Understanding the Four Consumer Buyer Personas

Once when I was editing a magazine, we made up an imaginary reader named Betty. We envisioned her life, her family, her home, what she liked and disliked. As we debated content for issues, we asked ourselves, “What would Betty think?” Imagining Betty gave us a framework for making decisions and kept us focused on our customer as we strove to see the world through her eyes.

Turns out, we were onto something from a marketing and communications standpoint. Except that we should have had three other personas in addition to Betty.

The value of creating customer personas is discussed in the intriguingly titled Waiting for Your Cat to Bark by Bryan Eisenberg. He believes that people operate in four fundamental buying modes or temperaments. And just as you’ll never get your cat to bark, you can’t change the nature of your customer. Rather, you need to understand the customer’s persona and communicate in a way they relate to.

The four buying modes developed by his firm, Future Now, are based in part on the widely used personality test, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. These reflect how people interact with the world.

“For all our individuality, the ways in which we relate to the world, gather information, make decisions and act upon those decisions are not wildly unique,” Eisenberg writes. “We fall into a limited number of categories of personality types.”

Personality types affect how people initiate and engage in a relationship, how they gather information, the type of information they seek and how they make decisions.

And because each responds differently to communication, you need to speak in four languages.

Eisenberg cites four ranges of characteristics that vary in buyer types: introversion/extroversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling and judging/perceiving.

Extroverts may come into the showroom and want to engage in a conversation right away. Introverts may go online first and will prefer to browse on their own in the showroom.

Sensing individuals see, hear, taste, touch and smell, specifics and details. Intuitives rely more on a sixth sense and value the big picture, the author explains.

Thinkers organize information objectively and logically. Feeling people organize it in a subjective value-oriented way.

Judging types take pleasure in making the decision but perceiving types enjoy exploring all the possibilities and putting off the decision.

Along the spectrum of these characteristics, Eisenberg and his team have identified four modes: Methodical, Spontaneous, Humanistic and Competitive.

Margo Methodical

According to Eisenberg, Methodicals need to feel well-prepared and organized in order to act. They come in with neat files and lots of research. They’ll be on time for appointments and expect you to be as well.

They want you to give them lots of facts and data, and to present information logically. Tell them why the island is sized and located the way it is, and provide comparison charts of different materials.

Never appear disorganized in front of them. Have all the details on every product you’re recommending at your fingertips. Because they fear unpleasant surprises and irresponsibility, they need to know everything you do and don’t handle in a project.

Explain how your solution solves their problem. “You wanted a master bath that would alleviate stress and hassles in the mornings. Our two-sink vanity, with 48 inches of counter space, will give you plenty of room for two people to get ready simultaneously.”

On your Website, appeal to Methodicals by offering a “How We Work” section that explains your procedures, step-by-step with typical timetables. Offer product specs and comparison tables. Show four kitchens or baths at different budget levels and explain the differences. Offer checklists and spell out your guarantees.

Sara Spontaneous

Living in the moment, Spontaneous types are activity oriented and seek exciting experiences. They will want to know the latest thing in kitchens and baths.