Start to See Business in a New Light: Customer Buying Decisions

Whether you're ready to take the plunge out on your own or you've been doing this Lashpreneur life for a hot minute, there's always opportunities to take on a new perspective of running a lash business.

When you started doing Lashes on a regular basis, would you look at a woman at the grocery store or at Starbucks and think “Man, she'd look amazing with Lashes” or "damn girl, you could really use some lashes” and you start mapping her eyes in your head?

Start to do the same thing as a business owner. EVERYTHING around you are business. Your doctor’s office, the grocery store, your kid's preschool, yes even Facebook and Instagram...they are all businesses. The end goal may not be a stock pile of dollars and cents, but all businesses need to be able to make money to keep their business running and keeping their clients, customers, students, and users pleased with their experience/service/product is how they accomplish that.

It will really help you evolve as a business owner if you take note of the thoughts, feelings, emotions that you have as a customer of another business. Taking this vie helps you to start to identify with your client’s experience and how you might approach how your business is run in a way that illicit the response you want your client to have. Understanding your buying decisions as a client/customer can significantly impact your approach in your lash biz to align with your customer’s buying decisions. This is how loyalty is made or broken. This is how referrals "magically" or "never" happen.

Here's the example of how this played out for me recently in my comparison of choosing a pedicure service vs Starbucks:

Where I live, there are 20 different businesses that offer pedicures within a 10-mile radius of me. In that same radius, there are 5 Starbucks (2 of which are drive thrust...hallelujah!). Let's dive deep into a customer’s deciding factors when choosing a location in such a saturated marketplace (meaning there’s a lot of the same type of product/service in a small area).

Who I am as a Customer:

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I am a busy mom (I don't think I've ever met a mom who wasn't busy, have you?). Everyone's else's wants/needs get met before mine, so self-care is a rare treat. I own an online and physical business so I don't really have days/times when I'm "off"... work is always ready and waiting for me so if I do manage to carve out the alone time for me to treat myself, I want it to feel like a treat. Cost is a factor in my decision but not as much as my overall experience is and how I feel before, during and after my self-care time is.

Pedicure Buying Decisions:

Now that I've painted a picture of me, let me tell you why I choose the 1 pedicure spot I go to over and over again. When I was researching a new pedicure spot, I was heavily pregnant with my son and wanted a pedicure with a really good foot massage. I couldn't even see my feet at that point but man did they ache. I was even willing to drive 20-30 minutes if I had to get a bomb foot massage. Turns out, Yelp (a US online review site) recommended a nail salon that was within 5 mins of my home and had a few reviews mentioning their great foot massages...winning! It did not disappoint. Their foot massages are the best I've had in any massage or pedicure ever! This is their USP (Unique Selling Point) and what makes them different than 90% of the other nail salons around. If I were them, I would blast their amazing foot massages to anybody and everybody who would listen. But since they aren't doing that, I decided to do my small part to pay it forward for them. I went back on Yelp after my service to leave a 5-star review of my experience. I raved about their foot massages and made special notes about my service provider, Lindsay (such strong hands for such a tiny woman!). Guess what happened after that? Every single worker in that nail place now knows my name, is so gracious and thankful when I come in, and makes me feel so appreciated. It'll be months between when I can make it in there (don't judge...busy mom remembers!) and they still remember me every time and it's been 2.5 years since I wrote that review. The massages are still amazing, I still feel amazing when I'm there and Lindsay is my gal every time even though I am always a walk in and don't book in advance (shame on me!).

Starbucks Buying Decisions:

Now, on to Starbucks. My deciding factors for choosing a Starbucks location is very different as my deciding factor is Starbucks itself, as opposed to another coffee shop. The product is the exact same at every location (unless they don't listen to my order and are rushing me thru the line). They are supposed to get to know the customer's name and drink order as part of their job description to foster a relationship (former Sbux Barista here, it was my very first job in high school). There are 5 of the exact same products near my home...so the service/experience should be my deciding factor and what makes each store unique over its sister store. Over the last 7 years I've lived in this city and frequented 2 of the 7 Starbucks in particular, only 1 barista has ever bothered to learn my name or drink order. 1 over 7 years and I'm pretty much there every single day (it’s the life blood of a Lash Artist, what can I say?!?). I have no feeling of loyalty or familiarity at these Starbucks and if I could make my drink at home (and I've tried) I would. The only thing that gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling is the beverage, not the people and not the experience. What a subtle and easy shift that would be for the Starbucks baristas to make is as simple as remembering my name. They say it every day, it’s written on the cup when they call out my order and it's a required part of their job description! Am I asking too much as a customer?

I share these two experiences with you so you can start to understand running a business in a whole new light. The easiest people to market your services to are people who are just like you. You can identify them, relate to them, and meet their needs because you are them.

Start to dig a little deeper into your deciding factors as a customer and why you choose to go to the restaurants, gyms, salons, grocery stores or even social media sites that you do.

LASHPRENEUR LIGHTBULB: The better you understand the deciding factors of a client or customer, the more knowledge you have to create a marketing message for your services that turn prospective customers into your raving fans.