ENTR3310 Final Study Guide

What is an End User Profile?

A fictional representation of your target customer, the person who will use your product, answering “Who is your customer?” and guiding product or service design around their needs rather than what you want to sell

End User Characteristics to Identify

Ages, goals, needs, aspirations, behaviors, motivations, interests, and fears, and products or services should be built based on these traits

How to Create an End User Profile

Identify key characteristics such as gender, age, income, location, motivations, heroes, habits (vacation, dining, routines), media consumption, distinguishing traits, and reasons for buying, and tell their story to humanize the user

End User

The individual who will use your product

Decision Maker

Individual(s) who make the decision to buy

Champion (Advocate)

Person who wants the customer to buy

Primary Economic Buyer

Person with authority to spend money

Influencers

Have sway or control over PEB’s decision (Veto Power, etc)

Persona

A detailed representation of a specific customer that explains who they are and what they need or want, providing invaluable insights

Customer Persona

A real person representing your primary target market, providing definitive insights, filling gaps, and correcting misjudgments from the end user profile

How to select a Customer Persona

Choose a real person from your primary research who would pay for or influence the purchase and is willing to engage, involve the whole team, and ask: “If I had only one end user to represent my profile, who would it be?”

Why use a Customer Persona?

Helps guide decisions by showing what the persona would prioritize, serving as a reference when information is lacking and ensuring the organization understands the target customer

How to Build a Customer Persona

Create a fact sheet with: real name, life details (birth, education, family, age), job info (company, experience, training, salary), picture, prioritized purchasing criteria, and any unique traits to fill gaps

Questions We Ask Before Buying

Why this brand, company, product, service, price? Do I trust it?

How Companies Earn Trust

By answering the customer’s unspoken question: “Why choose us?” before it is asked

How People Make Buying Decisions

• Logical: Product specs, warranty, price, color, size, ease of use (tangible & obvious)

• Emotional: Feelings of success, relief, pride, joy, fear (intangible & less visible but equally important)

Customer Value Proposition (CVP)

A marketing statement explaining why a customer should buy a product or service, specifically targeting potential customers rather than employees, partners, or suppliers

Value proposition

A positioning statement that explains the benefit you provide to your target buyer, the problem you solve, and why your company does it uniquely better than alternatives.

Customer Value Proposition – Key Questions

• What value do we deliver to customers?

• Which problems are we helping solve?

• Which needs are we satisfying?

• What bundle of products/services do we offer each segment?

What Makes Us Unique / Creating a CVP

Focus on quantifiable values such as increasing revenue, reducing costs, improving speed or efficiency, enhancing safety, reducing turnover, or boosting retention, while considering customer jobs, problems, and benefits, and prioritize their top needs

Key Considerations for CVP

• Service: Customers value excellent service

• Uniqueness: What makes you different; what only you provide

• Price: Not enough alone; combine with other benefits

Common CVP mistakes

• Vague statements: “unique,” “innovative,” “disruptive,” “advanced technology”

• Benefits aimed at the wrong person

• Benefits the customer doesn’t care about

• Focusing on technical aspects instead of value

• Listing features instead of benefits

Features

Attribute about a product or service

Benefit

The actual results of the product or service