Business Planning Considerations: Buyer Tastes and Trends

By Steven D. Peterson, Peter E. Jaret, and Barbara Findlay Schenck from Business Plans Kit For Dummies, 3rd Edition

In addition to defining market growth trends, your business plan also needs to address how you’ll deal with changes in the way customers choose, value, and buy products like yours.

If your business serves individual customers, answer each of the following questions three times — once for how customers have typically acted in the recent past, once for how they’re acting under current market conditions, and once for how you believe they’ll act in the near future.

Do customers make purchase decisions on their own or upon the advice of others?
Do they buy on impulse or after careful study and consideration?
Do they pay cash or use credit or payment plans?
Do they seem to place higher value on the prices or the level of your product or service quality?
How frequently do they buy from you, and what is the typical size of their purchases?
Of the products you offer, which ones are in highest demand and why?

If your business serves business clients, answer each of the following questions three times — once for how clients have typically acted in the recent past, once for how they’re acting under current market conditions, and once for how you believe they’ll act in the near future.

Are purchase decisions made by owners, or by operations, finance, technical or marketing managers? Are they made through a central office?
Do purchases require several levels of approval, and how long does the approval process take?
Do clients work exclusively with a single vendor, or do they use multiple suppliers to purchase products like the ones you offer?
Do clients put their purchase orders out for competitive bids, and if so, do they base selections on price, quality, speed, or other factors?
Do clients pay upon delivery or upon invoice, and how long is the typical payment cycle?

In your business plan, summarize how your customers’ purchase habits have and will continue to change and how those changes affect your marketing, sales, operations, and billing systems.