A Snippet from the Book

Photo provided by Evan Wright

Please enjoy this snippet from Evan Wright's book, The Art of Saving. You can also follow him on twitter by clicking here.

As a society we celebrate our differences. We all come from different family backgrounds, different ethnic backgrounds, and different financial backgrounds. Another difference that we have is in the way we approach the buying process. Use this buyer zodiac to evaluate what type of buyer you are.
Directions: Read the following descriptions of buyer behaviors, and then see some of the template descriptions referring to different types of buyers to get an idea of where you stand.
Suggestion: This refers to how easy you are to convince as a buyer. If you refuse to buy something until it has been on the market for a long time and you have been able to thoroughly evaluate it, then you are less susceptible to the power of suggestion while buying. If you find yourself considering a product or service the first time you hear about it, then you could be more open to suggestion.
Gatekeepers: The gatekeepers refer to salesman, store employees, managers, etc. Basically, it is anyone who plays a role in getting you to your product or service. You can interact with them as little or as much as you choose. If you interact with gatekeepers at a high level, you will pick the brain of any salesperson for details about products, and you may be known on a first name basis with some of the employees of your local stores. If you interact less with gatekeepers, you tend to gather all knowledge about a product yourself, and you may be a fan of the self-checkout line at your grocery store.
Push or Walk Away: It is inevitable that all buyers will eventually have a sour experience when making a purchase. The important part is how you deal with this adversity. If you have a problem during a purchase, are you understanding and civil, or do you get angry and end up “causing a scene”? Once the issue has been resolved, will you find yourself saying, “I will never set foot in there again”, or are you more willing to give them another chance?
Speed of Shopping: When shopping, are you content to browse and pay attention to every aspect of the buying process, or do you aim to get in, get out, and get going? This is referring to your buying speed on an average day in a familiar store.
Patience: Buyer patience refers to how long you are willing to wait to make a purchase. If you are generally impatient, you will be out the door to buy something the instant you make a decision to purchase it. If you are a patient buyer, you have a less itchy trigger finger and will spend more time researching and waiting for the perfect price and time to buy.
Brand Preference: A buyer with high brand preference usually purchases the same brands from the same stores. If you think you rate high in this you usually have a definitive answer to Pepsi or Coca-Cola, and you only ever buy one make of car. A less habitual buyer is not very loyal to a single brand; he will change what he buys based on other factors such as price or availability.
High or Low: It is very easy to decide if you prefer high or low-end. If you have a preference towards higher-end brands you will save in order to make an expensive purchase for a single item. A buyer who has no problem buying some low-end goods will consider “Oat Circles” when he was initially looking to buy Cheerios.
Buying Enjoyment: A buyer who looks forward to trips to the mall to shop for bargains finds enjoyment in the shopper experience. These buyers may consider shopping to be a hobby and treasured leisure time experience. Buyers who have low shopping enjoyment see shopping as a chore that they rank with mowing the lawn and cleaning the bathroom.
Evaluation
Give your estimate for your rating in each of the different buyer characteristics. Use a scale from 1-5 with one meaning that you are least like that description, and a five meaning that you are most like that description. For poll based characteristics such as push or walk away, or high versus low quality, use 1 for low or push, and 5 for high quality and walk away.
1. Suggestion _____
2. Getkeepers_____
3. Push or walk _____
4. Speed_____
5. Patience_____
6. Preference_____
7. High or Low_____
8. Enjoyment_____