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Welcome to Vantage Business Support & Insurance Services
We all know how important small business is to the U.S. economy. Some statistics that you may not know are:
(1) they represent 99.7% of all employer firms, (2) they employ just over half of all private sector employees, (3) they pay 44% of total U.S. private payroll (4) have generated 64% of net new jobs in the past 15 yrs.
VANTAGE has been servicing the small business community for over 35 years. Over the years we have accumulated much knowledge, contacts and experience in helping to protecting small businesses and help them become successful and grow. As such, we will be publishing a semimonthly newsletter geared toward providing small businesses with the latest news, products, and guidelines to assist in their success and growth. Please feel free to comment and/or request topics that are important to you for us to research.
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Please view our products list in the right sidebar
This is just a sampling of what we feel would be important to you. We have much more to offer. If you have any questions or need more information please contact us at 877-886-8277 or click the link below.
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Why Customers Buy
 The first step is a better understanding of the "consumer decision journey." Here's what you need to know.
We recently did some work for a brand that had very high awareness but low consideration in the e-commerce space. Their goal was to get more buyers to consider and evaluate their brand when purchasing. The first step involved developing a better understanding of the "consumer decision journey."
McKinsey & Co introduced the concept of the consumer decision journey in 2009, and present it today as shown here:
The graphic shows the key stages of the consumer decision journey:
* Consider: What brands/products do consumers have in mind
as they contemplate a purchase?
* Evaluate: Consumers gather information to narrow their
choices.
* Buy: Consumers decide on a brand and buy it.
* Post-purchase experience: Consumers reflect on the
buying experience, creating expectations/considerations that
will inform a subsequent purchase.
* Advocate: Consumers tell others about the product or service
they bought.
* Bond: Consumers skip or short-circuit the evaluation process
and decide not to switch brands.
Our client was not winning in the consideration or evaluation stages. At most they were winning at the moment of purchase, as their web site and SEO efforts attracted buyers doing a final check of alternatives before purchasing. The client wanted to address these gaps while remaining true to their core (and highly profitable) operating model. After some initial analysis of the business, we formed a couple of hypotheses:
* When they lost consumers at two key stages of the
journey--"evaluate" and "buy"--they were also losing them on
future consideration opportunities.
* Consumers that had a few successful transactions were highly
likely to find the brand habit-forming and "bond" with the brand.
We decided, therefore, to focus on winning during evaluation
and at the moment of purchase, which in turn would drive future
consideration. We scoped out four key areas to explore that we
felt would improve the "evaluate" and "buy" stages in the short
term and drive consideration in the long term.
1. Ease of use: Can we simplify the shopping experience by
minimizing the number of clicks required to complete a
transaction? 2. Breadth of offering: Can we partner with other
manufacturers to populate important categories that we were
currently underserving, or could we create "destination"
brands that were exclusive to our site? 3. Decision-making support: Can we enlist the community
to help their peers find and choose the right products? Would
a rewards program for assistance be a good incentive? 4. Connection: Can we add live chat or other features to humanize the shopping experience and help the consumer to feel more connected to the brand? SOURCE: Karl Stark and Bill Stewart managing directors and co-founders of Avondale
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DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
Our firm provides the information in this e-newsletter for general guidance only, and does not constitute the provision of legal advice, tax advice, accounting services, investment advice, or professional consulting of any kind. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal, or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a professional adviser who has been provided with all pertinent facts relevant to your particular situation. Tax articles in this e-newsletter are not intended to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding accuracy-related penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. The information is provided "as is," with no assurance or guarantee of completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose.
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Small Business Products
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VANTAGE has a wide range of products designed to sustain Small Business success and growth. These products include: Health Insurance Exchange Group Medical Group Dental / Vision Disability / Critical Illness Business Liability Directors & Officers Errors & Omissions Business Interruption Key Person Insurance Small Business Tool Box Workers' Compensation Employment Practices Lia Employee Theft Commercial Auto AARP Sponsored Auto & Home Umbrella Property Product Liability Start-Up Assistance Legal Assistance Human Resources Marketing Business Planning |
CONTACTS
Please contact one of our
VANTAGE
professionals for assistance:
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