Bear with me for a moment, please. Here’s a couple of questions:
Did you wake up this morning and decide that – today – you’re going out to buy a new bed?
Or a new washing machine?
Or a new car?
Chances are, you didn’t.
You see, at any given time, only a small percentage of people are actively looking to buy a particular product. Let’s say it’s around 3%. That means the other 97% aren’t currently in the market.
But does that mean they’re not interested in buying? Of course not.
Some might already be imagining what a beautifully designed new kitchen could bring to their home. Others might be planning a renovation, considering an extension or thinking about how they’d like to transform their living space.
And others might be a year or two away from making a decision.
In other words, you’ve got your Today Customers, who are actively looking to buy a kitchen, and your Tomorrow Customers, who aren’t in the market right now but will be at some point in the future.
And the important thing to recognise is that your Tomorrow Customers aren’t standing still. They’re gradually moving closer to becoming your Today Customers, whether that’s in a few weeks, a few months or a few years.
Your Tomorrow Customers are a far larger group, which means they’re far more valuable to you.
Yet many independent kitchen retailers invest considerably more effort in reaching the relatively small number of people who are ready to buy today.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with that. Generating enquiries and making sales today is essential to keeping your business moving forward.
But if you’re concentrating too heavily on that 3%, you’re potentially overlooking a much bigger group of people who will gradually move into the market over the coming months and years.
And particularly when it comes to premium kitchens, where people can spend a considerable amount of time thinking, planning and researching before making their first enquiry, that’s an important consideration.
The most effective kitchen businesses recognise that they need two ongoing marketing efforts.
One that reaches your Today Customers, giving them compelling reasons to take the next step, whether that’s making an enquiry or visiting your showroom.
And another that reaches your Tomorrow Customers, building awareness, familiarity and trust, so that when they’re eventually ready to buy, your business is already one they’re thinking about.
Because marketing that generates enquiries and sales today is important. Of course it is.
But if it isn’t complemented by marketing that reaches the much larger audience of future buyers, you’re potentially limiting the long-term growth of your business.
Your Today Customers are important to your business today. But your Tomorrow Customers are where the much bigger opportunity lies.