BUYER PERSONA MARLENE: Marlene is a 75-year-old widow, with good cognition and memory, but declining physical health. She has accepted her daughter and son-in-law’s invitation to move in with them, but wants to explore senior services available in her area in case she needs care that goes beyond what her family can provide.
In previous posts we stepped through the first two phases of Marlene’s “Buyer Journey” for her senior health care needs: the Awareness Phase and the Consideration Phase. In those phases, Marlene experienced your organization as a trusted source of helpful information about senior care options and decisions. Along the way, without any explicit selling on your part, she became aware of some of the services your organization offers.
Today, we’ll talk about the Decision Phase, in which Marlene chooses to take advantage of a particular solution.
THE DECISION PHASE
Marlene had already made one decision—to live with her daughter and son-in-law. But should she tap into any of the other resources she learned about during the Consideration phase—perhaps the new County Recreation Center, or physical therapy services?
In the decision phase, Marlene digs deeper. She has an evaluation by a physical therapist who, to Marlene’s delight, says that, for now, she simply needs to stay as active as possible. Next, she visits the County Recreation Center and loves it! She immediately joins the weekly Water Exercise Class for Seniors. Finally, she tours your spectrum-of-care retirement center that her friend, Anita, just moved into. She likes the staff, and is impressed with the facilities. Though she’s happy she is living with family, she is glad to know about the Assisted Living services offered there, in case she needs them down the road; and she has requested to be added to their Newsletter mailing list.
NO HARD LINES
As you look at the three phases of the Buyer’s Journey, you can see that there are no hard lines between phases. You’re educating Marlene throughout the process, and this puts your organization on the map of potential solutions for Marlene and friends she might speak with, now or in the future.
But your mindset in the first two phases is to not market or advertise your services. Rather, it is to serve Marlene by providing education and insights that benefit her and the community as a whole. This helps all of the “Marlenes” out there—and their family members—make good, educated decisions during an often challenging period of their lives.
In a future post, we’ll look at one more, often un-identified, phase in the Buyer’s Journey, Pre-awareness.
Meanwhile, if you have questions about how to leverage your Brand to achieve your sales and marketing goals, please contact me at dhart@movecommunications.com.
