When and how to adapt your strategy based on dynamic changes in buyer behavior

You can count on at least one thing in life: change. Sometimes it’s welcomed, like when going gray got sheik. Sometimes it’s not, like when finding a women’s shirt that hits below the belly button became a mission impossible.

Regardless, nothing is immune to change—including your buyers. When it comes to your business strategy, the days of set-it-and-forget-it are so over. That means you absolutely must adapt to survive. But when? And how? Read on.

First thing’s first: this isn’t a time to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. To make smart shifts, you need data (more on that in a minute). And that data will tell you which of these you should do:

• Persist: Stay the course. If it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it based on passing variables like fads. In other words, don’t be a solution in search of a problem.
• Pivot: Adjust when the data indicates you should, not before. Don’t make assumptions or emotional decisions that may send you in the wrong direction.
• Pause: Sometimes you just have to let it go. No matter how attached you are to what you’ve built—and, of course you would be—if the data shows a foundational change that shows no sign of recovery, your offering as you know it must cease to exist.

To see where you need to go, you need to look at where you’ve been. We’re talking about DETAILED monthly sales KPI tracking. There are many noteworthy KPIs, but the following six are particularly important to helping you decide whether there’s an issue and what to do about it.

1. Year-over-year trends. Are there things that happen on a normal sales cycle? For example, maybe there’s a dip in sales every April, so you know you just need to be patient—or persist—when that time comes around.
2. Target market shift: Maybe you’re suddenly getting a lot of calls from new people. Why? Perhaps a market gap has opened and you’re filling it, or maybe there’s a market that isn’t doing well and those clients can’t afford you. Whatever’s happening in the market, it has nothing to do with the product. It’s just not a great market.
   
3. Length of the sales cycle. How long does it take from “hello” to show me the money in your industry? A week? Two weeks? Six months? If you’re noticing a target market with a longer stretch before you have cash in hand, you need to diversify and grab a market that has a faster sales cycle to balance your cash flow.
4. New versus repeat business. While new business is great, repeat business is cheaper to acquire and has more lifetime value through expanded scopes of work. If you’re seeing more new business than repeat business, you may need to change something to get repeat business, assuming that’s reasonable for the target.
5. Conversion rates. These three areas show shifts in buyer behavior:
   • Ratio of marketing qualified leads (opt-ins, social engagement, etc.) to sales marketing leads (conversion to an actual lead). Are you getting the MQLs but not as many conversions?
   • Discovery to initial buy-in. Are your rates plummeting?
   • Repeat business. Is it dropping?
6. Contracting or canceling contracts. Contracts don’t last forever. Cancellations are just the nature of the beast. But pay attention if it’s happening more often. Let me say that again: if it IS happening more often, not if you feel like it’s happening more often. Let the data do the talking.

Capturing all of this data may sound daunting. But it’s a heck of a lot easier with this handy profit indicators worksheet.

So, the data suggests that there is, in fact, something going on. What’s causing it? And how can you mitigate the issue and effect change for the benefit of your client and your business? 

There are two ways to track this.

1. Qualitatively: You perceive that something’s going on, but you don’t have a way to quantify it with hard data. For example:
   • Spoons theory: This falls in the mental health space. We wake up with a certain number of spoons (think of them as motivators). When we’re low on spoons, nothing can replenish them. Not grabbing a latte. Not taking a nap. Not zoning out on Bridgerton for an hour. Sometimes, you just don’t have any spoons (or as some say, zero you-know-whats) left to give that day. Or that week. Or that month. When clients are out of spoons, they look at a project and say, I just can’t. And there’s nothing you can do to move that needle.
   • Decision fatigue: Who among us hasn’t had a day when you simply refuse to “adult.” That’s decision fatigue. The worst thing you can do for clients in this state is give them too many choices. They just can’t. Limit their options to ONLY the best recommended fit and PITCH LIVE, not via email, which they may not even decide to open. Walk them through making a decision.
   • Protect and preserve: If all of a sudden you see a client pull back, they may be thinking, if I don’t move, everything will be ok. Their risk tolerance goes down. Their instinct is to protect and preserve what they already have. And they’re not in a space for growth or taking on one more thing. In this case, offer high-touch support and present a phased approach with a next safe step to minimize perceived risk. When their risk tolerance goes up because you’ve mitigated it, you can work toward a longer contract with a higher price point.
2. Quantitatively: You have the numbers to show what’s different, off, or not doing what you expect. For example:
   • Cash flow and capital: If the client’s aversion is financial, take a phased approach versus pitching an all-inclusive contract. Triage their issues rather than tackling the big picture. Scale down your offerings in levels of workload on your part. Offer do-it-yourself programs instead of do-it-with-you or do-it-for-you options.
   • Time/capacity: In this case, you want to scale UP offerings in levels of workload on your part to take the burden off the client. Offer intensive and focused projects (think do-it-with-you or do-it-for-you) that can be finished in short bursts rather than in long, drawn-out periods.
   • Talent/capability: For clients who want to bring a capability in-house, outsource it to overseas, or use tech and AI integration, build an offer that trains that capability then supervises and maintains it. It’s expensive to train new people in our new world of revolving-door employment, and AI has a steep learning curve. This approach gives the client stability and redundancy to keep their business going.

Learn more about when and how to adjust for buyers’ behaviors or contact us to schedule your personal consultation.