On Buyers’ Expectations, Buyers’ Goals, and the Improvement of the Customer Experience

Abstract

Outstanding product performance can be an important growth factor for companies. But the surrounding aspects of the product—for example, buying advice and customer service—are also an important success factor. And the user experience will only be positive if the functionality of the product matches the expectations, attitudes, and goals of the target segment. So to launch products (or services) as successfully as possible, it is important to build knowledge about the typical expectations and goals of target customers. The goals buyers want to achieve are equivalent to the problems they want to solve. In other words, it is the job they want to accomplish using a product (or service) that customers are really interested in—not the product (or service) itself. The name chosen to denote this customer knowledge is not important. Whether companies use the name buyer behavior research, segmentation studies, buyer insights research, experiential research, etc.—it basically does not matter. What matters is that the relevant expectations, desires, attitudes, approaches, and goals of the people who make up the target segment are mapped in these studies. And the best existing customers are not always the right addressees. For example, in disruptive problem situations, it can be disadvantageous for established companies to stay close to their best customers, as they are usually not potential buyers of disruptive products (or services).