost than maintaining the status quo, they cannot buy anything as the risk is too high.

Choose a vendor/solution:   This is the last stage – where sales now enters!  Once it’s calculated that it will cost less to bring in a new solution than maintaining their status quo, AND there is buy-in from the stakeholders, AND they know how to integrate the new with minimal disruption, they become buyers. This is the low hanging fruit . These folks are ready for a pitch! This stage involves sellers pitching, content marketing, website design, etc.

SALES VS FACILITATING BUYING PATTERNS

I always ask sellers: Do you want to sell? Or have someone buy? They are two different activities.  Buying has nothing to do with pain , or the marketing efforts, or the pitch deck, or the product. You’re products are great.

The problem is you’re only focusing on those who already show up as buyers and ignore managing the full set of Buying Patterns of the far larger group of real prospects. My clients close 40% against the control group that closes 5% selling the same solution. But not by starting with the sales model.

As a frustrated sales person, I developed a new model called  Buying Facilitation®  to identify and facilitate steps of change, choice, and buy-in as a servant leader . Following these steps it’s possible for sellers to assist people in navigating the journey first with no bias, before trying to sell anything.

This sequence – Buying Facilitation® first, sales second – ensures you’ll find (and quickly close) a much larger number of people who  WILL buy  (rather than those who SHOULD buy) and keep you from wasting time on those who will never buy (but you think they ‘should’ because you think they’re ‘in pain’). My clients who use Buying Facilitation® close, on average, 40% selling the same product as the control group that closes 5%.

People who will become buyers must go through this process anyway, regardless of their need or the efficacy of our solution. But they do this without us, as we wait, hope, push, and pitch, and lose an opportunity to both serve and differentiate ourselves.

Instead of the time and resource we use pushing content, why not use a different skill set (i.e. Buying Facilitation®, or some form of facilitation model that manages change) first to help them become buyers.

_____________________________________

Sharon-Drew Morgen is a breakthrough innovator and original thinker, having developed new paradigms in sales (inventor Buying Facilitation® , listening/communication ( What? Did you really say what I think I heard? ), change management ( The How of Change™ ), coaching, and leadership. She is the author of several books, including the NYTimes Business Bestseller Selling with Integrity and Dirty Little Secrets: why buyers can’t buy and sellers can’t sell ). Sharon-Drew coaches and consults with companies seeking out of the box remedies for congruent, servant-leader-based change in leadership, healthcare, and sales. Her award-winning blog carries original articles with new thinking, weekly.

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Blog Business How to Create a Sales Plan: Strategy, Examples and Templates

How to Create a Sales Plan: Strategy, Examples and Templates

Written by: Aditya Rana Mar 25, 2024

The difference between a company struggling to drive sales and one that’s hitting home runs often boils down to a well-crafted sales plan.

Without knowing how to write a sales plan , your sales reps will lack vision, not understand the market, and be ineffective at engaging potential customers.

Most businesses fail in sales planning because they don’t focus on their unique value. If you’re struggling with sales, here’s what you need to do: define your goal(s), create customer personas, and create an action plan for success.

One of the best ways to organize this information in one place is to use sales planning templates . In this post, I’ll show you how to write a sales plan (…with plenty of template examples included of course!).

Click to jump ahead:

What is a sales plan?

Benefits of a sales plan, how to create a sales plan, sales plan example, sales plan templates.

A sales plan is a strategic document that outlines how a business plans to convert leads into sales. It typically details the target market, customer profile, and actionable steps that must be taken to achieve revenue targets.

Here’s a great example of a sales plan that includes all these elements neatly packed into one document.

Every company needs a sales plan, but have you ever wondered why?

Why should businesses invest time and resources in creating sales plan when they could…well…be focusing on sales?

Sales plans are worth it because they tell sales employees what to do.

Without a sales plan, your sales efforts will end up becoming a disorganized mess. Let’s explore the benefits of sales plans in detail.

Help you identify and target the right market

A sales plan helps you figure out the target market that’s most likely to be responsive to your messaging.

I mean do you really want to waste your time trying to sell to someone who has no need for your product or isn’t interested in your offering?

But if you know who your customer is, you can target their pain points.

Help you set goals

All great sales plans require you to set goals that are actually attainable and budgeted for.

Without goals, your sales team essentially operates in the dark unsure of what success looks like and how to achieve it.

One of the best ways to set goals is by conducting a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to understand the market landscape.

Help you forecast sales

Since sales plans require you to study historical sales data , you have the ability to understand trends, seasonality, and customer buying patterns.

This information can be used to accurately forecast future sales performance.

And when you chart it out visually like in this example, you can make data-driven decisions to optimize your sales strategy.

Help you identify risks

Because sales plans require you to study the market, you’ll be able to uncover risks such as market saturation, competitors, and shifting customer needs.

With this knowledge, you have the ability to be flexible in your approach.

Besides market risks, sales plans also help you pinpoint risks within your company such as a lack of qualified leads or unclear communication between departments.

Improve customer service

It may sound counterintuitive but creating a sales plan also actually improves your customer service.

Researching and trying to understand customer needs means new insights that you can share with the customer service team which allows them to tailor their approach.

You’ll also be able to train sales service reps to anticipate questions and concerns so that they can communicate effectively.

Increases sales efficiency

Sales plans help standardize sales tactics and ensure sales reps follow the same best practices to reduce inconsistencies and improve effectiveness.

One of the best ways to standardize practices is to use a flowchart like in this example to make sure everyone knows what to do when facing a decision.

Increases your profits

Sales plans generally guarantee a boost in profits because it allows sales team to laser-focus on high-value opportunities instead of being headless chickens.

Reducing wasted effort and a higher frequency of closed deals is a win in my book any day.

One of the best ways to measure changes in profits is to use a simple template to review performance like in this example.

Help you understand customer needs

Contrary to what you might think, sales plans aren’t just about selling but also about understanding customers at a deeper level.

The process of creating a plan forces you to analyze customer data, buying habits, and pain points, all of which will help you understand what makes your customers tick and build trust and loyalty.

Here’s a great example of a customer persona you can edit to include in your sales plan.

A sales plan is a document that helps you maximize profitability by identifying valuable segments and outlining strategies to influence customer behavior.

Common elements most sales plans include:

• Sales goals : Information on revenue, market share, and more.
• Sales strategy: Information on how to reach potential customers and convert them.
• Target audience: Information on ideal customers and their needs.
• Metrics : Methods to track progress.
• Resources :  Tools, budget, and personnel needed to achieve sales goals.

Let’s take an in-depth look at how to create a sales plan.

( Note : You don’t need to include each of these points in your sales plan but I recommend you cover most of them to build a plan that’s well-rounded).

Define your business mission and positioning

Before you jump into tactics, build a strong foundation by defining your company’s mission and positioning.

Here’s why this step is a must-do:

• Your mission statement defines your company’s purpose and values and gives your sales team and customers something to relate to.
• Your positioning statement defines how your product or service meets a specific need and sets you apart from the competition.

Trying to sell without any alignment to company values will lead to inconsistent messaging and damage your brand reputation.

Here’s a great example of a sales plan template you can customize with your own brand’s mission and positioning statements.

Define your target market

Unless you think you can sell to every person possible, you’ll need to define your ideal target market.

Study your customer base and ask questions like: do most of the customers belong to a specific industry? Or do they all face the same pain point?

Also, keep in mind that target market can change over time due to changes in your product, pricing, or factors out of your control, so it’s important to review and update your target market frequently.

Understand your target customers

This step often gets mixed with the previous one, so pay close attention.

Your target customers are those who your business wants to target because they’re most likely to make a purchase.

You can figure out who your target customers are by creating customer profiles by breaking down your target market into smaller groups based on geography, behavior, demography, and more.

Here’s a great sales plan template where you can edit in your own customer persona.

When making your buyer personas, make sure you answer the following questions.

• Motivations and challenges:  What are customer pain points? What drives purchasing decisions?
• Behaviors and preferences:  How do customers research products? What communication channels do they prefer?
• Goals and aspirations:  What are your prospective customers trying to achieve? How can your product or service help them get there?

Define sales objectives and goals

Setting clear, measurable goals gives you a method to measure performance of your sales strategies.

More importantly though, they give your sales team targets to aim for which then allows them to work in a structured and focused manner.

Your sale goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). This is to make sure they’re realistically achievable within a set timeframe.

Here’s a comparison of good sales goal setting vs a bad one.

• ✅Drive $100,000 in sales of product X by Y date using Z tactics
• ❌ Increase overall sales in each product line

You can organize this information using a template like in this example, especially if you have multiple product lines.

Define your value proposition

Your value proposition is a concise statement that explains why a customer should choose your product or service over the competition.

Here’s an example of a value statement:

“For busy small business owners, we provide a user-friendly accounting software that saves you time and money, allowing you to focus on growing your business.”

Then, it doesn’t matter if you own a restaurant, have developed a bike rental service, run a gym, or created hotel management software . Your value proposition must clearly convey unique benefits and show how your product stands out.

Here are some tips on defining your value proposition:

• Identify customer needs:  What are the core challenges and pain points your ideal customer faces? Understanding their needs allows you to position your offering as the solution.
• Highlight your unique benefits:  What sets your product or service apart? Focus on benefits you deliver that address the customer’s needs.
• Quantify the value:  When possible, quantify the value you offer. Can you demonstrate a cost savings, increased efficiency, or improved outcomes?

Map out the customer journey

Unless you’re extremely lucky, no one is going to purchase from you during the first interaction.

That’s why it’s crucial for you to know the steps a customer takes from initial awareness to purchase. Mapping out their journey allows you to personalize messaging and influence behavior.

Here are some tips on how to create a customer journey map :

• Identify the stages:  Break down the journey into distinct stages, such as awareness, consideration, decision, and post-purchase.
• Define touchpoints: Pinpoint the different touchpoints where your customer interacts with your brand (example: website, social media, customer reviews).
• Understand customer needs at each stage: What information are they looking for at each stage? What are their concerns and motivations?
• Identify opportunities to engage:  Identify opportunities to engage with your potential customers and move them along the buying journey.

Want some help creating customer journeys?

This customer journey map template is an excellent way to bring customer journeys to life.

Gather existing sales data

This step involves collecting and analyzing all available data on past sales performance.

This data is critical in helping you spot trends, patterns, and areas for improvement in your sales operations.

Perform sales forecasting

Sales forecasting is the practice of estimating future sales which can be presented as a report highlighting expected sales volume weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.

Though not always 100% accurate, sales forecasting is key to writing sales plans because it’ll provide you with a clear picture of the ground reality which leads to better decisions on budgeting.

Here’s a template you can use to perform sales forecasting to makes the sales planning process effective.

Define your sales KPIs

KPIs are a fancy way of saying that you need to set metrics to track effectiveness of your sales strategy and team’s performance.

Some example KPIs you can include in sales plans are:

• Number of sales
• Sales revenue
• Average deal size

This sales report template is a great example of how you can include KPIs in your meetings to test performance and adjust strategy.

Identify gaps in the sales process

This step is all about analyzing your current sales process to figure out gaps and/or potential obstacles preventing you from achieving goals.

When you identify a gap, brainstorm potential solutions so that you can create a specific action plan.

Understand the sales stages

When writing a sales plan, make sure you cover each stage of the sales cycle. If you’re unsure of what the sales stages are, here’s a quick recap.

Prospecting

This is the foundation of the sales process where you identify potential customers who might be a good fit for your product or service.

Preparation

Once you have a list of prospects, you need to research their needs, challenges, and buying habits.

This is all about how you contact and communicate with prospects.

Presentation

This section is your opportunity to showcase the value proposition of your product or service. Tailor your presentation to address the prospect’s specific needs and demonstrate how your offering can solve their problems.

Handling objections

Identify common objections your sales team might encounter related to price, features, competition, or need. Develop clear and concise responses to address these concerns proactively.

Equip your sales team with effective closing techniques to secure commitments from prospects who are interested but might hesitate.

Plan your follow-up strategy based on the prospect’s decision timeline and the stage of the sales cycle. For longer timelines, periodic updates and information sharing through digital sales rooms can maintain engagement and provide valuable resources conveniently.

Organize the sales team

Organizing the sales team entails defining roles and responsibilities clearly to cover all aspects of the sales process effectively.

This might involve segmenting the team based on product lines, customer segments, or territories.

Here’s an example of how it might look:

Sarah — Sales Director — will lead the sales team, set overall strategy, goals and direction. Michael and Jessica — Business Development Executives — will focus on prospecting new leads. They will research potential customers, identify those who might be a good fit for the product, and qualify leads by gathering information and assessing their needs. William — Sales Development Manager — will manage the business development executives and ensuring they follow best practices. Chris and Lisa — Account Executives — will handle qualified leads. They build relationships with potential customers, present product demos, address objections, and close deals.

Using an org chart like in this example is a great way to visualize this information.

Outline the use of sales tools

Sales tools play a crucial role in streamlining the sales process and enhancing productivity.

For example, incorporating digital account opening into your sales strategy can simplify the onboarding process for new customers, reducing friction and increasing conversion rates.

Make sure you outline the tools your team will use, how they fit into different stages of the sales process, and any training required to maximize their utility.

This ensures that your team has the resources needed to engage effectively with prospects and customers.

Set the budget

Setting the budget involves allocating resources efficiently across various sales activities to achieve your objectives without overspending.

This includes expenses related to personnel, marketing initiatives, customer entertainment, and tools like CRM software, automation, cybersecurity solutions, and even a corporate travel platform .

A well-planned budget balances investment in growth opportunities with the overall financial health of the business.

Create a sales strategy and action plan

Now that you’ve laid the groundwork of what you want to achieve and how you plan to achieve it, it’s time to bring it all together into a single view.

Create an action plan which not includes your strategy but also concrete steps.

Your action plan should outlines specific activities for each stage of the sales funnel from prospecting (lead generation channels) to closing (structured process and follow-up strategy with timelines) and everything in between.

Performance and results measurement

Last but not least, your sales plan should present a clear and quantifiable means to track the effectiveness of sales activities.

How are you going to measure outcomes against predefined targets?

Performance measurement is key because it builds accountability and allows you to always have a pulse on customer behavior, preferences, and trends that’ll help you make decisions based on data.

If you’ve made it this far, give yourself a pat! I’ve covered A LOT on elements that you can include in a sales plan.

However, in most cases, you don’t always need to go that in-depth and instead should aim for brevity so that anyone in your team can stay up-to-date without having to worry about the nitty gritty details.

Here’s a sales plan example that’s brief but highly effective. It includes a summary of all you need in one document, a target market analysis, a customer profile, and an action plan.

Want even more sales plan templates for design inspiration or to customize and make your own?

This 30-60-90 day sales plan provides a great way to organize goals, priorities, performance goals, and metrics of success over three three timeframes: first 30 days, first 60 days, and first 90 days.

This sales plan is structured around key components that drive the sales process: objectives, strategies, tactics, and key metrics. It emphasizes a multi-channel approach to sales,, with a strong focus on measuring performance through metrics.

This sales roadmap is a great way to visualize activities such as defining strategy and generating leads to more advanced steps.

Conclusion: Save time on designing and updating sales plans and focus on growing your business with Venngage templates

Though there’s no secret formula for effective sales plan design, it’s good practice to include the basics or information on the target market, a customer persona, and a strategy on how you plan to sell.

What you definitely shouldn’t do is write a sales plan and then never look at it again.

And trust me, I know how time-consuming and frustrating it can be to edit your sales plan especially if you don’t have design skills. One small change might make the icons or numbers go all out of whack.

That’s why I recommend customizing our sales plan templates instead so that you can focus your energy on strategy.

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Analyzing Consumer Buying Patterns: The All-New Guide

In today’s diverse marketplace, no two buyers are the same. Each comes with their unique set of desires, preferences, and purchasing habits. 

As a business, it’s not just about offering a product or service; it’s about recognizing, analyzing, and adapting to the intricacy of consumer buying patterns that underlie the market dynamics. By understanding consumer buying patterns, businesses can tailor their offerings to better meet customer needs, potentially expanding their audience and boosting their bottom line. 

In this blog post, we explore the importance of understanding consumer buying patterns, the role of data in analyzing these patterns, how AI can revolutionize this analysis, and how businesses can leverage these insights for profit optimization . 

Quick Takeaways

• Understanding consumer buying patterns allows businesses to make informed decisions about product development, pricing strategies, and marketing campaigns. 
• AI can quickly process large amounts of data, identify patterns and trends, make predictions about future consumer behavior, and has real-world applications.
• With consumer buying data, businesses can optimize their pricing strategies, manage inventory more effectively, and tailor their marketing and sales strategies to consumer preferences. 
• AI software can enhance optimization processes by providing real-time analysis and predictive analytics, giving businesses a competitive edge . 
• Almost 50% of businesses are already using AI for inventory management.

Understanding Consumer Buying Patterns

Consumer buying patterns are essentially the habits or behaviors exhibited by customers throughout the buying process.

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These patterns offer valuable insights into how, when, and why consumers choose to buy certain products or services. There are several key factors that typically influence these patterns:

• Price. The cost of a product or service is often the first thing a consumer considers. If the price is perceived as too high, they may opt for a more affordable alternative. If the price is seen as a bargain, it can motivate the consumer to make a purchase.
• Perceived Quality. Consumers are generally willing to pay more for items they believe are high-quality and durable. If a product is seen as substandard or unreliable, it can deter potential buyers.
• Convenience. If a product is readily available and easy to buy, it’s more likely to be chosen. However, if the purchase process is complicated or time-consuming, consumers may look elsewhere.
• Brand Reputation. If consumers have positive associations with the brand, they’re more likely to buy. Negative experiences or perceptions, however, can lead them to choose a competitor’s product.

By understanding these buying patterns, businesses can make more informed decisions about product development, pricing strategies, and marketing campaigns.

The Role of Data in Analyzing Buying Patterns

The importance of data collection.

Collecting data about consumer behavior is like gathering pieces of a puzzle. Each piece of information, whether it’s about a customer’s buying history or their feedback on a product, helps to complete the picture. The more data we have, the clearer our understanding of consumer buying patterns becomes.

By understanding their consumers through data, businesses can:

• Establish better marketing and communications
• Improve customer retention
• Increase loyalty 
• Better plan inventory
• Increase sales
• Research competition

Types of Data and Collection Methods

There are various types of data that businesses can collect to understand buying patterns, including: 

• Transactional data
• Behavioral data
• Social media analytics

Collecting this data can be done in several ways. For example, businesses can use customer relationship management (CRM) systems to track transactional data. They can also use web analytics tools to monitor online behavior, and social media listening tools to gather data from social platforms.

How AI Can Help Analyze Consumer Buying Patterns

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the way businesses analyze consumer buying patterns. With access to AI insights , businesses can gain a deeper understanding of consumer buying patterns, make more informed decisions, and ultimately optimize profits. 

Here are four key AI-abilities that analyze consumer buying patterns and contribute to business growth: 

• Processing Large Amounts of Data. One of the biggest challenges businesses face is dealing with the sheer volume of data available. AI excels at processing large amounts of data quickly and accurately. It can sift through mountains of information, from purchase histories to social media posts, and identify patterns that might be missed by human analysts.
• Predictive Analytics. AI can also use the patterns it identifies to make predictions about future consumer behavior. This can help businesses anticipate changes in the market, adjust their strategies accordingly, and stay one step ahead of the competition.
• Real-World Applications. Many businesses are already using AI to analyze consumer buying patterns. For instance, online retailers use AI to recommend products based on a customer’s browsing history, and streaming services use it to suggest movies or songs based on a user’s past choices.
• Identifying Patterns and Trends. AI doesn’t just process data; it learns from it. Using machine learning algorithms, AI can identify patterns and trends in consumer behavior, allowing businesses to adjust inventory and price points accordingly. In fact, 47% of businesses are already using AI for inventory management. 

Leveraging Consumer Buying Patterns for Profit Optimization

Optimizing pricing strategies.

By understanding when and why consumers are willing to buy, businesses can adjust their pricing strategies to maximize profits . 

For example, if data shows that consumers are more likely to buy a product during a particular season, a business might consider adjusting its prices during that time to increase sales and profits.

Inventory Management

Consumer buying patterns can also inform inventory management. If a business knows which products are likely to sell at different times of the year, it can manage inventory more effectively , reducing storage costs and minimizing the risk of unsold stock.

Marketing and Sales Strategies

Insights into consumer buying patterns can help businesses tailor their marketing and sales strategies to consumer preferences. By understanding what consumers want, businesses can create targeted marketing campaigns that speak directly to those desires, leading to increased sales.

The Role of AI Software

AI software can automate and enhance these optimization processes. Since AI can analyze consumer buying patterns in real-time, businesses can respond quickly to changes in the market. It can also use predictive analytics to forecast future trends, giving businesses a competitive edge.

Analyze Your Consumers’ Buying Patterns Today with Hypersonix

Consumer buying patterns provide a roadmap to the consumer’s mind, guiding businesses on how to meet their needs. By leveraging AI and its insights, you can optimize pricing strategies, effectively manage inventory, tailor sales and marketing strategies, and ultimately gain a competitive edge. 

Hypersonix is a profit optimization platform that uses AI-powered tools to help DTC and eCommerce companies excel. Hypersonix’s ProfitGPT inventory management tools can help businesses leverage generative AI and inventory intelligence to provide actionable insights about inventory levels and pricing strategies.

To see how Hypersonix’s AI tools can help analyze your consumer buying patterns, request a demo today!

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How to Write a Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide + Examples

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated May 7, 2024

Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated. 

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to write a business plan that’s detailed enough to impress bankers and potential investors, while giving you the tools to start, run, and grow a successful business.

• The basics of business planning

If you’re reading this guide, then you already know why you need a business plan . 

You understand that planning helps you: 

• Raise money
• Grow strategically
• Keep your business on the right track 

As you start to write your plan, it’s useful to zoom out and remember what a business plan is .

At its core, a business plan is an overview of the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy: how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

Most business plans also include financial forecasts for the future. These set sales goals, budget for expenses, and predict profits and cash flow. 

A good business plan is much more than just a document that you write once and forget about. It’s also a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals. 

After completing your plan, you can use it as a management tool to track your progress toward your goals. Updating and adjusting your forecasts and budgets as you go is one of the most important steps you can take to run a healthier, smarter business. 

We’ll dive into how to use your plan later in this article.

There are many different types of plans , but we’ll go over the most common type here, which includes everything you need for an investor-ready plan. However, if you’re just starting out and are looking for something simpler—I recommend starting with a one-page business plan . It’s faster and easier to create. 

It’s also the perfect place to start if you’re just figuring out your idea, or need a simple strategic plan to use inside your business.

Dig deeper : How to write a one-page business plan

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• What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally just one to two pages. Most people write it last because it’s a summary of the complete business plan.

Ideally, the executive summary can act as a stand-alone document that covers the highlights of your detailed plan. 

In fact, it’s common for investors to ask only for the executive summary when evaluating your business. If they like what they see in the executive summary, they’ll often follow up with a request for a complete plan, a pitch presentation , or more in-depth financial forecasts .

Your executive summary should include:

• A summary of the problem you are solving
• A description of your product or service
• An overview of your target market
• A brief description of your team
• A summary of your financials
• Your funding requirements (if you are raising money)

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

This is where you describe exactly what you’re selling, and how it solves a problem for your target market. The best way to organize this part of your plan is to start by describing the problem that exists for your customers. After that, you can describe how you plan to solve that problem with your product or service. 

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

To truly showcase the value of your products and services, you need to craft a compelling narrative around your offerings. How will your product or service transform your customers’ lives or jobs? A strong narrative will draw in your readers.

This is also the part of the business plan to discuss any competitive advantages you may have, like specific intellectual property or patents that protect your product. If you have any initial sales, contracts, or other evidence that your product or service is likely to sell, include that information as well. It will show that your idea has traction , which can help convince readers that your plan has a high chance of success.

Market analysis

Your target market is a description of the type of people that you plan to sell to. You might even have multiple target markets, depending on your business. 

A market analysis is the part of your plan where you bring together all of the information you know about your target market. Basically, it’s a thorough description of who your customers are and why they need what you’re selling. You’ll also include information about the growth of your market and your industry .

Try to be as specific as possible when you describe your market. 

Include information such as age, income level, and location—these are what’s called “demographics.” If you can, also describe your market’s interests and habits as they relate to your business—these are “psychographics.” 

Related: Target market examples

Essentially, you want to include any knowledge you have about your customers that is relevant to how your product or service is right for them. With a solid target market, it will be easier to create a sales and marketing plan that will reach your customers. That’s because you know who they are, what they like to do, and the best ways to reach them.

Next, provide any additional information you have about your market. 

What is the size of your market ? Is the market growing or shrinking? Ideally, you’ll want to demonstrate that your market is growing over time, and also explain how your business is positioned to take advantage of any expected changes in your industry.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

Part of defining your business opportunity is determining what your competitive advantage is. To do this effectively, you need to know as much about your competitors as your target customers. 

Every business has some form of competition. If you don’t think you have competitors, then explore what alternatives there are in the market for your product or service. 

For example: In the early years of cars, their main competition was horses. For social media, the early competition was reading books, watching TV, and talking on the phone.

A good competitive analysis fully lays out the competitive landscape and then explains how your business is different. Maybe your products are better made, or cheaper, or your customer service is superior. Maybe your competitive advantage is your location – a wide variety of factors can ultimately give you an advantage.

Dig Deeper: How to write a competitive analysis for your business plan

Marketing and sales plan

The marketing and sales plan covers how you will position your product or service in the market, the marketing channels and messaging you will use, and your sales tactics. 

The best place to start with a marketing plan is with a positioning statement . 

This explains how your business fits into the overall market, and how you will explain the advantages of your product or service to customers. You’ll use the information from your competitive analysis to help you with your positioning. 

For example: You might position your company as the premium, most expensive but the highest quality option in the market. Or your positioning might focus on being locally owned and that shoppers support the local economy by buying your products.

Once you understand your positioning, you’ll bring this together with the information about your target market to create your marketing strategy . 

This is how you plan to communicate your message to potential customers. Depending on who your customers are and how they purchase products like yours, you might use many different strategies, from social media advertising to creating a podcast. Your marketing plan is all about how your customers discover who you are and why they should consider your products and services. 

While your marketing plan is about reaching your customers—your sales plan will describe the actual sales process once a customer has decided that they’re interested in what you have to offer. 

If your business requires salespeople and a long sales process, describe that in this section. If your customers can “self-serve” and just make purchases quickly on your website, describe that process. 

A good sales plan picks up where your marketing plan leaves off. The marketing plan brings customers in the door and the sales plan is how you close the deal.

Together, these specific plans paint a picture of how you will connect with your target audience, and how you will turn them into paying customers.

Dig deeper: What to include in your sales and marketing plan

Business operations

The operations section describes the necessary requirements for your business to run smoothly. It’s where you talk about how your business works and what day-to-day operations look like. 

Depending on how your business is structured, your operations plan may include elements of the business like:

• Supply chain management
• Manufacturing processes
• Equipment and technology
• Distribution

Some businesses distribute their products and reach their customers through large retailers like Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and grocery store chains. 

These businesses should review how this part of their business works. The plan should discuss the logistics and costs of getting products onto store shelves and any potential hurdles the business may have to overcome.

If your business is much simpler than this, that’s OK. This section of your business plan can be either extremely short or more detailed, depending on the type of business you are building.

For businesses selling services, such as physical therapy or online software, you can use this section to describe the technology you’ll leverage, what goes into your service, and who you will partner with to deliver your services.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write the operations chapter of your plan

Key milestones and metrics

Although it’s not required to complete your business plan, mapping out key business milestones and the metrics can be incredibly useful for measuring your success.

Good milestones clearly lay out the parameters of the task and set expectations for their execution. You’ll want to include:

• A description of each task
• The proposed due date
• Who is responsible for each task

If you have a budget, you can include projected costs to hit each milestone. You don’t need extensive project planning in this section—just list key milestones you want to hit and when you plan to hit them. This is your overall business roadmap. 

Possible milestones might be:

• Website launch date
• Store or office opening date
• First significant sales
• Break even date
• Business licenses and approvals

You should also discuss the key numbers you will track to determine your success. Some common metrics worth tracking include:

• Conversion rates
• Customer acquisition costs
• Profit per customer
• Repeat purchases

It’s perfectly fine to start with just a few metrics and grow the number you are tracking over time. You also may find that some metrics simply aren’t relevant to your business and can narrow down what you’re tracking.

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

Investors don’t just look for great ideas—they want to find great teams. Use this chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire . You should also provide a quick overview of your location and history if you’re already up and running.

Briefly highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member in the company. It’s important to make the case for why yours is the right team to turn an idea into a reality. 

Do they have the right industry experience and background? Have members of the team had entrepreneurial successes before? 

If you still need to hire key team members, that’s OK. Just note those gaps in this section.

Your company overview should also include a summary of your company’s current business structure . The most common business structures include:

• Sole proprietor
• Partnership

Be sure to provide an overview of how the business is owned as well. Does each business partner own an equal portion of the business? How is ownership divided? 

Potential lenders and investors will want to know the structure of the business before they will consider a loan or investment.

Dig Deeper: How to write about your company structure and team

Financial plan

Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter. 

Entrepreneurs often find this section the most daunting. But, business financials for most startups are less complicated than you think, and a business degree is certainly not required to build a solid financial forecast. 

A typical financial forecast in a business plan includes the following:

• Sales forecast : An estimate of the sales expected over a given period. You’ll break down your forecast into the key revenue streams that you expect to have.
• Expense budget : Your planned spending such as personnel costs , marketing expenses, and taxes.
• Profit & Loss : Brings together your sales and expenses and helps you calculate planned profits.
• Cash Flow : Shows how cash moves into and out of your business. It can predict how much cash you’ll have on hand at any given point in the future.
• Balance Sheet : A list of the assets, liabilities, and equity in your company. In short, it provides an overview of the financial health of your business. 

A strong business plan will include a description of assumptions about the future, and potential risks that could impact the financial plan. Including those will be especially important if you’re writing a business plan to pursue a loan or other investment.

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

This is the place for additional data, charts, or other information that supports your plan.

Including an appendix can significantly enhance the credibility of your plan by showing readers that you’ve thoroughly considered the details of your business idea, and are backing your ideas up with solid data.

Just remember that the information in the appendix is meant to be supplementary. Your business plan should stand on its own, even if the reader skips this section.

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

Adding a business plan cover page can make your plan, and by extension your business, seem more professional in the eyes of potential investors, lenders, and partners. It serves as the introduction to your document and provides necessary contact information for stakeholders to reference.

Your cover page should be simple and include:

• Company logo
• Business name
• Value proposition (optional)
• Business plan title
• Completion and/or update date
• Address and contact information
• Confidentiality statement

Just remember, the cover page is optional. If you decide to include it, keep it very simple and only spend a short amount of time putting it together.

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can speed up the business plan writing process and help you think through concepts like market segmentation and competition. These tools are especially useful for taking ideas that you provide and converting them into polished text for your business plan.

The best way to use AI for your business plan is to leverage it as a collaborator , not a replacement for human creative thinking and ingenuity. 

AI can come up with lots of ideas and act as a brainstorming partner. It’s up to you to filter through those ideas and figure out which ones are realistic enough to resonate with your customers. 

There are pros and cons of using AI to help with your business plan . So, spend some time understanding how it can be most helpful before just outsourcing the job to AI.

Learn more: 10 AI prompts you need to write a business plan

• Writing tips and strategies

To help streamline the business plan writing process, here are a few tips and key questions to answer to make sure you get the most out of your plan and avoid common mistakes .  

Determine why you are writing a business plan

Knowing why you are writing a business plan will determine your approach to your planning project. 

For example: If you are writing a business plan for yourself, or just to use inside your own business , you can probably skip the section about your team and organizational structure. 

If you’re raising money, you’ll want to spend more time explaining why you’re looking to raise the funds and exactly how you will use them.

Regardless of how you intend to use your business plan , think about why you are writing and what you’re trying to get out of the process before you begin.

Keep things concise

Probably the most important tip is to keep your business plan short and simple. There are no prizes for long business plans . The longer your plan is, the less likely people are to read it. 

So focus on trimming things down to the essentials your readers need to know. Skip the extended, wordy descriptions and instead focus on creating a plan that is easy to read —using bullets and short sentences whenever possible.

Have someone review your business plan

Writing a business plan in a vacuum is never a good idea. Sometimes it’s helpful to zoom out and check if your plan makes sense to someone else. You also want to make sure that it’s easy to read and understand.

Don’t wait until your plan is “done” to get a second look. Start sharing your plan early, and find out from readers what questions your plan leaves unanswered. This early review cycle will help you spot shortcomings in your plan and address them quickly, rather than finding out about them right before you present your plan to a lender or investor.

If you need a more detailed review, you may want to explore hiring a professional plan writer to thoroughly examine it.

Use a free business plan template and business plan examples to get started

Knowing what information to include in a business plan is sometimes not quite enough. If you’re struggling to get started or need additional guidance, it may be worth using a business plan template. 

There are plenty of great options available (we’ve rounded up our 8 favorites to streamline your search).

But, if you’re looking for a free downloadable business plan template , you can get one right now; download the template used by more than 1 million businesses. 

Or, if you just want to see what a completed business plan looks like, check out our library of over 550 free business plan examples . 

We even have a growing list of industry business planning guides with tips for what to focus on depending on your business type.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re writing your business plan. Some entrepreneurs get sucked into the writing and research process, and don’t focus enough on actually getting their business started. 

Here are a few common mistakes and how to avoid them:

Not talking to your customers : This is one of the most common mistakes. It’s easy to assume that your product or service is something that people want. Before you invest too much in your business and too much in the planning process, make sure you talk to your prospective customers and have a good understanding of their needs.

• Overly optimistic sales and profit forecasts: By nature, entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future. But it’s good to temper that optimism a little when you’re planning, and make sure your forecasts are grounded in reality. 
• Spending too much time planning: Yes, planning is crucial. But you also need to get out and talk to customers, build prototypes of your product and figure out if there’s a market for your idea. Make sure to balance planning with building.
• Not revising the plan: Planning is useful, but nothing ever goes exactly as planned. As you learn more about what’s working and what’s not—revise your plan, your budgets, and your revenue forecast. Doing so will provide a more realistic picture of where your business is going, and what your financial needs will be moving forward.
• Not using the plan to manage your business: A good business plan is a management tool. Don’t just write it and put it on the shelf to collect dust – use it to track your progress and help you reach your goals.
• Presenting your business plan

The planning process forces you to think through every aspect of your business and answer questions that you may not have thought of. That’s the real benefit of writing a business plan – the knowledge you gain about your business that you may not have been able to discover otherwise.

With all of this knowledge, you’re well prepared to convert your business plan into a pitch presentation to present your ideas. 

A pitch presentation is a summary of your plan, just hitting the highlights and key points. It’s the best way to present your business plan to investors and team members.

Dig Deeper: Learn what key slides should be included in your pitch deck

Use your business plan to manage your business

One of the biggest benefits of planning is that it gives you a tool to manage your business better. With a revenue forecast, expense budget, and projected cash flow, you know your targets and where you are headed.

And yet, nothing ever goes exactly as planned – it’s the nature of business.

That’s where using your plan as a management tool comes in. The key to leveraging it for your business is to review it periodically and compare your forecasts and projections to your actual results.

Start by setting up a regular time to review the plan – a monthly review is a good starting point. During this review, answer questions like:

• Did you meet your sales goals?
• Is spending following your budget?
• Has anything gone differently than what you expected?

Now that you see whether you’re meeting your goals or are off track, you can make adjustments and set new targets. 

Maybe you’re exceeding your sales goals and should set new, more aggressive goals. In that case, maybe you should also explore more spending or hiring more employees. 

Or maybe expenses are rising faster than you projected. If that’s the case, you would need to look at where you can cut costs.

A plan, and a method for comparing your plan to your actual results , is the tool you need to steer your business toward success.

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

Free business plan templates and examples

Kickstart your business plan writing with one of our free business plan templates or recommended tools.

Free business plan template

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One-page plan template

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Sample business plan library

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How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

A document that describes your business , the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy, how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

What are the benefits of a business plan?

A business plan helps you understand where you want to go with your business and what it will take to get there. It reduces your overall risk, helps you uncover your business’s potential, attracts investors, and identifies areas for growth.

Having a business plan ultimately makes you more confident as a business owner and more likely to succeed for a longer period of time.

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

• Write a brief executive summary
• Describe your products and services.
• Conduct market research and compile data into a cohesive market analysis.
• Describe your marketing and sales strategy.
• Outline your organizational structure and management team.
• Develop financial projections for sales, revenue, and cash flow.
• Add any additional documents to your appendix.

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when writing a business plan. However, these are the 5 most common that you should do your best to avoid:

• 1. Not taking the planning process seriously.
• Having unrealistic financial projections or incomplete financial information.
• Inconsistent information or simple mistakes.
• Failing to establish a sound business model.
• Not having a defined purpose for your business plan.

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

Writing a business plan is all about asking yourself questions about your business and being able to answer them through the planning process. You’ll likely be asking dozens and dozens of questions for each section of your plan.

However, these are the key questions you should ask and answer with your business plan:

• How will your business make money?
• Is there a need for your product or service?
• Who are your customers?
• How are you different from the competition?
• How will you reach your customers?
• How will you measure success?

How long should a business plan be?

The length of your business plan fully depends on what you intend to do with it. From the SBA and traditional lender point of view, a business plan needs to be whatever length necessary to fully explain your business. This means that you prove the viability of your business, show that you understand the market, and have a detailed strategy in place.

If you intend to use your business plan for internal management purposes, you don’t necessarily need a full 25-50 page business plan. Instead, you can start with a one-page plan to get all of the necessary information in place.

What are the different types of business plans?

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. Here are a few common business plan types worth considering.

Traditional business plan: The tried-and-true traditional business plan is a formal document meant to be used when applying for funding or pitching to investors. This type of business plan follows the outline above and can be anywhere from 10-50 pages depending on the amount of detail included, the complexity of your business, and what you include in your appendix.

Business model canvas: The business model canvas is a one-page template designed to demystify the business planning process. It removes the need for a traditional, copy-heavy business plan, in favor of a single-page outline that can help you and outside parties better explore your business idea.

One-page business plan: This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences. It’s most useful for those exploring ideas, needing to validate their business model, or who need an internal plan to help them run and manage their business.

Lean Plan: The Lean Plan is less of a specific document type and more of a methodology. It takes the simplicity and styling of the one-page business plan and turns it into a process for you to continuously plan, test, review, refine, and take action based on performance. It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

What’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?

A business plan covers the “who” and “what” of your business. It explains what your business is doing right now and how it functions. The strategic plan explores long-term goals and explains “how” the business will get there. It encourages you to look more intently toward the future and how you will achieve your vision.

However, when approached correctly, your business plan can actually function as a strategic plan as well. If kept lean, you can define your business, outline strategic steps, and track ongoing operations all with a single plan.

Noah is the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. He started his career at Yahoo! and then helped start the user review site Epinions.com. From there he started a software distribution business in the UK before coming to Palo Alto Software to run the marketing and product teams.

Table of Contents

• Use AI to help write your plan
• Common planning mistakes
• Manage with your business plan
• Templates and examples

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Buying Patterns: 3 Helpful Ways to Respond to Buyer Priorities

Do you want to know how to respond to buyers’ priorities?

We’ve got 3 helpful ways for businesses to analyze buying patterns and respond accordingly. You can use these tips no matter what industry you work in, so don’t miss out!

These are the best practices that have been proven time and time again by experts in their fields. If you follow them, your company will be more successful than ever before.

Understand the Customer’s Buying Patterns

Salespeople sometimes find the buying patterns of buyers to be quite baffling .

Why all these questions? Why not make a decision? Everything sounded so positive … what went wrong?

For many years, I’ve spent a good part of my career in purchasing and in sales, I’ve learned that buyers do not think the same way salespeople think.

They have different agendas, different concerns, and different motivators. And, just as good salespeople have a system for selling, good buyers have buying patterns.

Let’s take a look at the buyer mentality — a better understanding of it will help you conduct your sales calls more comfortably and effectively this 2021 and in the years ahead.

Behind the Buyer’s Desk

Buyers tend to be overworked. A lot of their day-to-day activity is spent on detailed work, putting out fires, and cleaning up other people’s messes.

A typical day involves activities such as:

• For accounts payable, reconciling a price difference between a quote and an invoice on a particular line item
• And the operations manager, expediting delivery of a manufacturing item with the vendor and the vendor’s freight company, to prevent a production line from shutting down
• For the director of purchasing, updating a report on inventory turns for 500 post-production inventory items
• Finally, the warehouse manager, working with a vendor to change the number of boxes on a pallet to improve storage efficiency

Multiply this type of work by about 10, and you have a typical day in the life of a buyer. What sorts of things can we conclude from this?

Learn How to Respond to Buyer Priorities

There are three important conclusions we can draw about buying patterns that I’d like to bring to your attention.

Please keep in mind that throughout this article, we’re dealing in general terms; not all buyers are alike, just as not all salespeople are alike.

1 Don’t Waste Their Time

When they have other people breathing down their neck (often higher-ups) for answers, they have little patience for unreturned phone calls, confusing emails, and dealing with peripheral issues.

If you can’t offer a good reason why a buyer should talk to you now , don’t be surprised if your attempts to pursue a sale stall out.

Furthermore, don’t take it personally if a buyer puts you off. It isn’t personal. The buyer is probably too busy to focus on what you’re trying to propose.

A good solution to the problem is suggesting a time to meet or talk during off-hours — before work, at lunch, after work.

The buyer will then be able to focus and may appreciate a chance to relax and deal with a big-picture issue.

2 Understand that Buyers are Risk-averse

I think this is partly or largely due to on-the-job conditioning — anything that happens out of the ordinary usually causes disruption and problems they have to fix.

Because of this attitude, any new salesperson who enters the scene will be viewed not only as a distraction, but also as a potential headache.

From the buyer’s point of view, the distraction and headache are very real, but whatever value proposition the seller is making seems abstract and distant.

In response to this, salespeople must combine persistence with patience.

It’s going to take buyers some time to get comfortable with you and whatever it is you’re selling.

Push too hard and you’ll push them away. Of course, if you don’t push at all, you’ll never sell anything.

To overcome risk aversion, start the sales process with details that speak to your credibility — how your product/service helped a company in the same industry, how many years you’ve spent selling to the same industry, awards and recognition your company has received, etc.

3 Be Detail-oriented Like Your Buyers

This is really important for sellers to appreciate because salespeople tend not to be detail-oriented.

What buyers infer from a seller’s sweeping statements is this: The seller cannot be relied upon to take care of the details, or the seller doesn’t understand the details.

And the buyer thinks, “ If the seller doesn’t know the details or care about the details, why am I talking to this person? ”

There are several ways a salesperson must respond to this attitude.

First, consider bringing a technical expert from your organization to the sales call.

The buyer may be far more eager to talk to someone he or she perceives as a detail person.

Second, demand training on the details if you haven’t received it.

Third, never, ever let details slip through the cracks during the course of your sales effort.

The smallest oversight may seem like a huge issue from the buyer’s point of view.

How do Buyers Buy?

Once you have the sales ball rolling, you may encounter situations that are easily misinterpreted.

While buying patterns sometimes seems perplexing or frustrating to salespeople, there is often a good reason behind it.

Let’s consider a few common issues.

1 Slow decision-making

When buyers draw out the sales process , when they ask for a lot of information that seems like overkill, it could be the buyer is testing you .

The buyer may want to know how well you follow up, how accurate your information is, how able you are to make good on your promises.

Whether you realize it or not, you are in the midst of an audition, and instead of getting a role in a movie, you’re auditioning for a role in the buyer’s organization as a vendor.

2 Focused on price

Sellers often complain that buyers are totally focused on price, when they should be concerned about overall value and ROI.

Two very important things to keep in mind here.

First, buyers are often compensated on how much they spend and how much they save; like all people, buyers do what they’re paid to do.

Second, if buyers appreciate your overall value and ROI potential (and they probably do), they will still focus on price because they’re trying to get the best deal possible. If buyers admit that your product or service is worth the asking price, it works against them in the negotiation.

In addition, you can safely assume buyers will not tell the truth if you ask them what they are currently paying for a product or service.

They don’t do this because they are dishonest or dislike you — it’s Negotiating 101. Thus, asking a buyer what they are currently paying is a bad question. Instead, ask:

• If my price for “X” is “Y,” would you place an order?
• At what price would you order my product/service?

These questions are actually more comfortable for a buyer to answer — although you can assume the answer is on the low side of what he or she would actually be willing to pay.

3 Objections from out of the blue

This is quite discouraging and often happens because the seller does not realize how decisions are made within the buyer’s organization.

Usually, buyers have the authorization to buy on their own authority up to a certain point, with restrictions based on the type of product/service and/or dollar amount.

In larger organizations, adding a new vendor may require multiple sign-offs regardless of product and dollar amount.

From a negotiation standpoint, a buyer may not be forthcoming in explaining the internal buying process because it weakens their position.

Therefore, salespeople must be sure to understand these buying patterns early in the sales process. Good questions that get at this include:

• Can you walk me through the process of adding a vendor at your company?
• Is there anyone else involved with making a decision to buy this product/service?
• Anyone else here I should talk to about this product/service?
• Is there anything production/quality control/warehousing needs to know about this product or service?

Different types of Buyer Behavior

There are four primary forms of buyer behavior:

1 Variety-Seeking

With this behavior, the buyer chooses a different service not out of dissatisfaction with the prior one, but out of a need for variety.

It’s just like when you’re trying to find the exact perfume smell that fits you. 

2 Dissonance-reducing

The buyer is deeply engaged in the purchasing process yet struggles to distinguish different brands.

Dissonance might develop when a buyer fears they will regret their purchase.

Consider purchasing a mower. You’ll select one based on cost and availability, but once you’ve made your purchase, you’ll seek validation that you made the correct option.

3 Complex Behavior

This behavior is when consumers purchase high-priced, rarely purchased goods.

They play a significant role in the purchasing process and in the research prior to making a high-value buy.

Consider purchasing a home or a car; these are examples of complex purchasing behaviors.

4 Habitual Buying

Habitual buys are defined by the buyer’s lack of information about the product or business category.

Consider the following scenario: you go to the store to purchase your favorite type of cheese.

You are demonstrating a pattern of behavior, not powerful brand devotion.

Build Good Relationships with Buyers

Although buyers like to focus on price during a negotiation, they understand the importance of a strong business relationship.

Normally, buyers are very protective of the vendor relationships they have in place.

If a buyer has a vendor that performs well, and especially if this vendor has people enjoyable to work with, the buyer will be very reluctant to jeopardize the relationship — and also very reluctant to tell you so.

Thus, in the same way, buyers want the negotiation to focus on price, the seller wants to bring relationship issues to the forefront, but very carefully. Questions that help ferret out relationship issues:

• How would you rate your current vendor on a scale of 1-10? Why that number?
• Where does your current vendor really perform well? Where do you think performance could be better?
• What do you like most about your current vendor?
• What can I tell you about me or my organization that will give you confidence that we can do the job for you?

The answers to these questions should give you a feel for whether you are up against a vendor with a weak or strong relationship with the buyer.

If the relationship is weak, you may be much closer to a sale than the buyer is leading you to believe. If the relationship is strong, don’t give up.

Importance of Understanding Customer Behaviour

76 percent of consumers expect businesses to understand their requirements and expectations, according to a Salesforce survey .

This means that if you don’t comprehend what a consumer wants before they can communicate it to you, they’re likely to go elsewhere.

1 Draw Buyers Closer to the Company

A thorough and systematic understanding of buying patterns enables a business to grasp their consumers’ demands and standards.

This in turn enables them to build products and package services that are most useful to clients , thereby bringing them closer to the brand.

Analyzing customer buyers’ behavior enables a firm to establish a price range for certain client categories, design the most successful promos and reward programs, and treat consumers in a way that encourages customer loyalty and referrals.

2 Shape Buyer’s Opinion

The additional benefit of understanding customer’s buying patterns is that it enables a customer to alter their behavior to their advantage.

It enables a business to shape and sway customer opinion in its favor, so attaining its objectives of increased sales, profits, and long-term success.

3 Properly Time Your Advertising Techniques

Observing client behavior can assist a business in determining the optimal timing for promotions, advertising, and other marketing campaigns.

For instance, if a business notices that a certain consumer is more likely to purchase at the end of the season, they might send that client advertising messages telling them about end-of-season deals and other incentives.

Learn more about the importance by reading Emily Newman’s take. 

Success in business is not solely determined by delivering exceptional items or those that appear to be the latest fad. Without an awareness of buying patterns, a business’s endeavors will be in vain and all of their achievements will be useless. We hope this blog is helpful for you to step up in analyzing your customers’ buying patterns.

Want to help contribute to future articles? Have data-backed and tactical advice to share? I’d love to hear from you!

We have over 60,000 monthly readers that would love to see it! Contact us and let's discuss your ideas!

About Author: Brad Shorr

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Making Sense of Your Customers’ Buying Patterns and Trends

What kind of sales can you expect in the upcoming quarter? Is the consumer likely to be impressed by your new design range? Should you be focusing more on social media marketing or should the campaigns be more broad based? Does it make sense to stock up on the product before the festive season?

These are probably just a few of the many questions coming to the ecommerce entrepreneur’s mind. The future’s uncertain and we don’t know what lies ahead….

But there is hope, as we can manage to minimize uncertainty by making informed decisions based on available data and insights using trends and patterns. 

A trend is defined as the general direction of movement of a variable over a period of time. A pattern on the other hand, is a set of data that follows a recognizable form. Analysts work on identifying such trends and patterns and then attempt to find the same in the current data. This helps them to predict and forecast what is likely to happen next. 

Descriptive and diagnostic data is easily available on most ecommerce platforms including Shopmatic . Moreover, visual representation of such data through charts and graphs on a dashboard makes it easy for businesses to spot and identify many trends and patterns in consumer behaviour. As an online merchant yourself, you can use such knowledge effectively to take the right steps and plan to reach their business goals

Patterns that you could look out for 

The digital footprint left behind by browsers and visitors to your website can offer a wealth of information to the entrepreneur. This knowledge comes in very handy when understanding customer behaviour and planning new product launches. It is also useful in planning the right marketing strategy and setting sales and revenue targets for your business. You can also gain clarity on what is contributing to your success or conversely, what is pulling you down.

Seasonal trends 

Did sales of your cakes and cookies pick up over the holiday season or did it actually see a dip with many of your regulars away on holiday? Do people tend to stock up on gifts from your jewellery store before the festive season? 

A closer look at sales and revenue numbers along with segmentation data will throw up seasonal patterns in the data. This should be studied over a couple of years at least to make sure that the trend that you observe is a pattern that is repeating and not just an aberration.    

Geographical trends

The marketing campaign budget had been spent evenly over all territories and the message targeted to customers on both sides of the causeway. But has the impact been even?

Where are your revenue generating customers mostly coming from? 

This knowledge is critical as it can help in formulating and designing your future campaigns and associated growth plans. 

Demographic trends 

Last season, your online store introduced handmade scarves, bags and cushion covers printed with organic dyes that come in eco friendly packaging. Sales have been brisk ever since the launch and surely you would want to see this trend continue. 

But who is actually buying this product? What is the gender and average age of the visitors buying from your website? 

Understanding the profile of the buyers is extremely important  as it will allow you to better serve their needs and enhance overall customer satisfaction.

Buying trends

Understanding the buying patterns and average budget of your customers can lend precious insight on your future marketing and merchandising plans.  

How often do customers buy the organic herbal face cleanser and the moisturiser together or each on its own? Does it make sense to bundle the two products together (at a small discount) and increase the average order value of each transaction?

Are the silver necklace and earring sets paired together selling better than the individual items? 

These are just some examples of the trends and patterns that you could look out for as they can be wisely used to serve customers better and also improve productivity and the operational efficiency of your business. 

How such Insights can help 

Information gathered by analysing the various trends and patterns (discussed above) can be incorporated in decision making in a wide range of areas. Apart from taking advantage of a promising trend, such analysis can often reveal what actions to take to eliminate a potential problem.

Sales and Revenue 

Revenue and Sales data can be effectively used to make informed decisions regarding the pricing of your products. A decreasing revenue trend is a reason to introspect. It might call for adjustments to prices and perhaps improve marketing, unless you decide to discontinue the product altogether. On the other hand, a rising trend of the sales graph is a call for you to build up on your stocks.  

Such data (segmented and overall numbers) also provides many insights into the performance of a specific product or geography. This enables merchants to sell more interactively by quickly identifying those areas where sales could be anticipated.

Knowing what and when to keep in stock

An “out of stock” situation is totally undesirable and it is important to have the right products in stock. Sales patterns revealing product preferences along with data on Inventory can help identify and analyze trends and make smart predictions for the future. Having more insights on what is catching the eye of the customer can be a huge help in proper inventory management and avoid blocking funds on unnecessary stockpiles. 

If you can spot seasonality in sales data over the past few years, this can be a good indicator of what’s coming up next. A rise in orders over the holiday season can then be better planned and managed. 

Know what to advertise and where 

Information and knowledge about your customer profile is key to maximising the impact of your marketing and promotional campaigns.  

For eg. If your customers are mostly millennials then you can’t avoid social media channels like Instagram and Facebook. Communicating the right message and active engagement with them on social media can strengthen brand loyalty, help influence prospective customers and grow the business. 

What to offer at checkout?  

Based on past buying patterns, it often pays to make suggestions about other items before the customer is ready to pay and checkout. It could be something complimentary- a matching purse with the scarf that she has bought or even something like a refill (at a discount) for the moisturiser that she has just bought.

Gestures like proposing a small donation for a social cause and you offering a discount on the next purchase are some smart policies that find favour with many online shoppers. 

Being aware of the buyer’s needs not only helps provide better service and enhance the overall customer experience at the store but also provides valuable insights for your future product developments. 

In Conclusion

While planning for the future, every ecommerce retailer wishes they had more knowledge on what lies ahead. They seek clarity on many questions regarding who, what, why and when in all areas of business and operation that need to be answered as they move forward.

Easy availability of data can help businesses identify and explore patterns and trends. Smart usage of this information for forecasting and planning for the future can help them in becoming more efficient, thereby increasing productivity and growing revenues.  

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How to Write a Business Plan in 9 Steps (+ Template and Examples)

Every successful business has one thing in common, a good and well-executed business plan. A business plan is more than a document, it is a complete guide that outlines the goals your business wants to achieve, including its financial goals . It helps you analyze results, make strategic decisions, show your business operations and growth.

If you want to start a business or already have one and need to pitch it to investors for funding, writing a good business plan improves your chances of attracting financiers. As a startup, if you want to secure loans from financial institutions, part of the requirements involve submitting your business plan.

Writing a business plan does not have to be a complicated or time-consuming process. In this article, you will learn the step-by-step process for writing a successful business plan.

You will also learn what you need a business plan for, tips and strategies for writing a convincing business plan, business plan examples and templates that will save you tons of time, and the alternatives to the traditional business plan.

Let’s get started.

What Do You Need A Business Plan For?

Businesses create business plans for different purposes such as to secure funds, monitor business growth, measure your marketing strategies, and measure your business success.

1. Secure Funds

One of the primary reasons for writing a business plan is to secure funds, either from financial institutions/agencies or investors.

For you to effectively acquire funds, your business plan must contain the key elements of your business plan . For example, your business plan should include your growth plans, goals you want to achieve, and milestones you have recorded.

A business plan can also attract new business partners that are willing to contribute financially and intellectually. If you are writing a business plan to a bank, your project must show your traction , that is, the proof that you can pay back any loan borrowed.

Also, if you are writing to an investor, your plan must contain evidence that you can effectively utilize the funds you want them to invest in your business. Here, you are using your business plan to persuade a group or an individual that your business is a source of a good investment.

2. Monitor Business Growth

A business plan can help you track cash flows in your business. It steers your business to greater heights. A business plan capable of tracking business growth should contain:

• The business goals
• Methods to achieve the goals
• Time-frame for attaining those goals

A good business plan should guide you through every step in achieving your goals. It can also track the allocation of assets to every aspect of the business. You can tell when you are spending more than you should on a project.

You can compare a business plan to a written GPS. It helps you manage your business and hints at the right time to expand your business.

3. Measure Business Success

A business plan can help you measure your business success rate. Some small-scale businesses are thriving better than more prominent companies because of their track record of success.

Right from the onset of your business operation, set goals and work towards them. Write a plan to guide you through your procedures. Use your plan to measure how much you have achieved and how much is left to attain.

You can also weigh your success by monitoring the position of your brand relative to competitors. On the other hand, a business plan can also show you why you have not achieved a goal. It can tell if you have elapsed the time frame you set to attain a goal.

4. Document Your Marketing Strategies

You can use a business plan to document your marketing plans. Every business should have an effective marketing plan.

Competition mandates every business owner to go the extraordinary mile to remain relevant in the market. Your business plan should contain your marketing strategies that work. You can measure the success rate of your marketing plans.

In your business plan, your marketing strategy must answer the questions:

• How do you want to reach your target audience?
• How do you plan to retain your customers?
• What is/are your pricing plans?
• What is your budget for marketing?

How to Write a Business Plan Step-by-Step

1. create your executive summary.

The executive summary is a snapshot of your business or a high-level overview of your business purposes and plans . Although the executive summary is the first section in your business plan, most people write it last. The length of the executive summary is not more than two pages.

Generally, there are nine sections in a business plan, the executive summary should condense essential ideas from the other eight sections.

A good executive summary should do the following:

• A Snapshot of Growth Potential. Briefly inform the reader about your company and why it will be successful)
• Contain your Mission Statement which explains what the main objective or focus of your business is.
• Product Description and Differentiation. Brief description of your products or services and why it is different from other solutions in the market.
• The Team. Basic information about your company’s leadership team and employees
• Business Concept. A solid description of what your business does.
• Target Market. The customers you plan to sell to.
• Marketing Strategy. Your plans on reaching and selling to your customers
• Current Financial State. Brief information about what revenue your business currently generates.
• Projected Financial State. Brief information about what you foresee your business revenue to be in the future.

The executive summary is the make-or-break section of your business plan. If your summary cannot in less than two pages cannot clearly describe how your business will solve a particular problem of your target audience and make a profit, your business plan is set on a faulty foundation.

Avoid using the executive summary to hype your business, instead, focus on helping the reader understand the what and how of your plan.

View the executive summary as an opportunity to introduce your vision for your company. You know your executive summary is powerful when it can answer these key questions:

• Who is your target audience?
• What sector or industry are you in?
• What are your products and services?
• What is the future of your industry?
• Is your company scaleable?
• Who are the owners and leaders of your company? What are their backgrounds and experience levels?
• What is the motivation for starting your company?
• What are the next steps?

Writing the executive summary last although it is the most important section of your business plan is an excellent idea. The reason why is because it is a high-level overview of your business plan. It is the section that determines whether potential investors and lenders will read further or not.

The executive summary can be a stand-alone document that covers everything in your business plan. It is not uncommon for investors to request only the executive summary when evaluating your business. If the information in the executive summary impresses them, they will ask for the complete business plan.

If you are writing your business plan for your planning purposes, you do not need to write the executive summary.

2. Add Your Company Overview

The company overview or description is the next section in your business plan after the executive summary. It describes what your business does.

Adding your company overview can be tricky especially when your business is still in the planning stages. Existing businesses can easily summarize their current operations but may encounter difficulties trying to explain what they plan to become.

Your company overview should contain the following:

• What products and services you will provide
• Geographical markets and locations your company have a presence
• What you need to run your business
• Who your target audience or customers are
• Who will service your customers
• Your company’s purpose, mission, and vision
• Information about your company’s founders
• Who the founders are
• Notable achievements of your company so far

When creating a company overview, you have to focus on three basics: identifying your industry, identifying your customer, and explaining the problem you solve.

If you are stuck when creating your company overview, try to answer some of these questions that pertain to you.

• Who are you targeting? (The answer is not everyone)
• What pain point does your product or service solve for your customers that they will be willing to spend money on resolving?
• How does your product or service overcome that pain point?
• Where is the location of your business?
• What products, equipment, and services do you need to run your business?
• How is your company’s product or service different from your competition in the eyes of your customers?
• How many employees do you need and what skills do you require them to have?

After answering some or all of these questions, you will get more than enough information you need to write your company overview or description section. When writing this section, describe what your company does for your customers.

The company description or overview section contains three elements: mission statement, history, and objectives.

• Mission Statement

The mission statement refers to the reason why your business or company is existing. It goes beyond what you do or sell, it is about the ‘why’. A good mission statement should be emotional and inspirational.

Your mission statement should follow the KISS rule (Keep It Simple, Stupid). For example, Shopify’s mission statement is “Make commerce better for everyone.”

When describing your company’s history, make it simple and avoid the temptation of tying it to a defensive narrative. Write it in the manner you would a profile. Your company’s history should include the following information:

• Founding Date
• Major Milestones
• Location(s)
• Flagship Products or Services
• Number of Employees
• Executive Leadership Roles

When you fill in this information, you use it to write one or two paragraphs about your company’s history.

Business Objectives

Your business objective must be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.) Failure to clearly identify your business objectives does not inspire confidence and makes it hard for your team members to work towards a common purpose.

3. Perform Market and Competitive Analyses to Proof a Big Enough Business Opportunity

The third step in writing a business plan is the market and competitive analysis section. Every business, no matter the size, needs to perform comprehensive market and competitive analyses before it enters into a market.

Performing market and competitive analyses are critical for the success of your business. It helps you avoid entering the right market with the wrong product, or vice versa. Anyone reading your business plans, especially financiers and financial institutions will want to see proof that there is a big enough business opportunity you are targeting.

This section is where you describe the market and industry you want to operate in and show the big opportunities in the market that your business can leverage to make a profit. If you noticed any unique trends when doing your research, show them in this section.

Market analysis alone is not enough, you have to add competitive analysis to strengthen this section. There are already businesses in the industry or market, how do you plan to take a share of the market from them?

You have to clearly illustrate the competitive landscape in your business plan. Are there areas your competitors are doing well? Are there areas where they are not doing so well? Show it.

Make it clear in this section why you are moving into the industry and what weaknesses are present there that you plan to explain. How are your competitors going to react to your market entry? How do you plan to get customers? Do you plan on taking your competitors' competitors, tap into other sources for customers, or both?

Illustrate the competitive landscape as well. What are your competitors doing well and not so well?

Answering these questions and thoughts will aid your market and competitive analysis of the opportunities in your space. Depending on how sophisticated your industry is, or the expectations of your financiers, you may need to carry out a more comprehensive market and competitive analysis to prove that big business opportunity.

Instead of looking at the market and competitive analyses as one entity, separating them will make the research even more comprehensive.

Market Analysis

Market analysis, boarding speaking, refers to research a business carried out on its industry, market, and competitors. It helps businesses gain a good understanding of their target market and the outlook of their industry. Before starting a company, it is vital to carry out market research to find out if the market is viable.

The market analysis section is a key part of the business plan. It is the section where you identify who your best clients or customers are. You cannot omit this section, without it your business plan is incomplete.

A good market analysis will tell your readers how you fit into the existing market and what makes you stand out. This section requires in-depth research, it will probably be the most time-consuming part of the business plan to write.

• Market Research

To create a compelling market analysis that will win over investors and financial institutions, you have to carry out thorough market research . Your market research should be targeted at your primary target market for your products or services. Here is what you want to find out about your target market.

• Your target market’s needs or pain points
• The existing solutions for their pain points
• Geographic Location
• Demographics

The purpose of carrying out a marketing analysis is to get all the information you need to show that you have a solid and thorough understanding of your target audience.

Only after you have fully understood the people you plan to sell your products or services to, can you evaluate correctly if your target market will be interested in your products or services.

You can easily convince interested parties to invest in your business if you can show them you thoroughly understand the market and show them that there is a market for your products or services.

How to Quantify Your Target Market

One of the goals of your marketing research is to understand who your ideal customers are and their purchasing power. To quantify your target market, you have to determine the following:

• Your Potential Customers: They are the people you plan to target. For example, if you sell accounting software for small businesses , then anyone who runs an enterprise or large business is unlikely to be your customers. Also, individuals who do not have a business will most likely not be interested in your product.
• Total Households: If you are selling household products such as heating and air conditioning systems, determining the number of total households is more important than finding out the total population in the area you want to sell to. The logic is simple, people buy the product but it is the household that uses it.
• Median Income: You need to know the median income of your target market. If you target a market that cannot afford to buy your products and services, your business will not last long.
• Income by Demographics: If your potential customers belong to a certain age group or gender, determining income levels by demographics is necessary. For example, if you sell men's clothes, your target audience is men.

What Does a Good Market Analysis Entail?

Your business does not exist on its own, it can only flourish within an industry and alongside competitors. Market analysis takes into consideration your industry, target market, and competitors. Understanding these three entities will drastically improve your company’s chances of success.

You can view your market analysis as an examination of the market you want to break into and an education on the emerging trends and themes in that market. Good market analyses include the following:

• Industry Description. You find out about the history of your industry, the current and future market size, and who the largest players/companies are in your industry.
• Overview of Target Market. You research your target market and its characteristics. Who are you targeting? Note, it cannot be everyone, it has to be a specific group. You also have to find out all information possible about your customers that can help you understand how and why they make buying decisions.
• Size of Target Market: You need to know the size of your target market, how frequently they buy, and the expected quantity they buy so you do not risk overproducing and having lots of bad inventory. Researching the size of your target market will help you determine if it is big enough for sustained business or not.
• Growth Potential: Before picking a target market, you want to be sure there are lots of potential for future growth. You want to avoid going for an industry that is declining slowly or rapidly with almost zero growth potential.
• Market Share Potential: Does your business stand a good chance of taking a good share of the market?
• Market Pricing and Promotional Strategies: Your market analysis should give you an idea of the price point you can expect to charge for your products and services. Researching your target market will also give you ideas of pricing strategies you can implement to break into the market or to enjoy maximum profits.
• Potential Barriers to Entry: One of the biggest benefits of conducting market analysis is that it shows you every potential barrier to entry your business will likely encounter. It is a good idea to discuss potential barriers to entry such as changing technology. It informs readers of your business plan that you understand the market.
• Research on Competitors: You need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and how you can exploit them for the benefit of your business. Find patterns and trends among your competitors that make them successful, discover what works and what doesn’t, and see what you can do better.

The market analysis section is not just for talking about your target market, industry, and competitors. You also have to explain how your company can fill the hole you have identified in the market.

Here are some questions you can answer that can help you position your product or service in a positive light to your readers.

• Is your product or service of superior quality?
• What additional features do you offer that your competitors do not offer?
• Are you targeting a ‘new’ market?

Basically, your market analysis should include an analysis of what already exists in the market and an explanation of how your company fits into the market.

Competitive Analysis

In the competitive analysis section, y ou have to understand who your direct and indirect competitions are, and how successful they are in the marketplace. It is the section where you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, the advantage(s) they possess in the market and show the unique features or qualities that make you different from your competitors.

Many businesses do market analysis and competitive analysis together. However, to fully understand what the competitive analysis entails, it is essential to separate it from the market analysis.

Competitive analysis for your business can also include analysis on how to overcome barriers to entry in your target market.

The primary goal of conducting a competitive analysis is to distinguish your business from your competitors. A strong competitive analysis is essential if you want to convince potential funding sources to invest in your business. You have to show potential investors and lenders that your business has what it takes to compete in the marketplace successfully.

Competitive analysis will s how you what the strengths of your competition are and what they are doing to maintain that advantage.

When doing your competitive research, you first have to identify your competitor and then get all the information you can about them. The idea of spending time to identify your competitor and learn everything about them may seem daunting but it is well worth it.

Find answers to the following questions after you have identified who your competitors are.

• What are your successful competitors doing?
• Why is what they are doing working?
• Can your business do it better?
• What are the weaknesses of your successful competitors?
• What are they not doing well?
• Can your business turn its weaknesses into strengths?
• How good is your competitors’ customer service?
• Where do your competitors invest in advertising?
• What sales and pricing strategies are they using?
• What marketing strategies are they using?
• What kind of press coverage do they get?
• What are their customers saying about your competitors (both the positive and negative)?

If your competitors have a website, it is a good idea to visit their websites for more competitors’ research. Check their “About Us” page for more information.

If you are presenting your business plan to investors, you need to clearly distinguish yourself from your competitors. Investors can easily tell when you have not properly researched your competitors.

Take time to think about what unique qualities or features set you apart from your competitors. If you do not have any direct competition offering your product to the market, it does not mean you leave out the competitor analysis section blank. Instead research on other companies that are providing a similar product, or whose product is solving the problem your product solves.

The next step is to create a table listing the top competitors you want to include in your business plan. Ensure you list your business as the last and on the right. What you just created is known as the competitor analysis table.

Direct vs Indirect Competition

You cannot know if your product or service will be a fit for your target market if you have not understood your business and the competitive landscape.

There is no market you want to target where you will not encounter competition, even if your product is innovative. Including competitive analysis in your business plan is essential.

If you are entering an established market, you need to explain how you plan to differentiate your products from the available options in the market. Also, include a list of few companies that you view as your direct competitors The competition you face in an established market is your direct competition.

In situations where you are entering a market with no direct competition, it does not mean there is no competition there. Consider your indirect competition that offers substitutes for the products or services you offer.

For example, if you sell an innovative SaaS product, let us say a project management software , a company offering time management software is your indirect competition.

There is an easy way to find out who your indirect competitors are in the absence of no direct competitors. You simply have to research how your potential customers are solving the problems that your product or service seeks to solve. That is your direct competition.

Factors that Differentiate Your Business from the Competition

There are three main factors that any business can use to differentiate itself from its competition. They are cost leadership, product differentiation, and market segmentation.

1. Cost Leadership

A strategy you can impose to maximize your profits and gain an edge over your competitors. It involves offering lower prices than what the majority of your competitors are offering.

A common practice among businesses looking to enter into a market where there are dominant players is to use free trials or pricing to attract as many customers as possible to their offer.

2. Product Differentiation

Your product or service should have a unique selling proposition (USP) that your competitors do not have or do not stress in their marketing.

Part of the marketing strategy should involve making your products unique and different from your competitors. It does not have to be different from your competitors, it can be the addition to a feature or benefit that your competitors do not currently have.

3. Market Segmentation

As a new business seeking to break into an industry, you will gain more success from focusing on a specific niche or target market, and not the whole industry.

If your competitors are focused on a general need or target market, you can differentiate yourself from them by having a small and hyper-targeted audience. For example, if your competitors are selling men’s clothes in their online stores , you can sell hoodies for men.

4. Define Your Business and Management Structure

The next step in your business plan is your business and management structure. It is the section where you describe the legal structure of your business and the team running it.

Your business is only as good as the management team that runs it, while the management team can only strive when there is a proper business and management structure in place.

If your company is a sole proprietor or a limited liability company (LLC), a general or limited partnership, or a C or an S corporation, state it clearly in this section.

Use an organizational chart to show the management structure in your business. Clearly show who is in charge of what area in your company. It is where you show how each key manager or team leader’s unique experience can contribute immensely to the success of your company. You can also opt to add the resumes and CVs of the key players in your company.

The business and management structure section should show who the owner is, and other owners of the businesses (if the business has other owners). For businesses or companies with multiple owners, include the percent ownership of the various owners and clearly show the extent of each others’ involvement in the company.

Investors want to know who is behind the company and the team running it to determine if it has the right management to achieve its set goals.

Management Team

The management team section is where you show that you have the right team in place to successfully execute the business operations and ideas. Take time to create the management structure for your business. Think about all the important roles and responsibilities that you need managers for to grow your business.

Include brief bios of each key team member and ensure you highlight only the relevant information that is needed. If your team members have background industry experience or have held top positions for other companies and achieved success while filling that role, highlight it in this section.

A common mistake that many startups make is assigning C-level titles such as (CMO and CEO) to everyone on their team. It is unrealistic for a small business to have those titles. While it may look good on paper for the ego of your team members, it can prevent investors from investing in your business.

Instead of building an unrealistic management structure that does not fit your business reality, it is best to allow business titles to grow as the business grows. Starting everyone at the top leaves no room for future change or growth, which is bad for productivity.

Your management team does not have to be complete before you start writing your business plan. You can have a complete business plan even when there are managerial positions that are empty and need filling.

If you have management gaps in your team, simply show the gaps and indicate you are searching for the right candidates for the role(s). Investors do not expect you to have a full management team when you are just starting your business.

Key Questions to Answer When Structuring Your Management Team

• Who are the key leaders?
• What experiences, skills, and educational backgrounds do you expect your key leaders to have?
• Do your key leaders have industry experience?
• What positions will they fill and what duties will they perform in those positions?
• What level of authority do the key leaders have and what are their responsibilities?
• What is the salary for the various management positions that will attract the ideal candidates?

Additional Tips for Writing the Management Structure Section

1. Avoid Adding ‘Ghost’ Names to Your Management Team

There is always that temptation to include a ‘ghost’ name to your management team to attract and influence investors to invest in your business. Although the presence of these celebrity management team members may attract the attention of investors, it can cause your business to lose any credibility if you get found out.

Seasoned investors will investigate further the members of your management team before committing fully to your business If they find out that the celebrity name used does not play any actual role in your business, they will not invest and may write you off as dishonest.

2. Focus on Credentials But Pay Extra Attention to the Roles

Investors want to know the experience that your key team members have to determine if they can successfully reach the company’s growth and financial goals.

While it is an excellent boost for your key management team to have the right credentials, you also want to pay extra attention to the roles they will play in your company.

Organizational Chart

Adding an organizational chart in this section of your business plan is not necessary, you can do it in your business plan’s appendix.

If you are exploring funding options, it is not uncommon to get asked for your organizational chart. The function of an organizational chart goes beyond raising money, you can also use it as a useful planning tool for your business.

An organizational chart can help you identify how best to structure your management team for maximum productivity and point you towards key roles you need to fill in the future.

You can use the organizational chart to show your company’s internal management structure such as the roles and responsibilities of your management team, and relationships that exist between them.

5. Describe Your Product and Service Offering

In your business plan, you have to describe what you sell or the service you plan to offer. It is the next step after defining your business and management structure. The products and services section is where you sell the benefits of your business.

Here you have to explain how your product or service will benefit your customers and describe your product lifecycle. It is also the section where you write down your plans for intellectual property like patent filings and copyrighting.

The research and development that you are undertaking for your product or service need to be explained in detail in this section. However, do not get too technical, sell the general idea and its benefits.

If you have any diagrams or intricate designs of your product or service, do not include them in the products and services section. Instead, leave them for the addendum page. Also, if you are leaving out diagrams or designs for the addendum, ensure you add this phrase “For more detail, visit the addendum Page #.”

Your product and service section in your business plan should include the following:

• A detailed explanation that clearly shows how your product or service works.
• The pricing model for your product or service.
• Your business’ sales and distribution strategy.
• The ideal customers that want your product or service.
• The benefits of your products and services.
• Reason(s) why your product or service is a better alternative to what your competitors are currently offering in the market.
• Plans for filling the orders you receive
• If you have current or pending patents, copyrights, and trademarks for your product or service, you can also discuss them in this section.

What to Focus On When Describing the Benefits, Lifecycle, and Production Process of Your Products or Services

In the products and services section, you have to distill the benefits, lifecycle, and production process of your products and services.

When describing the benefits of your products or services, here are some key factors to focus on.

• Unique features
• Translating the unique features into benefits
• The emotional, psychological, and practical payoffs to attract customers
• Intellectual property rights or any patents

When describing the product life cycle of your products or services, here are some key factors to focus on.

• Upsells, cross-sells, and down-sells
• Time between purchases
• Plans for research and development.

When describing the production process for your products or services, you need to think about the following:

• The creation of new or existing products and services.
• The sources for the raw materials or components you need for production.
• Assembling the products
• Maintaining quality control
• Supply-chain logistics (receiving the raw materials and delivering the finished products)
• The day-to-day management of the production processes, bookkeeping, and inventory.

Tips for Writing the Products or Services Section of Your Business Plan

1. Avoid Technical Descriptions and Industry Buzzwords

The products and services section of your business plan should clearly describe the products and services that your company provides. However, it is not a section to include technical jargons that anyone outside your industry will not understand.

A good practice is to remove highly detailed or technical descriptions in favor of simple terms. Industry buzzwords are not necessary, if there are simpler terms you can use, then use them. If you plan to use your business plan to source funds, making the product or service section so technical will do you no favors.

2. Describe How Your Products or Services Differ from Your Competitors

When potential investors look at your business plan, they want to know how the products and services you are offering differ from that of your competition. Differentiating your products or services from your competition in a way that makes your solution more attractive is critical.

If you are going the innovative path and there is no market currently for your product or service, you need to describe in this section why the market needs your product or service.

For example, overnight delivery was a niche business that only a few companies were participating in. Federal Express (FedEx) had to show in its business plan that there was a large opportunity for that service and they justified why the market needed that service.

3. Long or Short Products or Services Section

Should your products or services section be short? Does the long products or services section attract more investors?

There are no straightforward answers to these questions. Whether your products or services section should be long or relatively short depends on the nature of your business.

If your business is product-focused, then automatically you need to use more space to describe the details of your products. However, if the product your business sells is a commodity item that relies on competitive pricing or other pricing strategies, you do not have to use up so much space to provide significant details about the product.

Likewise, if you are selling a commodity that is available in numerous outlets, then you do not have to spend time on writing a long products or services section.

The key to the success of your business is most likely the effectiveness of your marketing strategies compared to your competitors. Use more space to address that section.

If you are creating a new product or service that the market does not know about, your products or services section can be lengthy. The reason why is because you need to explain everything about the product or service such as the nature of the product, its use case, and values.

A short products or services section for an innovative product or service will not give the readers enough information to properly evaluate your business.

4. Describe Your Relationships with Vendors or Suppliers

Your business will rely on vendors or suppliers to supply raw materials or the components needed to make your products. In your products and services section, describe your relationships with your vendors and suppliers fully.

Avoid the mistake of relying on only one supplier or vendor. If that supplier or vendor fails to supply or goes out of business, you can easily face supply problems and struggle to meet your demands. Plan to set up multiple vendor or supplier relationships for better business stability.

5. Your Primary Goal Is to Convince Your Readers

The primary goal of your business plan is to convince your readers that your business is viable and to create a guide for your business to follow. It applies to the products and services section.

When drafting this section, think like the reader. See your reader as someone who has no idea about your products and services. You are using the products and services section to provide the needed information to help your reader understand your products and services. As a result, you have to be clear and to the point.

While you want to educate your readers about your products or services, you also do not want to bore them with lots of technical details. Show your products and services and not your fancy choice of words.

Your products and services section should provide the answer to the “what” question for your business. You and your management team may run the business, but it is your products and services that are the lifeblood of the business.

Key Questions to Answer When Writing your Products and Services Section

Answering these questions can help you write your products and services section quickly and in a way that will appeal to your readers.

• Are your products existing on the market or are they still in the development stage?
• What is your timeline for adding new products and services to the market?
• What are the positives that make your products and services different from your competitors?
• Do your products and services have any competitive advantage that your competitors’ products and services do not currently have?
• Do your products or services have any competitive disadvantages that you need to overcome to compete with your competitors? If your answer is yes, state how you plan to overcome them,
• How much does it cost to produce your products or services? How much do you plan to sell it for?
• What is the price for your products and services compared to your competitors? Is pricing an issue?
• What are your operating costs and will it be low enough for you to compete with your competitors and still take home a reasonable profit margin?
• What is your plan for acquiring your products? Are you involved in the production of your products or services?
• Are you the manufacturer and produce all the components you need to create your products? Do you assemble your products by using components supplied by other manufacturers? Do you purchase your products directly from suppliers or wholesalers?
• Do you have a steady supply of products that you need to start your business? (If your business is yet to kick-off)
• How do you plan to distribute your products or services to the market?

You can also hint at the marketing or promotion plans you have for your products or services such as how you plan to build awareness or retain customers. The next section is where you can go fully into details about your business’s marketing and sales plan.

6. Show and Explain Your Marketing and Sales Plan

Providing great products and services is wonderful, but it means nothing if you do not have a marketing and sales plan to inform your customers about them. Your marketing and sales plan is critical to the success of your business.

The sales and marketing section is where you show and offer a detailed explanation of your marketing and sales plan and how you plan to execute it. It covers your pricing plan, proposed advertising and promotion activities, activities and partnerships you need to make your business a success, and the benefits of your products and services.

There are several ways you can approach your marketing and sales strategy. Ideally, your marketing and sales strategy has to fit the unique needs of your business.

In this section, you describe how the plans your business has for attracting and retaining customers, and the exact process for making a sale happen. It is essential to thoroughly describe your complete marketing and sales plans because you are still going to reference this section when you are making financial projections for your business.

Outline Your Business’ Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

The sales and marketing section is where you outline your business’s unique selling proposition (USP). When you are developing your unique selling proposition, think about the strongest reasons why people should buy from you over your competition. That reason(s) is most likely a good fit to serve as your unique selling proposition (USP).

Target Market and Target Audience

Plans on how to get your products or services to your target market and how to get your target audience to buy them go into this section. You also highlight the strengths of your business here, particularly what sets them apart from your competition.

Before you start writing your marketing and sales plan, you need to have properly defined your target audience and fleshed out your buyer persona. If you do not first understand the individual you are marketing to, your marketing and sales plan will lack any substance and easily fall.

Creating a Smart Marketing and Sales Plan

Marketing your products and services is an investment that requires you to spend money. Like any other investment, you have to generate a good return on investment (ROI) to justify using that marketing and sales plan. Good marketing and sales plans bring in high sales and profits to your company.

Avoid spending money on unproductive marketing channels. Do your research and find out the best marketing and sales plan that works best for your company.

Your marketing and sales plan can be broken into different parts: your positioning statement, pricing, promotion, packaging, advertising, public relations, content marketing, social media, and strategic alliances.

Your Positioning Statement

Your positioning statement is the first part of your marketing and sales plan. It refers to the way you present your company to your customers.

Are you the premium solution, the low-price solution, or are you the intermediary between the two extremes in the market? What do you offer that your competitors do not that can give you leverage in the market?

Before you start writing your positioning statement, you need to spend some time evaluating the current market conditions. Here are some questions that can help you to evaluate the market

• What are the unique features or benefits that you offer that your competitors lack?
• What are your customers’ primary needs and wants?
• Why should a customer choose you over your competition? How do you plan to differentiate yourself from the competition?
• How does your company’s solution compare with other solutions in the market?

After answering these questions, then you can start writing your positioning statement. Your positioning statement does not have to be in-depth or too long.

All you need to explain with your positioning statement are two focus areas. The first is the position of your company within the competitive landscape. The other focus area is the core value proposition that sets your company apart from other alternatives that your ideal customer might consider.

Here is a simple template you can use to develop a positioning statement.

For [description of target market] who [need of target market], [product or service] [how it meets the need]. Unlike [top competition], it [most essential distinguishing feature].

For example, let’s create the positioning statement for fictional accounting software and QuickBooks alternative , TBooks.

“For small business owners who need accounting services, TBooks is an accounting software that helps small businesses handle their small business bookkeeping basics quickly and easily. Unlike Wave, TBooks gives small businesses access to live sessions with top accountants.”

You can edit this positioning statement sample and fill it with your business details.

After writing your positioning statement, the next step is the pricing of your offerings. The overall positioning strategy you set in your positioning statement will often determine how you price your products or services.

Pricing is a powerful tool that sends a strong message to your customers. Failure to get your pricing strategy right can make or mar your business. If you are targeting a low-income audience, setting a premium price can result in low sales.

You can use pricing to communicate your positioning to your customers. For example, if you are offering a product at a premium price, you are sending a message to your customers that the product belongs to the premium category.

Basic Rules to Follow When Pricing Your Offering

Setting a price for your offering involves more than just putting a price tag on it. Deciding on the right pricing for your offering requires following some basic rules. They include covering your costs, primary and secondary profit center pricing, and matching the market rate.

• Covering Your Costs: The price you set for your products or service should be more than it costs you to produce and deliver them. Every business has the same goal, to make a profit. Depending on the strategy you want to use, there are exceptions to this rule. However, the vast majority of businesses follow this rule.
• Primary and Secondary Profit Center Pricing: When a company sets its price above the cost of production, it is making that product its primary profit center. A company can also decide not to make its initial price its primary profit center by selling below or at even with its production cost. It rather depends on the support product or even maintenance that is associated with the initial purchase to make its profit. The initial price thus became its secondary profit center.
• Matching the Market Rate: A good rule to follow when pricing your products or services is to match your pricing with consumer demand and expectations. If you price your products or services beyond the price your customer perceives as the ideal price range, you may end up with no customers. Pricing your products too low below what your customer perceives as the ideal price range may lead to them undervaluing your offering.

Pricing Strategy

Your pricing strategy influences the price of your offering. There are several pricing strategies available for you to choose from when examining the right pricing strategy for your business. They include cost-plus pricing, market-based pricing, value pricing, and more.

• Cost-plus Pricing: This strategy is one of the simplest and oldest pricing strategies. Here you consider the cost of producing a unit of your product and then add a profit to it to arrive at your market price. It is an effective pricing strategy for manufacturers because it helps them cover their initial costs. Another name for the cost-plus pricing strategy is the markup pricing strategy.
• Market-based Pricing: This pricing strategy analyses the market including competitors’ pricing and then sets a price based on what the market is expecting. With this pricing strategy, you can either set your price at the low-end or high-end of the market.
• Value Pricing: This pricing strategy involves setting a price based on the value you are providing to your customer. When adopting a value-based pricing strategy, you have to set a price that your customers are willing to pay. Service-based businesses such as small business insurance providers , luxury goods sellers, and the fashion industry use this pricing strategy.

After carefully sorting out your positioning statement and pricing, the next item to look at is your promotional strategy. Your promotional strategy explains how you plan on communicating with your customers and prospects.

As a business, you must measure all your costs, including the cost of your promotions. You also want to measure how much sales your promotions bring for your business to determine its usefulness. Promotional strategies or programs that do not lead to profit need to be removed.

There are different types of promotional strategies you can adopt for your business, they include advertising, public relations, and content marketing.

Advertising

Your business plan should include your advertising plan which can be found in the marketing and sales plan section. You need to include an overview of your advertising plans such as the areas you plan to spend money on to advertise your business and offers.

Ensure that you make it clear in this section if your business will be advertising online or using the more traditional offline media, or the combination of both online and offline media. You can also include the advertising medium you want to use to raise awareness about your business and offers.

Some common online advertising mediums you can use include social media ads, landing pages, sales pages, SEO, Pay-Per-Click, emails, Google Ads, and others. Some common traditional and offline advertising mediums include word of mouth, radios, direct mail, televisions, flyers, billboards, posters, and others.

A key component of your advertising strategy is how you plan to measure the effectiveness and success of your advertising campaign. There is no point in sticking with an advertising plan or medium that does not produce results for your business in the long run.

Public Relations

A great way to reach your customers is to get the media to cover your business or product. Publicity, especially good ones, should be a part of your marketing and sales plan. In this section, show your plans for getting prominent reviews of your product from reputable publications and sources.

Your business needs that exposure to grow. If public relations is a crucial part of your promotional strategy, provide details about your public relations plan here.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a popular promotional strategy used by businesses to inform and attract their customers. It is about teaching and educating your prospects on various topics of interest in your niche, it does not just involve informing them about the benefits and features of the products and services you have,

Businesses publish content usually for free where they provide useful information, tips, and advice so that their target market can be made aware of the importance of their products and services. Content marketing strategies seek to nurture prospects into buyers over time by simply providing value.

Your company can create a blog where it will be publishing content for its target market. You will need to use the best website builder such as Wix and Squarespace and the best web hosting services such as Bluehost, Hostinger, and other Bluehost alternatives to create a functional blog or website.

If content marketing is a crucial part of your promotional strategy (as it should be), detail your plans under promotions.

Including high-quality images of the packaging of your product in your business plan is a lovely idea. You can add the images of the packaging of that product in the marketing and sales plan section. If you are not selling a product, then you do not need to include any worry about the physical packaging of your product.

When organizing the packaging section of your business plan, you can answer the following questions to make maximum use of this section.

• Is your choice of packaging consistent with your positioning strategy?
• What key value proposition does your packaging communicate? (It should reflect the key value proposition of your business)
• How does your packaging compare to that of your competitors?

Social Media

Your 21st-century business needs to have a good social media presence. Not having one is leaving out opportunities for growth and reaching out to your prospect.

You do not have to join the thousands of social media platforms out there. What you need to do is join the ones that your customers are active on and be active there.

Businesses use social media to provide information about their products such as promotions, discounts, the benefits of their products, and content on their blogs.

Social media is also a platform for engaging with your customers and getting feedback about your products or services. Make no mistake, more and more of your prospects are using social media channels to find more information about companies.

You need to consider the social media channels you want to prioritize your business (prioritize the ones your customers are active in) and your branding plans in this section.

Strategic Alliances

If your company plans to work closely with other companies as part of your sales and marketing plan, include it in this section. Prove details about those partnerships in your business plan if you have already established them.

Strategic alliances can be beneficial for all parties involved including your company. Working closely with another company in the form of a partnership can provide access to a different target market segment for your company.

The company you are partnering with may also gain access to your target market or simply offer a new product or service (that of your company) to its customers.

Mutually beneficial partnerships can cover the weaknesses of one company with the strength of another. You should consider strategic alliances with companies that sell complimentary products to yours. For example, if you provide printers, you can partner with a company that produces ink since the customers that buy printers from you will also need inks for printing.

Steps Involved in Creating a Marketing and Sales Plan

1. Focus on Your Target Market

Identify who your customers are, the market you want to target. Then determine the best ways to get your products or services to your potential customers.

2. Evaluate Your Competition

One of the goals of having a marketing plan is to distinguish yourself from your competition. You cannot stand out from them without first knowing them in and out.

You can know your competitors by gathering information about their products, pricing, service, and advertising campaigns.

These questions can help you know your competition.

• What makes your competition successful?
• What are their weaknesses?
• What are customers saying about your competition?

3. Consider Your Brand

Customers' perception of your brand has a strong impact on your sales. Your marketing and sales plan should seek to bolster the image of your brand. Before you start marketing your business, think about the message you want to pass across about your business and your products and services.

4. Focus on Benefits

The majority of your customers do not view your product in terms of features, what they want to know is the benefits and solutions your product offers. Think about the problems your product solves and the benefits it delivers, and use it to create the right sales and marketing message.

Your marketing plan should focus on what you want your customer to get instead of what you provide. Identify those benefits in your marketing and sales plan.

5. Focus on Differentiation

Your marketing and sales plan should look for a unique angle they can take that differentiates your business from the competition, even if the products offered are similar. Some good areas of differentiation you can use are your benefits, pricing, and features.

Key Questions to Answer When Writing Your Marketing and Sales Plan

• What is your company’s budget for sales and marketing campaigns?
• What key metrics will you use to determine if your marketing plans are successful?
• What are your alternatives if your initial marketing efforts do not succeed?
• Who are the sales representatives you need to promote your products or services?
• What are the marketing and sales channels you plan to use? How do you plan to get your products in front of your ideal customers?
• Where will you sell your products?

You may want to include samples of marketing materials you plan to use such as print ads, website descriptions, and social media ads. While it is not compulsory to include these samples, it can help you better communicate your marketing and sales plan and objectives.

The purpose of the marketing and sales section is to answer this question “How will you reach your customers?” If you cannot convincingly provide an answer to this question, you need to rework your marketing and sales section.

7. Clearly Show Your Funding Request

If you are writing your business plan to ask for funding from investors or financial institutions, the funding request section is where you will outline your funding requirements. The funding request section should answer the question ‘How much money will your business need in the near future (3 to 5 years)?’

A good funding request section will clearly outline and explain the amount of funding your business needs over the next five years. You need to know the amount of money your business needs to make an accurate funding request.

Also, when writing your funding request, provide details of how the funds will be used over the period. Specify if you want to use the funds to buy raw materials or machinery, pay salaries, pay for advertisements, and cover specific bills such as rent and electricity.

In addition to explaining what you want to use the funds requested for, you need to clearly state the projected return on investment (ROI) . Investors and creditors want to know if your business can generate profit for them if they put funds into it.

Ensure you do not inflate the figures and stay as realistic as possible. Investors and financial institutions you are seeking funds from will do their research before investing money in your business.

If you are not sure of an exact number to request from, you can use some range of numbers as rough estimates. Add a best-case scenario and a work-case scenario to your funding request. Also, include a description of your strategic future financial plans such as selling your business or paying off debts.

Funding Request: Debt or Equity?

When making your funding request, specify the type of funding you want. Do you want debt or equity? Draw out the terms that will be applicable for the funding, and the length of time the funding request will cover.

Case for Equity

If your new business has not yet started generating profits, you are most likely preparing to sell equity in your business to raise capital at the early stage. Equity here refers to ownership. In this case, you are selling a portion of your company to raise capital.

Although this method of raising capital for your business does not put your business in debt, keep in mind that an equity owner may expect to play a key role in company decisions even if he does not hold a major stake in the company.

Most equity sales for startups are usually private transactions . If you are making a funding request by offering equity in exchange for funding, let the investor know that they will be paid a dividend (a share of the company’s profit). Also, let the investor know the process for selling their equity in your business.

Case for Debt

You may decide not to offer equity in exchange for funds, instead, you make a funding request with the promise to pay back the money borrowed at the agreed time frame.

When making a funding request with an agreement to pay back, note that you will have to repay your creditors both the principal amount borrowed and the interest on it. Financial institutions offer this type of funding for businesses.

Large companies combine both equity and debt in their capital structure. When drafting your business plan, decide if you want to offer both or one over the other.

Before you sell equity in exchange for funding in your business, consider if you are willing to accept not being in total control of your business. Also, before you seek loans in your funding request section, ensure that the terms of repayment are favorable.

You should set a clear timeline in your funding request so that potential investors and creditors can know what you are expecting. Some investors and creditors may agree to your funding request and then delay payment for longer than 30 days, meanwhile, your business needs an immediate cash injection to operate efficiently.

Additional Tips for Writing the Funding Request Section of your Business Plan

The funding request section is not necessary for every business, it is only needed by businesses who plan to use their business plan to secure funding.

If you are adding the funding request section to your business plan, provide an itemized summary of how you plan to use the funds requested. Hiring a lawyer, accountant, or other professionals may be necessary for the proper development of this section.

You should also gather and use financial statements that add credibility and support to your funding requests. Ensure that the financial statements you use should include your projected financial data such as projected cash flows, forecast statements, and expenditure budgets.

If you are an existing business, include all historical financial statements such as cash flow statements, balance sheets and income statements .

Provide monthly and quarterly financial statements for a year. If your business has records that date back beyond the one-year mark, add the yearly statements of those years. These documents are for the appendix section of your business plan.

8. Detail Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projections

If you used the funding request section in your business plan, supplement it with a financial plan, metrics, and projections. This section paints a picture of the past performance of your business and then goes ahead to make an informed projection about its future.

The goal of this section is to convince readers that your business is going to be a financial success. It outlines your business plan to generate enough profit to repay the loan (with interest if applicable) and to generate a decent return on investment for investors.

If you have an existing business already in operation, use this section to demonstrate stability through finance. This section should include your cash flow statements, balance sheets, and income statements covering the last three to five years. If your business has some acceptable collateral that you can use to acquire loans, list it in the financial plan, metrics, and projection section.

Apart from current financial statements, this section should also contain a prospective financial outlook that spans the next five years. Include forecasted income statements, cash flow statements, balance sheets, and capital expenditure budget.

If your business is new and is not yet generating profit, use clear and realistic projections to show the potentials of your business.

When drafting this section, research industry norms and the performance of comparable businesses. Your financial projections should cover at least five years. State the logic behind your financial projections. Remember you can always make adjustments to this section as the variables change.

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section create a baseline which your business can either exceed or fail to reach. If your business fails to reach your projections in this section, you need to understand why it failed.

Investors and loan managers spend a lot of time going through the financial plan, metrics, and projection section compared to other parts of the business plan. Ensure you spend time creating credible financial analyses for your business in this section.

Many entrepreneurs find this section daunting to write. You do not need a business degree to create a solid financial forecast for your business. Business finances, especially for startups, are not as complicated as they seem. There are several online tools and templates that make writing this section so much easier.

Use Graphs and Charts

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section is a great place to use graphs and charts to tell the financial story of your business. Charts and images make it easier to communicate your finances.

Accuracy in this section is key, ensure you carefully analyze your past financial statements properly before making financial projects.

Address the Risk Factors and Show Realistic Financial Projections

Keep your financial plan, metrics, and projection realistic. It is okay to be optimistic in your financial projection, however, you have to justify it.

You should also address the various risk factors associated with your business in this section. Investors want to know the potential risks involved, show them. You should also show your plans for mitigating those risks.

What You Should In The Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projection Section of Your Business Plan

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section of your business plan should have monthly sales and revenue forecasts for the first year. It should also include annual projections that cover 3 to 5 years.

A three-year projection is a basic requirement to have in your business plan. However, some investors may request a five-year forecast.

Your business plan should include the following financial statements: sales forecast, personnel plan, income statement, income statement, cash flow statement, balance sheet, and an exit strategy.

1. Sales Forecast

Sales forecast refers to your projections about the number of sales your business is going to record over the next few years. It is typically broken into several rows, with each row assigned to a core product or service that your business is offering.

One common mistake people make in their business plan is to break down the sales forecast section into long details. A sales forecast should forecast the high-level details.

For example, if you are forecasting sales for a payroll software provider, you could break down your forecast into target market segments or subscription categories.

Your sales forecast section should also have a corresponding row for each sales row to cover the direct cost or Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). The objective of these rows is to show the expenses that your business incurs in making and delivering your product or service.

Note that your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) should only cover those direct costs incurred when making your products. Other indirect expenses such as insurance, salaries, payroll tax, and rent should not be included.

For example, the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for a restaurant is the cost of ingredients while for a consulting company it will be the cost of paper and other presentation materials.

2. Personnel Plan

The personnel plan section is where you provide details about the payment plan for your employees. For a small business, you can easily list every position in your company and how much you plan to pay in the personnel plan.

However, for larger businesses, you have to break the personnel plan into functional groups such as sales and marketing.

The personnel plan will also include the cost of an employee beyond salary, commonly referred to as the employee burden. These costs include insurance, payroll taxes , and other essential costs incurred monthly as a result of having employees on your payroll.

3. Income Statement

The income statement section shows if your business is making a profit or taking a loss. Another name for the income statement is the profit and loss (P&L). It takes data from your sales forecast and personnel plan and adds other ongoing expenses you incur while running your business.

Every business plan should have an income statement. It subtracts your business expenses from its earnings to show if your business is generating profit or incurring losses.

The income statement has the following items: sales, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), gross margin, operating expenses, total operating expenses, operating income , total expenses, and net profit.

• Sales refer to the revenue your business generates from selling its products or services. Other names for sales are income or revenue.
• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) refers to the total cost of selling your products. Other names for COGS are direct costs or cost of sales. Manufacturing businesses use the Costs of Goods Manufactured (COGM) .
• Gross Margin is the figure you get when you subtract your COGS from your sales. In your income statement, you can express it as a percentage of total sales (Gross margin / Sales = Gross Margin Percent).
• Operating Expenses refer to all the expenses you incur from running your business. It exempts the COGS because it stands alone as a core part of your income statement. You also have to exclude taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Your operating expenses include salaries, marketing expenses, research and development (R&D) expenses, and other expenses.
• Total Operating Expenses refers to the sum of all your operating expenses including those exemptions named above under operating expenses.
• Operating Income refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It is simply known as the acronym EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). Calculating your operating income is simple, all you need to do is to subtract your COGS and total operating expenses from your sales.
• Total Expenses refer to the sum of your operating expenses and your business’ interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
• Net profit shows whether your business has made a profit or taken a loss during a given timeframe.

4. Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement tracks the money you have in the bank at any given point. It is often confused with the income statement or the profit and loss statement. They are both different types of financial statements. The income statement calculates your profits and losses while the cash flow statement shows you how much you have in the bank.

5. Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is a financial statement that provides an overview of the financial health of your business. It contains information about the assets and liabilities of your company, and owner’s or shareholders’ equity.

You can get the net worth of your company by subtracting your company’s liabilities from its assets.

6. Exit Strategy

The exit strategy refers to a probable plan for selling your business either to the public in an IPO or to another company. It is the last thing you include in the financial plan, metrics, and projection section.

You can choose to omit the exit strategy from your business plan if you plan to maintain full ownership of your business and do not plan on seeking angel investment or virtual capitalist (VC) funding.

Investors may want to know what your exit plan is. They invest in your business to get a good return on investment.

Your exit strategy does not have to include long and boring details. Ensure you identify some interested parties who may be interested in buying the company if it becomes a success.

Key Questions to Answer with Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projection

Your financial plan, metrics, and projection section helps investors, creditors, or your internal managers to understand what your expenses are, the amount of cash you need, and what it takes to make your company profitable. It also shows what you will be doing with any funding.

You do not need to show actual financial data if you do not have one. Adding forecasts and projections to your financial statements is added proof that your strategy is feasible and shows investors you have planned properly.

Here are some key questions to answer to help you develop this section.

• What is your sales forecast for the next year?
• When will your company achieve a positive cash flow?
• What are the core expenses you need to operate?
• How much money do you need upfront to operate or grow your company?
• How will you use the loans or investments?

9. Add an Appendix to Your Business Plan

Adding an appendix to your business plan is optional. It is a useful place to put any charts, tables, legal notes, definitions, permits, résumés, and other critical information that do not fit into other sections of your business plan.

The appendix section is where you would want to include details of a patent or patent-pending if you have one. You can always add illustrations or images of your products here. It is the last section of your business plan.

When writing your business plan, there are details you cut short or remove to prevent the entire section from becoming too lengthy. There are also details you want to include in the business plan but are not a good fit for any of the previous sections. You can add that additional information to the appendix section.

Businesses also use the appendix section to include supporting documents or other materials specially requested by investors or lenders.

You can include just about any information that supports the assumptions and statements you made in the business plan under the appendix. It is the one place in the business plan where unrelated data and information can coexist amicably.

If your appendix section is lengthy, try organizing it by adding a table of contents at the beginning of the appendix section. It is also advisable to group similar information to make it easier for the reader to access them.

A well-organized appendix section makes it easier to share your information clearly and concisely. Add footnotes throughout the rest of the business plan or make references in the plan to the documents in the appendix.

The appendix section is usually only necessary if you are seeking funding from investors or lenders, or hoping to attract partners.

People reading business plans do not want to spend time going through a heap of backup information, numbers, and charts. Keep these documents or information in the Appendix section in case the reader wants to dig deeper.

Common Items to Include in the Appendix Section of Your Business Plan

The appendix section includes documents that supplement or support the information or claims given in other sections of the business plans. Common items you can include in the appendix section include:

• Additional data about the process of manufacturing or creation
• Additional description of products or services such as product schematics
• Additional financial documents or projections
• Articles of incorporation and status
• Backup for market research or competitive analysis
• Bank statements
• Business registries
• Client testimonials (if your business is already running)
• Copies of insurances
• Credit histories (personal or/and business)
• Deeds and permits
• Equipment leases
• Examples of marketing and advertising collateral
• Industry associations and memberships
• Images of product
• Intellectual property
• Key customer contracts
• Legal documents and other contracts
• Letters of reference
• Links to references
• Market research data
• Organizational charts
• Photographs of potential facilities
• Professional licenses pertaining to your legal structure or type of business
• Purchase orders
• Resumes of the founder(s) and key managers
• State and federal identification numbers or codes
• Trademarks or patents’ registrations

Avoid using the appendix section as a place to dump any document or information you feel like adding. Only add documents or information that you support or increase the credibility of your business plan.

Tips and Strategies for Writing a Convincing Business Plan

To achieve a perfect business plan, you need to consider some key tips and strategies. These tips will raise the efficiency of your business plan above average.

1. Know Your Audience

When writing a business plan, you need to know your audience . Business owners write business plans for different reasons. Your business plan has to be specific. For example, you can write business plans to potential investors, banks, and even fellow board members of the company.

The audience you are writing to determines the structure of the business plan. As a business owner, you have to know your audience. Not everyone will be your audience. Knowing your audience will help you to narrow the scope of your business plan.

Consider what your audience wants to see in your projects, the likely questions they might ask, and what interests them.

• A business plan used to address a company's board members will center on its employment schemes, internal affairs, projects, stakeholders, etc.
• A business plan for financial institutions will talk about the size of your market and the chances for you to pay back any loans you demand.
• A business plan for investors will show proof that you can return the investment capital within a specific time. In addition, it discusses your financial projections, tractions, and market size.

2. Get Inspiration from People

Writing a business plan from scratch as an entrepreneur can be daunting. That is why you need the right inspiration to push you to write one. You can gain inspiration from the successful business plans of other businesses. Look at their business plans, the style they use, the structure of the project, etc.

To make your business plan easier to create, search companies related to your business to get an exact copy of what you need to create an effective business plan. You can also make references while citing examples in your business plans.

When drafting your business plan, get as much help from others as you possibly can. By getting inspiration from people, you can create something better than what they have.

3. Avoid Being Over Optimistic

Many business owners make use of strong adjectives to qualify their content. One of the big mistakes entrepreneurs make when preparing a business plan is promising too much.

The use of superlatives and over-optimistic claims can prepare the audience for more than you can offer. In the end, you disappoint the confidence they have in you.

In most cases, the best option is to be realistic with your claims and statistics. Most of the investors can sense a bit of incompetency from the overuse of superlatives. As a new entrepreneur, do not be tempted to over-promise to get the interests of investors.

The concept of entrepreneurship centers on risks, nothing is certain when you make future analyses. What separates the best is the ability to do careful research and work towards achieving that, not promising more than you can achieve.

To make an excellent first impression as an entrepreneur, replace superlatives with compelling data-driven content. In this way, you are more specific than someone promising a huge ROI from an investment.

4. Keep it Simple and Short

When writing business plans, ensure you keep them simple throughout. Irrespective of the purpose of the business plan, your goal is to convince the audience.

One way to achieve this goal is to make them understand your proposal. Therefore, it would be best if you avoid the use of complex grammar to express yourself. It would be a huge turn-off if the people you want to convince are not familiar with your use of words.

Another thing to note is the length of your business plan. It would be best if you made it as brief as possible.

You hardly see investors or agencies that read through an extremely long document. In that case, if your first few pages can’t convince them, then you have lost it. The more pages you write, the higher the chances of you derailing from the essential contents.

To ensure your business plan has a high conversion rate, you need to dispose of every unnecessary information. For example, if you have a strategy that you are not sure of, it would be best to leave it out of the plan.

5. Make an Outline and Follow Through

A perfect business plan must have touched every part needed to convince the audience. Business owners get easily tempted to concentrate more on their products than on other sections. Doing this can be detrimental to the efficiency of the business plan.

For example, imagine you talking about a product but omitting or providing very little information about the target audience. You will leave your clients confused.

To ensure that your business plan communicates your full business model to readers, you have to input all the necessary information in it. One of the best ways to achieve this is to design a structure and stick to it.

This structure is what guides you throughout the writing. To make your work easier, you can assign an estimated word count or page limit to every section to avoid making it too bulky for easy reading. As a guide, the necessary things your business plan must contain are:

• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Product or service description
• Target audience
• Market size
• Competition analysis
• Financial projections

Some specific businesses can include some other essential sections, but these are the key sections that must be in every business plan.

6. Ask a Professional to Proofread

When writing a business plan, you must tie all loose ends to get a perfect result. When you are done with writing, call a professional to go through the document for you. You are bound to make mistakes, and the way to correct them is to get external help.

You should get a professional in your field who can relate to every section of your business plan. It would be easier for the professional to notice the inner flaws in the document than an editor with no knowledge of your business.

In addition to getting a professional to proofread, get an editor to proofread and edit your document. The editor will help you identify grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and inappropriate writing styles.

Writing a business plan can be daunting, but you can surmount that obstacle and get the best out of it with these tips.

Business Plan Examples and Templates That’ll Save You Tons of Time

1. hubspot's one-page business plan.

The one-page business plan template by HubSpot is the perfect guide for businesses of any size, irrespective of their business strategy. Although the template is condensed into a page, your final business plan should not be a page long! The template is designed to ask helpful questions that can help you develop your business plan.

Hubspot’s one-page business plan template is divided into nine fields:

• Business opportunity
• Company description
• Industry analysis
• Target market
• Implementation timeline
• Marketing plan
• Financial summary
• Funding required

2. Bplan’s Free Business Plan Template

Bplans' free business plan template is investor-approved. It is a rich template used by prestigious educational institutions such as Babson College and Princeton University to teach entrepreneurs how to create a business plan.

The template has six sections: the executive summary, opportunity, execution, company, financial plan, and appendix. There is a step-by-step guide for writing every little detail in the business plan. Follow the instructions each step of the way and you will create a business plan that impresses investors or lenders easily.

3. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

HubSpot’s downloadable business plan template is a more comprehensive option compared to the one-page business template by HubSpot. This free and downloadable business plan template is designed for entrepreneurs.

The template is a comprehensive guide and checklist for business owners just starting their businesses. It tells you everything you need to fill in each section of the business plan and how to do it.

There are nine sections in this business plan template: an executive summary, company and business description, product and services line, market analysis, marketing plan, sales plan, legal notes, financial considerations, and appendix.

4. Business Plan by My Own Business Institute

My Own Business Institute (MOBI) which is a part of Santa Clara University's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship offers a free business plan template. You can either copy the free business template from the link provided above or download it as a Word document.

The comprehensive template consists of a whopping 15 sections.

• The Business Profile
• The Vision and the People
• Home-Based Business and Freelance Business Opportunities
• Organization
• Licenses and Permits
• Business Insurance
• Communication Tools
• Acquisitions
• Location and Leasing
• Accounting and Cash Flow
• Opening and Marketing
• Managing Employees
• Expanding and Handling Problems

There are lots of helpful tips on how to fill each section in the free business plan template by MOBI.

5. Score's Business Plan Template for Startups

Score is an American nonprofit organization that helps entrepreneurs build successful companies. This business plan template for startups by Score is available for free download. The business plan template asks a whooping 150 generic questions that help entrepreneurs from different fields to set up the perfect business plan.

The business plan template for startups contains clear instructions and worksheets, all you have to do is answer the questions and fill the worksheets.

There are nine sections in the business plan template: executive summary, company description, products and services, marketing plan, operational plan, management and organization, startup expenses and capitalization, financial plan, and appendices.

The ‘refining the plan’ resource contains instructions that help you modify your business plan to suit your specific needs, industry, and target audience. After you have completed Score’s business plan template, you can work with a SCORE mentor for expert advice in business planning.

6. Minimalist Architecture Business Plan Template by Venngage

The minimalist architecture business plan template is a simple template by Venngage that you can customize to suit your business needs .

There are five sections in the template: an executive summary, statement of problem, approach and methodology, qualifications, and schedule and benchmark. The business plan template has instructions that guide users on what to fill in each section.

7. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers two free business plan templates, filled with practical real-life examples that you can model to create your business plan. Both free business plan templates are written by fictional business owners: Rebecca who owns a consulting firm, and Andrew who owns a toy company.

There are five sections in the two SBA’s free business plan templates.

• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Service Line
• Marketing and Sales

8. The $100 Startup's One-Page Business Plan

The one-page business plan by the $100 startup is a simple business plan template for entrepreneurs who do not want to create a long and complicated plan . You can include more details in the appendices for funders who want more information beyond what you can put in the one-page business plan.

There are five sections in the one-page business plan such as overview, ka-ching, hustling, success, and obstacles or challenges or open questions. You can answer all the questions using one or two sentences.

9. PandaDoc’s Free Business Plan Template

The free business plan template by PandaDoc is a comprehensive 15-page document that describes the information you should include in every section.

There are 11 sections in PandaDoc’s free business plan template.

• Executive summary
• Business description
• Products and services
• Operations plan
• Management organization
• Financial plan
• Conclusion / Call to action
• Confidentiality statement

You have to sign up for its 14-day free trial to access the template. You will find different business plan templates on PandaDoc once you sign up (including templates for general businesses and specific businesses such as bakeries, startups, restaurants, salons, hotels, and coffee shops)

PandaDoc allows you to customize its business plan templates to fit the needs of your business. After editing the template, you can send it to interested parties and track opens and views through PandaDoc.

10. Invoiceberry Templates for Word, Open Office, Excel, or PPT

InvoiceBerry is a U.K based online invoicing and tracking platform that offers free business plan templates in .docx, .odt, .xlsx, and .pptx formats for freelancers and small businesses.

Before you can download the free business plan template, it will ask you to give it your email address. After you complete the little task, it will send the download link to your inbox for you to download. It also provides a business plan checklist in .xlsx file format that ensures you add the right information to the business plan.

Alternatives to the Traditional Business Plan

A business plan is very important in mapping out how one expects their business to grow over a set number of years, particularly when they need external investment in their business. However, many investors do not have the time to watch you present your business plan. It is a long and boring read.

Luckily, there are three alternatives to the traditional business plan (the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, and Startup Pitch Deck). These alternatives are less laborious and easier and quicker to present to investors.

Business Model Canvas (BMC)

The business model canvas is a business tool used to present all the important components of setting up a business, such as customers, route to market, value proposition, and finance in a single sheet. It provides a very focused blueprint that defines your business initially which you can later expand on if needed.

The sheet is divided mainly into company, industry, and consumer models that are interconnected in how they find problems and proffer solutions.

Segments of the Business Model Canvas

The business model canvas was developed by founder Alexander Osterwalder to answer important business questions. It contains nine segments.

• Key Partners: Who will be occupying important executive positions in your business? What do they bring to the table? Will there be a third party involved with the company?
• Key Activities: What important activities will production entail? What activities will be carried out to ensure the smooth running of the company?
• The Product’s Value Propositions: What does your product do? How will it be different from other products?
• Customer Segments: What demography of consumers are you targeting? What are the habits of these consumers? Who are the MVPs of your target consumers?
• Customer Relationships: How will the team support and work with its customer base? How do you intend to build and maintain trust with the customer?
• Key Resources: What type of personnel and tools will be needed? What size of the budget will they need access to?
• Channels: How do you plan to create awareness of your products? How do you intend to transport your product to the customer?
• Cost Structure: What is the estimated cost of production? How much will distribution cost?
• Revenue Streams: For what value are customers willing to pay? How do they prefer to pay for the product? Are there any external revenues attached apart from the main source? How do the revenue streams contribute to the overall revenue?

Lean Canvas

The lean canvas is a problem-oriented alternative to the standard business model canvas. It was proposed by Ash Maurya, creator of Lean Stack as a development of the business model generation. It uses a more problem-focused approach and it majorly targets entrepreneurs and startup businesses.

Lean Canvas uses the same 9 blocks concept as the business model canvas, however, they have been modified slightly to suit the needs and purpose of a small startup. The key partners, key activities, customer relationships, and key resources are replaced by new segments which are:

• Problem: Simple and straightforward number of problems you have identified, ideally three.
• Solution: The solutions to each problem.
• Unfair Advantage: Something you possess that can't be easily bought or replicated.
• Key Metrics: Important numbers that will tell how your business is doing.

Startup Pitch Deck

While the business model canvas compresses into a factual sheet, startup pitch decks expand flamboyantly.

Pitch decks, through slides, convey your business plan, often through graphs and images used to emphasize estimations and observations in your presentation. Entrepreneurs often use pitch decks to fully convince their target audience of their plans before discussing funding arrangements.

Considering the likelihood of it being used in a small time frame, a good startup pitch deck should ideally contain 20 slides or less to have enough time to answer questions from the audience.

Unlike the standard and lean business model canvases, a pitch deck doesn't have a set template on how to present your business plan but there are still important components to it. These components often mirror those of the business model canvas except that they are in slide form and contain more details.

Using Airbnb (one of the most successful start-ups in recent history) for reference, the important components of a good slide are listed below.

• Cover/Introduction Slide: Here, you should include your company's name and mission statement. Your mission statement should be a very catchy tagline. Also, include personal information and contact details to provide an easy link for potential investors.
• Problem Slide: This slide requires you to create a connection with the audience or the investor that you are pitching. For example in their pitch, Airbnb summarized the most important problems it would solve in three brief points – pricing of hotels, disconnection from city culture, and connection problems for local bookings.
• Solution Slide: This slide includes your core value proposition. List simple and direct solutions to the problems you have mentioned
• Customer Analysis: Here you will provide information on the customers you will be offering your service to. The identity of your customers plays an important part in fundraising as well as the long-run viability of the business.
• Market Validation: Use competitive analysis to show numbers that prove the presence of a market for your product, industry behavior in the present and the long run, as well as the percentage of the market you aim to attract. It shows that you understand your competitors and customers and convinces investors of the opportunities presented in the market.
• Business Model: Your business model is the hook of your presentation. It may vary in complexity but it should generally include a pricing system informed by your market analysis. The goal of the slide is to confirm your business model is easy to implement.
• Marketing Strategy: This slide should summarize a few customer acquisition methods that you plan to use to grow the business.
• Competitive Advantage: What this slide will do is provide information on what will set you apart and make you a more attractive option to customers. It could be the possession of technology that is not widely known in the market.
• Team Slide: Here you will give a brief description of your team. Include your key management personnel here and their specific roles in the company. Include their educational background, job history, and skillsets. Also, talk about their accomplishments in their careers so far to build investors' confidence in members of your team.
• Traction Slide: This validates the company’s business model by showing growth through early sales and support. The slide aims to reduce any lingering fears in potential investors by showing realistic periodic milestones and profit margins. It can include current sales, growth, valuable customers, pre-orders, or data from surveys outlining current consumer interest.
• Funding Slide: This slide is popularly referred to as ‘the ask'. Here you will include important details like how much is needed to get your business off the ground and how the funding will be spent to help the company reach its goals.
• Appendix Slides: Your pitch deck appendix should always be included alongside a standard pitch presentation. It consists of additional slides you could not show in the pitch deck but you need to complement your presentation.

It is important to support your calculations with pictorial renditions. Infographics, such as pie charts or bar graphs, will be more effective in presenting the information than just listing numbers. For example, a six-month graph that shows rising profit margins will easily look more impressive than merely writing it.

Lastly, since a pitch deck is primarily used to secure meetings and you may be sharing your pitch with several investors, it is advisable to keep a separate public version that doesn't include financials. Only disclose the one with projections once you have secured a link with an investor.

Advantages of the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, and Startup Pitch Deck over the Traditional Business Plan

• Time-Saving: Writing a detailed traditional business plan could take weeks or months. On the other hand, all three alternatives can be done in a few days or even one night of brainstorming if you have a comprehensive understanding of your business.
• Easier to Understand: Since the information presented is almost entirely factual, it puts focus on what is most important in running the business. They cut away the excess pages of fillers in a traditional business plan and allow investors to see what is driving the business and what is getting in the way.
• Easy to Update: Businesses typically present their business plans to many potential investors before they secure funding. What this means is that you may regularly have to amend your presentation to update statistics or adjust to audience-specific needs. For a traditional business plan, this could mean rewriting a whole section of your plan. For the three alternatives, updating is much easier because they are not voluminous.
• Guide for a More In-depth Business Plan: All three alternatives have the added benefit of being able to double as a sketch of your business plan if the need to create one arises in the future.

Business Plan FAQ

Business plans are important for any entrepreneur who is looking for a framework to run their company over some time or seeking external support. Although they are essential for new businesses, every company should ideally have a business plan to track their growth from time to time.  They can be used by startups seeking investments or loans to convey their business ideas or an employee to convince his boss of the feasibility of starting a new project. They can also be used by companies seeking to recruit high-profile employee targets into key positions or trying to secure partnerships with other firms.

Business plans often vary depending on your target audience, the scope, and the goals for the plan. Startup plans are the most common among the different types of business plans.  A start-up plan is used by a new business to present all the necessary information to help get the business up and running. They are usually used by entrepreneurs who are seeking funding from investors or bank loans. The established company alternative to a start-up plan is a feasibility plan. A feasibility plan is often used by an established company looking for new business opportunities. They are used to show the upsides of creating a new product for a consumer base. Because the audience is usually company people, it requires less company analysis. The third type of business plan is the lean business plan. A lean business plan is a brief, straight-to-the-point breakdown of your ideas and analysis for your business. It does not contain details of your proposal and can be written on one page. Finally, you have the what-if plan. As it implies, a what-if plan is a preparation for the worst-case scenario. You must always be prepared for the possibility of your original plan being rejected. A good what-if plan will serve as a good plan B to the original.

A good business plan has 10 key components. They include an executive plan, product analysis, desired customer base, company analysis, industry analysis, marketing strategy, sales strategy, financial projection, funding, and appendix. Executive Plan Your business should begin with your executive plan. An executive plan will provide early insight into what you are planning to achieve with your business. It should include your mission statement and highlight some of the important points which you will explain later. Product Analysis The next component of your business plan is your product analysis. A key part of this section is explaining the type of item or service you are going to offer as well as the market problems your product will solve. Desired Consumer Base Your product analysis should be supplemented with a detailed breakdown of your desired consumer base. Investors are always interested in knowing the economic power of your market as well as potential MVP customers. Company Analysis The next component of your business plan is your company analysis. Here, you explain how you want to run your business. It will include your operational strategy, an insight into the workforce needed to keep the company running, and important executive positions. It will also provide a calculation of expected operational costs.  Industry Analysis A good business plan should also contain well laid out industry analysis. It is important to convince potential investors you know the companies you will be competing with, as well as your plans to gain an edge on the competition. Marketing Strategy Your business plan should also include your marketing strategy. This is how you intend to spread awareness of your product. It should include a detailed explanation of the company brand as well as your advertising methods. Sales Strategy Your sales strategy comes after the market strategy. Here you give an overview of your company's pricing strategy and how you aim to maximize profits. You can also explain how your prices will adapt to market behaviors. Financial Projection The financial projection is the next component of your business plan. It explains your company's expected running cost and revenue earned during the tenure of the business plan. Financial projection gives a clear idea of how your company will develop in the future. Funding The next component of your business plan is funding. You have to detail how much external investment you need to get your business idea off the ground here. Appendix The last component of your plan is the appendix. This is where you put licenses, graphs, or key information that does not fit in any of the other components.

The business model canvas is a business management tool used to quickly define your business idea and model. It is often used when investors need you to pitch your business idea during a brief window.

A pitch deck is similar to a business model canvas except that it makes use of slides in its presentation. A pitch is not primarily used to secure funding, rather its main purpose is to entice potential investors by selling a very optimistic outlook on the business.

Business plan competitions help you evaluate the strength of your business plan. By participating in business plan competitions, you are improving your experience. The experience provides you with a degree of validation while practicing important skills. The main motivation for entering into the competitions is often to secure funding by finishing in podium positions. There is also the chance that you may catch the eye of a casual observer outside of the competition. These competitions also provide good networking opportunities. You could meet mentors who will take a keen interest in guiding you in your business journey. You also have the opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs whose ideas can complement yours.

Exlore Further

• 12 Key Elements of a Business Plan (Top Components Explained)
• 13 Sources of Business Finance For Companies & Sole Traders
• 5 Common Types of Business Structures (+ Pros & Cons)
• How to Buy a Business in 8 Steps (+ Due Diligence Checklist)

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Martin luenendonk.

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.

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How to start a sewing pattern business - part 1, the very beginning.

After more than five years of running Ploen Patterns, I thought it was time to share some things I have learned along the way. If you are interested in starting a pattern business yourself - this post is for you! Let's start at the beginning. This is how to start a pattern business, the first part. How I got started!  (This post contains affiliate links). 

In 2017 I finished my pattern-making degree and I wanted to create a business for myself. I had the idea to start a pattern business for home sewers and I did a lot of research about how to get started. At that time there was not a lot of information out there but so I had to figure it out mostly on my own. I decided to begin by creating an Instagram account where I shared my sewing projects and inspiration. I also documented the process of designing my first PDF pattern. The Freja dress. I decided to make my first pattern available for free as I thought it would be good for promoting my new business and get more people interested. It ended up being a great decision and to this day a large part of my customers still find me through this free pattern ! Maybe that's even how you found me? I set up an email list so I could capture emails and have a few people on the waiting list for when I launched my website and started to sell patterns. This is a strategy I would highly recommend if you are just starting out and don't know how to market your new business.

This  course covers everything from how to set up the print at home tiling system, adding seam allowance, writing and illustrating the instructions to marketing the pattern once you have launched it. And so much more. There's also a great community on facebook that you can join when you buy the course. If I have to give only one tip for anyone interested in starting a pattern business it would be to get this course.

Pattern Workshop really has an answer to every question you might come across and I still use the community to this day to ask questions that come up about grading, pattern testing and many other things. I think the course is great for anyone with a little bit of experience in pattern making. It doesn't teach you how to be a good and professional pattern maker exactly, but it teaches you how to take your pattern making skills and apply them to the home sewing market and PDF pattern specifically. In the course you learn a lot about how to use Illustrator and InDesign too so it's a great resource if that's anything you are interested in.

What if I'm not a confident or experienced pattern maker yet? Then start there. Practice your pattern making skills. This is the most important skill to have when starting a pattern business (if you are not willing to hire professionals straight away of course). Here are some things you can do to advance your pattern making skills:

• Check out your local schools and see if there are any fashion courses in your city. I live in Stockholm, Sweden and I've taken courses on pattern making at a few different schools here. Both a full time degree and also evening courses for pattern making etc.
• Take an online pattern drafting course. There are also a lot of online courses that teach pattern making. How to draft slopers and how to make pattern alterations are great things to learn.
• Experiment on your own when you know the basics. Practice, practice, practice! 

Resources and software I found useful in my business from the beginning:

• Instagram . This was my main form of communication, marketing and getting the word out about Ploen Patterns. 
• Google forms . I set up a google form where I collected e-mail addresses before I had e-mail software or even a website. Then when I launched my free pattern I had collected almost 100 e-mails and had a small audience interested in my first newsletter. And a bonus: it's completely free. I put the link to this google form in my link in bio on Instagram.
• I used MailChimp as e-mail software in the beginning. It's completely free to start out. Either with their free plan or with a free trial. 
• Adobe Illustrator . This is the program I used to create all my pattern pieces, grading, illustrations and instructions. I still don't use Adobe InDesign for example, I still use Illustrator, even for all instructions. I don't find I need another program like InDesign and it's much more cost effective to only have one Adobe program to pay for each month. 
• After a while of using MailChimp I switched to ConvertKit which in my opinion is a much better e-mail service. Very user friendly and easy to learn. And they have a lot of great options and integrations. I would highly recommend ConvertKit ! Get started with their 14-day free trial. 
• Online Marketing made easy Podcast . Amy Porterfield shares actionable tips on how to start, grow and market an online business. And let's face it. A pattern business will be an online business in some capacity regardless of if you choose to only sell PDF-patterns or decide to sell paper patterns as well. I found this podcast very helpful in the beginning and I still listen to it. Amy has great knowledge and advice when it comes to building and nurturing an email list. 
• And last but not least Pattern Workshop . The only course and community you will need to get started - and keep going!

Until next time, 

Happy Sewing!

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7 Business Plan Examples to Inspire Your Own (2024)

Need support creating your business plan? Check out these business plan examples for inspiration.

Any aspiring entrepreneur researching how to start a business will likely be advised to write a business plan. But few resources provide business plan examples to really guide you through writing one of your own.

Here are some real-world and illustrative business plan examples to help you craft your business plan .

7 business plan examples: section by section

The business plan examples in this article follow this template:

• Executive summary.  An introductory overview of your business.
• Company description.  A more in-depth and detailed description of your business and why it exists.
• Market analysis.  Research-based information about the industry and your target market.
• Products and services.  What you plan to offer in exchange for money.
• Marketing plan.   The promotional strategy to introduce your business to the world and drive sales.
• Logistics and operations plan.  Everything that happens in the background to make your business function properly.
• Financial plan.  A breakdown of your numbers to show what you need to get started as well as to prove viability of profitability.
• Executive summary

Your  executive summary  is a page that gives a high-level overview of the rest of your business plan. It’s easiest to save this section for last.

In this  free business plan template , the executive summary is four paragraphs and takes a little over half a page:

• Company description

You might repurpose your company description elsewhere, like on your About page, social media profile pages, or other properties that require a boilerplate description of your small business.

Soap brand ORRIS  has a blurb on its About page that could easily be repurposed for the company description section of its business plan.

You can also go more in-depth with your company overview and include the following sections, like in the example for Paw Print Post:

• Business structure.  This section outlines how you  registered your business —as an  LLC , sole proprietorship, corporation, or other  business type . “Paw Print Post will operate as a sole proprietorship run by the owner, Jane Matthews.”
• Nature of the business.  “Paw Print Post sells unique, one-of-a-kind digitally printed cards that are customized with a pet’s unique paw prints.”
• Industry.  “Paw Print Post operates primarily in the pet industry and sells goods that could also be categorized as part of the greeting card industry.”
• Background information.  “Jane Matthews, the founder of Paw Print Post, has a long history in the pet industry and working with animals, and was recently trained as a graphic designer. She’s combining those two loves to capture a niche in the market: unique greeting cards customized with a pet’s paw prints, without needing to resort to the traditional (and messy) options of casting your pet’s prints in plaster or using pet-safe ink to have them stamp their ‘signature.’”
• Business objectives.  “Jane will have Paw Print Post ready to launch at the Big Important Pet Expo in Toronto to get the word out among industry players and consumers alike. After two years in business, Jane aims to drive $150,000 in annual revenue from the sale of Paw Print Post’s signature greeting cards and have expanded into two new product categories.”
• Team.  “Jane Matthews is the sole full-time employee of Paw Print Post but hires contractors as needed to support her workflow and fill gaps in her skill set. Notably, Paw Print Post has a standing contract for five hours a week of virtual assistant support with Virtual Assistants Pro.”

Your  mission statement  may also make an appearance here.  Passionfruit  shares its mission statement on its company website, and it would also work well in its example business plan.

• Market analysis

The market analysis consists of research about supply and demand, your target demographics, industry trends, and the competitive landscape. You might run a SWOT analysis and include that in your business plan. 

Here’s an example  SWOT analysis  for an online tailored-shirt business:

You’ll also want to do a  competitive analysis  as part of the market research component of your business plan. This will tell you who you’re up against and give you ideas on how to differentiate your brand. A broad competitive analysis might include:

• Target customers
• Unique value add  or what sets their products apart
• Sales pitch
• Price points  for products
• Shipping  policy
• Products and services

This section of your business plan describes your offerings—which products and services do you sell to your customers? Here’s an example for Paw Print Post:

• Marketing plan

It’s always a good idea to develop a marketing plan  before you launch your business. Your marketing plan shows how you’ll get the word out about your business, and it’s an essential component of your business plan as well.

The Paw Print Post focuses on four Ps: price, product, promotion, and place. However, you can take a different approach with your marketing plan. Maybe you can pull from your existing  marketing strategy , or maybe you break it down by the different marketing channels. Whatever approach you take, your marketing plan should describe how you intend to promote your business and offerings to potential customers.

• Logistics and operations plan

The Paw Print Post example considered suppliers, production, facilities, equipment, shipping and fulfillment, and inventory.

Financial plan

The financial plan provides a breakdown of sales, revenue, profit, expenses, and other relevant financial metrics related to funding and profiting from your business.

Ecommerce brand  Nature’s Candy’s financial plan  breaks down predicted revenue, expenses, and net profit in graphs.

It then dives deeper into the financials to include:

• Funding needs
• Projected profit-and-loss statement
• Projected balance sheet
• Projected cash-flow statement

You can use this financial plan spreadsheet to build your own financial statements, including income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statement.

Types of business plans, and what to include for each

A one-page business plan is meant to be high level and easy to understand at a glance. You’ll want to include all of the sections, but make sure they’re truncated and summarized:

• Executive summary: truncated
• Market analysis: summarized
• Products and services: summarized
• Marketing plan: summarized
• Logistics and operations plan: summarized
• Financials: summarized

A startup business plan is for a new business. Typically, these plans are developed and shared to secure  outside funding . As such, there’s a bigger focus on the financials, as well as on other sections that determine viability of your business idea—market research, for example.

• Market analysis: in-depth
• Financials: in-depth

Your internal business plan is meant to keep your team on the same page and aligned toward the same goal.

A strategic, or growth, business plan is a bigger picture, more-long-term look at your business. As such, the forecasts tend to look further into the future, and growth and revenue goals may be higher. Essentially, you want to use all the sections you would in a normal business plan and build upon each.

• Market analysis: comprehensive outlook
• Products and services: for launch and expansion
• Marketing plan: comprehensive outlook
• Logistics and operations plan: comprehensive outlook
• Financials: comprehensive outlook

Feasibility

Your feasibility business plan is sort of a pre-business plan—many refer to it as simply a feasibility study. This plan essentially lays the groundwork and validates that it’s worth the effort to make a full business plan for your idea. As such, it’s mostly centered around research.

Set yourself up for success as a business owner

Building a good business plan serves as a roadmap you can use for your ecommerce business at launch and as you reach each of your business goals. Business plans create accountability for entrepreneurs and synergy among teams, regardless of your  business model .

Kickstart your ecommerce business and set yourself up for success with an intentional business planning process—and with the sample business plans above to guide your own path.

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Business plan examples FAQ

How do i write a simple business plan, what is the best format to write a business plan, what are the 4 key elements of a business plan.

• Executive summary: A concise overview of the company's mission, goals, target audience, and financial objectives.
• Business description: A description of the company's purpose, operations, products and services, target markets, and competitive landscape.
• Market analysis: An analysis of the industry, market trends, potential customers, and competitors.
• Financial plan: A detailed description of the company's financial forecasts and strategies.

What are the 3 main points of a business plan?

• Concept: Your concept should explain the purpose of your business and provide an overall summary of what you intend to accomplish.
• Contents: Your content should include details about the products and services you provide, your target market, and your competition.
• Cashflow: Your cash flow section should include information about your expected cash inflows and outflows, such as capital investments, operating costs, and revenue projections.

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Home  >  Conversion Rate Optimization  >  Consumer Behavior in Marketing. Patterns, Types & Segmentation

Consumer Behavior in Marketing. Patterns, Types & Segmentation

• Article last updated: June 4, 2024
• Article first published: January 16, 2023

Table of Contents

Consumer behavior explores how individuals and groups make decisions to purchase, use, and dispose of goods and services. This field examines the motivations, influences, and processes that guide consumer choices, providing essential insights for businesses.

Understanding, analyzing, and keeping track of consumer behavior is critical for businesses. Here’s what you should consider. Keep on reading the article to find out what to consider in analyzing consumer behaviors.

Think about the many (buying) decisions you make every day; how much thought are you really giving to them?

Your decisions, be they on autopilot, or not, are what keep marketers up at night.

Like it or not, boosting revenue can only happen once you decode the process behind customers’ decisions.

And that’s what we’ll discuss today: how to understand and influence consumers’ behavior.

What Is Consumer Behavior, Anyway?

Consumer behavior observes how people choose, use, and discard products and services, encompassing their emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions. Understanding consumer behavior is key for businesses trying to orchestrate impactful marketing tactics that shape consumer decision-making pathways.

By gaining insights into the factors that influence consumer choices, such as personal preferences, social influences, cultural norms, and economic factors, businesses can tailor their marketing strategies to effectively target and engage their audience.

Consumer behavior incorporates ideas from several sciences including psychology, biology, chemistry, and economics. It draws on psychological principles to understand how individual motivations, perceptions, and attitudes shape consumer decisions. Biological factors, such as physiological needs and sensory experiences, also play a role in influencing consumption behavior. Economic theories help explain how consumers allocate their limited resources among competing wants and needs, guiding businesses in pricing strategies and product positioning.

In essence, consumer buying behavior serves as a crucial foundation for businesses seeking to navigate the complexities of the market and connect with their customers on a deeper level. Understanding what drives consumer decisions empowers businesses to anticipate trends, adapt to changing preferences, and stay ahead in today’s competitive marketplace.

Why Is Consumer Behavior Important?

Think of it this way: if you can’t identify the catalysts for buying decisions, how are you expected to spark a desire for your products in customers’ minds?

Understanding consumer buying behavior is crucial for businesses striving to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace:

• Insight into Customer Needs: Consumer behavior analysis provides valuable insights into the needs, desires, and preferences of your target audience. Understanding how consumers choose products reveals gaps in your product suite or irrelevant offerings, while also highlighting the most wanted products in your catalog.
• Effective Marketing Strategies: Knowing how consumers make purchasing decisions allows businesses to develop more effective marketing strategies. By aligning your messaging, branding, and promotions with consumer preferences, you can increase the likelihood of capturing their attention and driving conversions.
• Product Development and Innovation: Consumer behavior research helps identify gaps in the market and areas for product improvement. By listening to consumer feedback and observing their behavior, businesses can innovate and develop products that resonate with their target audience, leading to greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Competitive Advantage: Understanding consumption behavior gives businesses a competitive edge. By staying ahead of consumer trends and preferences, you can anticipate market shifts, outmaneuver competitors, and position your brand as a leader in your industry.
• Customer Engagement and Retention: By understanding consumer behavior, businesses can create personalized experiences that engage and retain customers. By building relationships based on trust and understanding, businesses can foster long-term loyalty and advocacy.

As you can see, the task of understanding consumer behavior is a high-stakes one.

This is why your consumer behavior analysis shouldn’t end until you’ve identified:

• Consumer sentiments and preferences toward different options, including brands and products.
• The factors that influence consumers’ choices among various options.
• Consumer behaviors during the research and shopping phases.
• The influence of consumers’ surroundings , including peers, family, and media, on their decisions.

Types of Consumer Behavior

Even if many of the buying decisions are random and spontaneous, researchers managed to identify four main types of consumer behaviors. Let’s see how they differ from one another.

Complex Purchasing Behavior

This type of behavior occurs when consumers are buying expensive, rarely-purchased items.

In this case, people are deeply involved in the purchase process, conducting extensive research before making a significant investment.

Think about purchasing a house or a car; these are consumer behavior examples of complex buying behavior.

Dissonance-Reducing Purchasing Behavior

Dissonance is defined as a lack of harmony. In the shopping process, this behavior is visible when consumers struggle to differentiate between brands.

There’s no favorite brand and none of the options is particularly attractive, so ‘dissonance’ appears as consumers fear they will regret their decision.

For instance, when buying a lawnmower, you may select one based on price and convenience. However, you’ll still seek reassurance about your choice afterward.

Habitual Purchasing Behavior

As opposed to the first two behaviors, this one appears when consumers mindlessly buy something, with little to no involvement in the product or brand category.

To illustrate, let’s think of grocery shopping: you visit the store and buy your preferred type of bread.

You demonstrate zero brand loyalty, as you go for your preferred taste, no matter the logo on the label.

Variety-Seeking Behavior

Finally, we have this scenario, where consumers purchase a different product not because they were dissatisfied with the previous one, but because they seek variety.

For example, think of people who order protein or other supplements. It’s not that they’re not satisfied with the product in itself; they just got bored of the same taste and looked for some chocolaty feelings in their protein shakes.

It’s important you understand all these types of behaviors and determine which type of customers your brand attracts.

• Are you bringing in people who seek variety in their lives, and they’re just trying out your products?
• People who mindlessly buy your products while waiting for the bus to show up?
• Or people who conducted extensive research, and decided you’re the best possible option for them?

Understanding this nuance will give you a better idea about how to segment different customer types .

How to Tailor Marketing Messages for Each Behavior Type

We recognized the distinct characteristics of each behavior type, and now it’s time to explore strategies for customizing marketing messages for each consumption behavior type. By implementing these tailored approaches, you can effectively engage with consumers, meet their needs and preferences, and drive meaningful interactions that lead to increased sales and brand loyalty:

Tailoring for Complex Purchasing Behavior

• Provide Detailed Information: Offer comprehensive product descriptions, specifications, and comparison charts to assist consumers in their research process.
• Highlight Value Proposition: Emphasize the unique features, benefits, and value proposition of your product or service to justify the higher investment.
• Utilize Testimonials and Reviews: Showcase positive testimonials, reviews, and case studies from satisfied customers to build trust and credibility.
• Offer Personalized Assistance: Provide personalized assistance and expert guidance to address any concerns or questions consumers may have during the decision-making process.

Tailoring for Dissonance-Reducing Purchasing Behavior

• Build Trust and Reassurance: Use persuasive messaging, social proof, and testimonials to demonstrate the superiority of your brand and alleviate consumers’ concerns.
• Provide Satisfaction Guarantees: Offer satisfaction guarantees, free trials, or generous return policies to reduce the perceived risk associated with the purchase.
• Focus on Quality and Reliability: Highlight the quality, reliability, and satisfaction guaranteed by your brand to reassure consumers about their decisions.
• Address Pain Points: Identify common pain points or objections consumers may have and address them directly in your marketing messages to alleviate doubts.

Tailoring for Habitual Purchasing Behavior

• Maintain Brand Visibility: Ensure consistent branding, packaging, and messaging to reinforce brand recognition and stay top-of-mind for consumers.
• Leverage Loyalty Programs: Implement loyalty programs, discounts, and incentives to encourage repeat purchases and reinforce brand loyalty.
• Create Memorable Experiences: Craft memorable brand experiences through engaging content, storytelling, and interactive campaigns to foster emotional connections with consumers.
• Stay Relevant and Topical: Keep your brand relevant and topical by staying updated on industry trends, consumer preferences, and market dynamics to remain appealing to habitual buyers.

Tailoring for Variety-Seeking Behavior

• Offer Diverse Product Range: Provide a diverse range of products, flavors, or options to cater to consumers’ changing preferences and desire for novelty.
• Create Excitement with Limited-Time Offers: Use limited-time offers, seasonal promotions, and new product launches to create excitement and anticipation around your brand.
• Highlight Unique Features: Showcase the unique features, benefits, and experiences offered by each product to entice consumers to explore new options.
• Encourage Exploration and Discovery: Facilitate exploration and discovery by organizing products into categories, providing recommendations, and offering personalized suggestions based on past behavior.

What Influences Consumer Behavior?

Consumer buying behavior is influenced by various factors and you won’t be able to influence all of them.

However, if you’re at the very least aware of the most notable behavior influencers, you can still adapt and pivot to old your strategies over consumers’ day-to-day reality.

Here are some of the most common factors affecting consumer behavior:

Marketing Campaigns

The most obvious, and the most in control factor lies in your marketing efforts.

When executed effectively and consistently, with compelling messaging, marketing tactics can prompt consumers to switch brands and even opt for higher-priced alternatives.

For example, campaigns generated through Facebook can serve as reminders for regularly purchased products or services, like insurance.

Economic Conditions

Moving on to uncontrollable situations, economic climates, particularly regarding big-ticket items such as houses or cars , will significantly shape consumer behavior.

Evidently, positive economic conditions tend to strengthen consumer confidence and their willingness to make purchases, regardless of financial commitments.

Personal Preferences

Personal factors like preferences, priorities, morals, and values play a substantial role in shaping consumer behavior, particularly in industries such as fashion or food.

While advertisements can influence behavior to some extent, consumers’ choices are primarily guided by their personal preferences .

For example, climate change activists are unlikely to start consuming fast-fashion products, just as vegans aren’t going to buy your medium-rare stake, regardless of advertising efforts.

Group Influence

Peer pressure is a significant driver of consumer behavior. The opinions and actions of family members, classmates, neighbors, and acquaintances can exert considerable influence on our decisions.

Social psychology also comes into play, affecting choices like opting for fast food over home-cooked meals, which can be influenced by education levels and social factors.

Purchasing Power

Finally, our financial capacity is a key determinant of our consumer behavior. Unless exceptionally wealthy, budget considerations often precede purchase decisions .

Even if a product is exceptional and the marketing compelling, lacking the financial means to afford it can discourage a purchase.

Segmenting consumers based on their purchasing power helps marketers identify eligible consumers and achieve more favorable outcomes.

Customer Behavior Patterns

Be careful not to confuse buying behavior patterns with buying habits.

Consumer habits develop as inclinations towards actions and become spontaneous over time, while patterns exhibit a predictable mental structure .

Each customer possesses unique buying habits while buying behavior patterns are collective and provide marketers with distinct characterizations.

Customer behavior patterns can be categorized into:

Place of Purchase

Customers often split their purchases among various stores, even if all items are available in one location .

For example, while a hypermarket may offer clothes and shoes, customers may still prefer purchasing those items from specific clothing brands.

Understanding customer behavior regarding place choice will help you identify key store locations.

Items Purchased

Examining a shopping cart reveals valuable consumer insights about purchased items and quantities.

Essential items may be bought in bulk, while luxury items are typically purchased less frequently and in smaller quantities.

The quantity of each item bought is influenced by factors such as perishability, purchasing power, unit of sale, price, and intended consumer base.

Time and Frequency of Purchase

Customers expect service at all hours, especially in the era of e-commerce where shopping is just a few clicks away. Shops must align their services with customer purchase patterns, meeting demands at various times and frequencies. Seasonal variations and regional differences must also be considered.

Method of Purchase

Customers can either make in-store purchases or opt for online orders, paying via credit card or upon delivery.

The method of purchase can influence customer spending, as online shopping may include additional charges like shipping fees.

Consider how much data you’ve already collected about your customers.

As a marketer, yo want to stay on top of pattern analysis, so you can then create strategies to encourage repeat purchases, increased frequency, and higher spending .

How to Study Consumer Behavior?

Studying consumer behavior requires a multifaceted approach that combines various methods and techniques to gain comprehensive insights into the consumer habits, preferences, and decision-making processes of consumers. Let’s explore some methods:

• Market Research: Conducting thorough market research is essential for understanding consumer behavior. This involves gathering data on demographics, psychographics, purchasing patterns, and preferences through surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observational studies. Market research provides valuable insights into consumer needs, motivations, and pain points, helping businesses identify opportunities for product development and marketing strategies.
• Data Analysis: Analyzing data collected from various sources is another crucial aspect of studying consumer behavior. Businesses can leverage data analytics tools and techniques to analyze sales records, website traffic, social media interactions, and customer feedback.
• Customer Segmentation: Segmenting customers based on common characteristics allows businesses to tailor their marketing strategies and messages to specific target audiences.
• Monitoring Consumer Trends: Keeping abreast of consumer trends and industry developments is essential for studying consumer behavior. Businesses can monitor social media trends, industry reports, competitor activities, and emerging technologies to identify opportunities and threats in the market.
• Feedback and Interaction: Actively seeking feedback from customers and engaging with them through various channels allows businesses to gain valuable insights into consumer behavior. Customer interaction also provides opportunities for businesses to gather qualitative insights into consumer preferences and motivations.
• Experimentation and Testing: Experimenting with different marketing strategies and approaches is another effective way to study consumer behavior. A/B testing , focus groups, and pilot programs allow businesses to gather feedback and refine their strategies based on real-world results.

Customer Behavior Segmentation

Segmenting customers and understanding their buying behaviors has always been crucial for businesses. As we defined, customer segmentation is the process of dividing a customer base into groups that share similar characteristics or behaviors. This strategic approach allows businesses to better understand their customers and tailor marketing efforts, products, and services to meet the unique needs and preferences of each segment.

Now, with personalization and customer experience becoming key factors in business success, effective segmentation is more important than ever before. Interestingly, only a third of companies using customer segmentation find it significantly impactful. So you might be an advantage here.

This lack of insights proclaimed by companies highlights the need to find the right segmentation technique that aligns with the unique needs of each business.

Traditionally, marketers have relied on six primary types of behavioral segmentation:

• Benefits Sought : This type of segmentation delves into understanding what specific benefits or features customers prioritize when making purchasing decisions. For example, when customers buy toothpaste, they may prioritize features like whitening, sensitivity, flavor, or price, shedding light on what motivates their purchases.
• Occasion or Timing-Based : Segments based on occasions, such as holidays or personal events like birthdays, offer valuable insights into consumer behavior patterns. By understanding the timing of purchases, businesses can anticipate when certain products or services might be in higher demand and adjust their marketing strategies accordingly.
• Usage Rate : The frequency at which customers interact with a product or service serves as a strong indicator of loyalty, churn, and lifetime value. By segmenting customers based on their usage rate, businesses can identify their most engaged customers and tailor retention strategies to foster continued loyalty.
• Brand Loyalty Status : Loyal customers, with their higher lifetime value and potential for advocacy, deserve special attention and incentives to nurture their relationship with the brand.
• User Status : This segmentation method categorizes customers based on their relationship with the brand. Segments may include non-users, prospects, first-time buyers, regular users, and defectors, allowing marketers to adapt strategies accordingly.
• Customer Journey Stage : Segmenting based on the readiness of buyers enables personalized communication, helping identify obstacles and opportunities for improvement at every stage, including post-purchase behaviors.

In addition to these traditional methods, the RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary Value) model provides a behavioral segmentation approach. This model measures the latest purchases, the frequency of purchases, and the total spending of customers.

RFM analysis can be conducted manually or through automated tools such as Omniconvert’s Reveal , enabling eCommerce marketers to customize experiences based on customer insights.

RFM segmentation and analysis can reveal who your most loyal and profitable customers are and also:

• Reveal what brands and products are dragging your business down;
• Build custom recommendations for your customers; 
• Solve certain Customer Experience problems.

Before making decisions based on gut feeling regarding your customers and your audience, observe their behavior, listen to them and build a relationship that will make them stay loyal no matter how aggressive your competitors are.

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Consumer Behavior Case Study From Our Agency

We partnered with AliveCor , a pioneer in FDA-cleared mobile electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) technology, to help them better understand consumer behavior patterns, then use the insights to refine its digital strategy and boost conversion rates.

AliveCor faced a multifaceted challenge: while improving conversion rates was crucial, understanding consumer behavior dynamics emerged as equally important.

When we researched AliveCor’s online ecosystem, blending quantitative UX & UI analysis, with qualitative data derived from surveys, we uncovered some insights regarding consumer behaviour.

Over 40% of website visitors expressed frustration in finding comprehensive information, while 50% relied on physician recommendations when considering AliveCor products.

Furthermore, 26% of engaged visitors left without making a purchase due to insufficient understanding of product functionality.

Insights and Hypotheses

The insights we gathered in the research phase revealed critical consumer behavior trends.

Information gaps and the influence of physician recommendations emerged as key drivers shaping purchase decisions.

Notably, a disconnect between visitor engagement and conversion highlighted the need for clearer product understanding.

Based on these insights, we developed and tested a hypothesis: If we replaced the ‘Our mission’ tab in the navbar with a  ‘How it works’ option, and also created a new page containing the  ‘How it works’ video and other related information, we could increase  the number of clicks on this tab and also the visitors’ engagement and  conversion rates. 

The experiment confirmed our hypothesis, with significant outcomes:

• Conversion Rate: +21%
• Revenue per Visitor: +5%
• Statistical Relevance: +94%

For more experiments and a more complex experiment showcase, check out the full Case Study here .

Our collaboration highlights the power of consumer behavior insights in driving digital transformation.

With an understanding of consumer preferences and pain points, AliveCor was able to optimize its digital platform to meet user expectations and improve conversion rates.

This case study underscores the importance of consumer-centricity in digital strategy. If you prioritize consumer behavior insights, you can cultivate meaningful interactions, strengthen brand loyalty, and achieve sustainable growth in eComm & Retail.

And this doesn’t only work in super specific industries, as Retailers worldwide are also confirming how incredible transformative Omniconvert-powered insights can be.

Frequently Asked Questions 

What is an example of consumer behavior .

Let’s take planning a city break for two as a consumer behavior example.

For someone that just starting dating, it might be extensive decision-making, but for a couple that has spent 5+ years together, it could be limited decision-making.

Another example of consumer behavior can be observed when making a reservation at a restaurant. For a friend’s night out, it requires a limited time investment, while making a reservation for an anniversary or a proposal is a more complex decision making.

What Are the Characteristics of Consumer Behavior ?

There are four factors that determine the characteristics of consumer behavior: personal, psychological, social, and cultural.

All factors have a major impact on a consumer’s behavior and the characteristics that define a customer will change as their life changes.

What are the stages of the consumer decision-making process?

The consumer decision-making process typically unfolds in several stages. First, consumers recognize a need or problem they wish to address, which prompts them to begin searching for information to guide their decision-making process. This information search involves gathering details from various sources, including personal experiences, recommendations, and advertising.

Next, consumers evaluate the available options based on criteria such as quality, price, and brand reputation. Once they’ve weighed their options, consumers make a purchase decision. After the purchase, consumers engage in post-purchase evaluation, assessing their satisfaction with the product or service and determining whether it meets their expectations. This evaluation can influence future purchasing behavior and brand loyalty.

How to measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts on consumer behavior?

Businesses can utilize surveys and questionnaires to collect feedback from customers regarding their experiences with marketing campaigns, brand perceptions, and purchasing decisions. Secondly, businesses can analyze sales data to track trends, customer acquisition rates, and purchase frequency, providing insights into the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Furthermore, monitoring website traffic, social media engagement metrics, and online reviews can offer valuable insights into consumer responses to marketing efforts. Lastly, conducting market research studies such as focus groups or consumer surveys provides deeper insights into consumer behavior and preferences, allowing businesses to refine their marketing strategies accordingly.

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The release of the first official concept designs of the proposed Macquarie Point stadium predictably ignited the conversation around the project, spurning a swag of differing opinions and questions from the Tasmanian public.

Social media comment sections often provide a good window to the thoughts and opinions of passionate Tasmanians, and a scroll of various Facebook and Instagram pages reveals some believe the stadium is a "vanity project" and an "eyesore in a sacred place", while others think it is "stunning" and "special".

Most people have questions, and they range from roof shadows to car parking; and as of yesterday, to the heavy use of timber.

Over the weekend, Tasmanian media had the chance to pepper lead architect Alastair Richardson from Cox Architecture, Macquarie Point Development Corporation chief executive Anne Beach and Sports Minister Nic Street with questions.

Here's what we learnt.

The stadium is higher than originally anticipated, by more than 10m. Why?

The apex of the domed roof is 54 metres from the ground and 51m above the playing surface, which sits 3m above the ground.

This is taller than Docklands stadium in Melbourne, however that increased height is "spread" across the 160m-wide domed roof. 

The highest point of the roof has been increased to mitigate the height of the edges, which have been reduced to about 22m.

How will the added height impact the Hobart Cenotaph?

Making the middle peak of the roof higher allows the sides or "edges" of the stadium to sit significantly lower than first planned and, according to stadium designers, reduce the visual impact from the neighbouring Hobart Cenotaph.

"It's about a 22m height wrapping around, the equivalent of a six-story commercial build," Ms Beach said.

On top of that is the fixed dome roof, which gradually reaches the apex of 51m above the playing surface.

Sightline analysis and images are yet to be released by the Tasmanian government.

Ms Beach said the corporation would put together a full package that will show view aspects from across the city that will show a lot more detail.

This is a small site consisting of reclaimed land, with water table at 2m. Can it be built, and on time?

Macquarie Point officials have been steadfast that the nine-hectare site is "stadium suitable". Ms Beach previously referred to the site as a "pin cushion" when describing the amount of geotech testing done. The design team has also doubled down.

"There's no issue with that at all. None at all," Mr Richardson said.

"We've done a very fine balancing of the final level, making sure the building doesn't come up too high and addressing the water table issues, putting it at the right level that combines cut and fill across the site.

"Our civil engineer, Pitt and Sherry, have been heavily involved in that decision."

Right, but there's no way this thing will be built for round 1 of the 2029 AFL season?

"Everything indicates that we can, with the program we're doing," Mr Richardson said.

"Obviously, there's the Project of State Significance process that we have to go through, but we're on track for that, yes."

Where will I park my car?

Parking will be extremely limited, with only a handful of car parks available to the public.

Concept designs show an extension of the northern access road at Macquarie Point, which morphs into a bus interchange at the stadium. A new road, which will run underneath the stadium, is proposed, but this will be for service vehicles and equipment trucks only.

A new ferry terminal is also proposed, but details on that remain scant.

On Sunday, the Hobart Northern Suburbs Rail Action Group claimed the stadium would "fail without rail".

Tell us about timber and the roof

The type of timber being proposed is an engineered wood product called glulam, which is short for glued laminated timber. However, the particular local species is yet to be decided.

"So we're not just using things like radiata pine, we actually want to use eucalypt," Mr Richardson said.

"It's fully waterproof because it's underneath the roof so it's not exposed, and it doesn't degrade. We've done some work with that. There's more to do and we're looking into supply chain issues.

"We're wanting to invest in Tasmania, so all the components are built here rather than the timber being brought over to the mainland and brought back."

And the roof?

The material is called ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene), which has been in use for more than 40 years and allows the full UV spectrum to penetrate, which is crucial for grass growth.

It's been described as "the most appropriate" material by the designers and "incredibly lightweight".

It'll be supported by 800mm timber and steel beams.

A translucent plastic roof. This thing will be a big noisy hot box won't it?

The stadium won't house a complex air conditioning system, rather, it'll rely on natural ventilation according to the architects.

"We're bringing cold air in the bottom and extracting hot air at the top. What is nice and what we've found is that these types of stadiums, because of the warmth, increase the growing season [for grass], which is a good thing," Mr Richardson said.

"We've found on a cold winter's day at Forsyth Barr stadium in Dunedin, people sit in the sun and love it."

A domed translucent roof next to a river. Whoever gets the roof cleaning contract will rake it in, won't they?

The ETFE roof is "self-cleaning" according to stadium architects. That is, rainfall will naturally clean dust and other particles off the roof.

"However, it is recommended that it is hosed off once a year," the architects said.

Speaking of rain, will heavy rainfall on the roof create a noisy distraction during a game of cricket for instance?

While rain hitting the ETFE roof does create a "slight drumming" noise, it "dissipates very quickly," according to Cox Architects.

"We haven't seen any issues at other ETFE stadiums," they said.

Won't the roof trusses cast shadows across the playing field?

Apparently not, according to the architects.

The roof height results in what the designers call a "diffused shadow", rather than "hard shadows" that might be seen at Docklands or around the edges of the MCG.

"We've done extensive modelling in terms of the shadowing, both indoors and outdoors," Mr Richardson said.

"The issue in terms of impact on play is minimised.

"It's also backed up by the sports lighting that is incorporated into the dome, rather than light towers."

International cricket in a roofed stadium?

Cricket Tasmania and Cricket Australia were satisfied with the designs following briefings last week.

The roof height was initially a primary concern for cricket, but after obtaining data from ball-tracking firm Hawkeye and feeding it into the design of the stadium, the roof height was increased beyond 50m, and a solution was found.

With play guaranteed under a roof, Cricket Australia could potentially extend its season into the colder months leading to an earlier start to the international summer of cricket and easing existing schedule restraints.

Cricket Tasmania chief executive Dominic Baker told the ABC last week that the International Cricket Council was becoming increasingly interested in the Hobart project, while the Board of Cricket Control in India is also said to be exploring the concept of roofed arenas.

Testing would have to occur for Test cricket at the stadium to be green-lit.

We might need to expand from 23,000 seats. Can it be done?

According to the architects, the stadium will be designed so that expansion to up to 30,000 seats is possible.

"The roof stays in its exact same location, the gap between the top row of the seats and the roof, which is enclosed, allows us to bring another annulus of seating around the upper tier," Mr Richardson said.

There's a heritage-listed Goods Shed on the site. What of it?

Under the plan, the Goods Shed would be relocated about 100m north, next to the escarpment.

It'll act as an entry to the stadium precinct on game days and could be used as an event and function space at other times.

"Because of the way it's constructed, out of timber post and beam and truss, it's not a difficult building to take apart and reconstruct somewhere else," Peter Walker from Cumulus Studios said.

Given its recent heritage listing, the planning commission would need to be convinced that moving the shed does not severely or negatively impact the building's heritage values.

Will this come in under budget?

Stadium proponents and the state government remain adamant the stadium will be built within the $715 million funding envelope.

Quantity surveyors and cost advisors WT Partnership, were hired to oversee the project and update costings as the design progressed.

According to the proponents, and the designers, the maths stacks up, and the project remains on budget.

Whether that remains the case, remains to be seen.

"Not a single dollar has been wasted on superfluous components," Mr Richardson said.

The stadium must also pass the rigorous Project of State Significance process — then pass both houses of parliament — after it is submitted to the Tasmanian Planning Commission in the coming weeks.

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