Good marketing begins with understanding the person receiving the message. Our coursework on customer personas, DISC communication styles, and See–Think–Do–Care helped us think about how Dee & Dee Brown LLC can communicate more clearly throughout a customer’s journey.
Donnetta’s quiz result: 100% — 50 out of 50 points.
25 questions · Attempt time: 15 minutes, 48 seconds.
The result is a learning milestone. Applying these ideas to our veteran-owned, mother–daughter resale business is the next step.
Customer research helps us create useful messages based on needs rather than assumptions.
Customer Personas: Begin With Evidence
A customer persona is a research-based picture of a customer group. The quiz emphasized actual customer data and target-market research, including surveys, rather than relying only on an owner’s opinions.
The chapter distinguished several kinds of information:
- Demographics: Age, gender, location, and income level.
- Psychographics: Interests, hobbies, and values.
- Pain points: Problems and frustrations a customer wants to address.
- Goals and challenges: What someone wants to accomplish and what makes it difficult.
For Dee & Dee Brown LLC, this means asking what customers need to feel informed about a resale purchase. Do they ask about measurements, condition, fabric, or how an item fits into their wardrobe? Those questions can guide the information we provide.
A possible persona might be a shopper looking for practical clothing within a budget. That is a starting hypothesis, not a finding about our customers. We would need research to determine whether it accurately represents a meaningful group.
The chapter’s Route 66 Marathon example showed how behavior can provide clues: participants in corrals A or B were more likely to be fast runners. The phrase “more likely” matters. A clue supports a hypothesis; it does not describe every person.
How we can apply it: Donnetta and Dominique can review recurring questions together, gather voluntary feedback, and compare different perspectives. As our target market changes, we can update our personas.
Why it matters: A persona helps us decide what information belongs in a listing, post, or customer reply. Research gives those decisions a stronger foundation.
DISC: Consider How a Message Is Received
The course introduced DISC as a way to adapt communication to different customer styles. Dominance was associated with decisive, results-oriented behavior, while Cautious was associated with detail and structure.
The exercise asked students to rank behaviors from most to least characteristic, assigning 4 to the best fit. In that specific exercise, the four columns totaled 100. Those scoring instructions belong to the course activity.
For our business, the useful lesson is to give customers information in a form they can use:
- A direct message: Lead with the answer and the next step.
- A detailed message: Include measurements, condition notes, and relevant explanations.
- A reassuring message: Explain the process clearly and invite questions.
- An engaging message: Use an approachable example that makes the information easier to understand.
The chapter paired “Steady Shelia” with Facebook or LinkedIn and “Dominant Dan” with Instagram and TikTok. These are teaching examples. We should not assume that a communication style determines a person’s platform choice or predicts an exact purchase.
How we can apply it: We can write a concise summary and make the supporting details easy to find. A customer should be able to understand the main point without losing access to the information they need.
Why it matters: Clear communication can accommodate different preferences while treating each customer as an individual. We can adapt our responses to the questions people actually ask.
Clear summaries and useful details help us respond to different customer needs.
See–Think–Do–Care: Match Content to the Customer’s Stage
The framework connects content to what people are ready to do. In the quiz, See represented the broadest audience, Think described people considering solutions, Do described people ready to act, and Care focused on nurturing existing customers.
See — Help people discover us. An informative blog, visual, or short video can introduce our business and the lessons we share. Someone seeing our work for the first time may need context before a purchase request.
Think — Help people evaluate. How-to content, comparisons, case studies, and testimonials can answer questions. For resale, accurate condition descriptions and clear photographs can help someone assess an item.
Do — Make the next step clear. When someone is ready to act, a relevant call to action can point them to the listing or shop. The message should explain where to go without implying that a purchase is guaranteed.
Care — Continue the relationship. After a purchase, useful communication and thoughtful responses can support the customer’s experience. Feedback can also show us where our process needs improvement.
The course described turning loyal customers into brand advocates as a Care-stage goal. Advocacy is earned through the experience people have; it cannot be assumed from a single sale.
Why it matters: Each stage asks a different question. “Who are you?” needs a different answer from “Where can I buy this?” Matching the message to the question helps our content serve a purpose.
Useful content supports discovery, consideration, action, and ongoing customer care.
Our School-to-Business Application
We can begin with one item and one recurring customer question. First, gather evidence about what information is needed. Then write a clear response and decide which stage of the customer journey it supports.
- Research: Review questions about condition, measurements, or materials.
- Communicate: Provide a short answer with the supporting details.
- Connect: Use that information in a relevant post or listing.
- Review: Look for new questions and feedback before revising the approach.
These are practical next steps we can test. We do not need to claim that every customer fits one profile or that one message will produce the same result every time.
Why It Matters Beyond the Quiz
My 50/50 result records what I understood from the assessment. The business value comes from using the lessons to make more informed decisions.
Customer research helps us understand needs. Clear communication helps us explain our work. See–Think–Do–Care helps us choose a useful message for the moment.
For fellow students, resellers, veterans, and small business owners, the connection is practical: learn something, apply it to a real task, and review what happens.
Learning. Applying. Building.
Meet Donnetta and Dominique · Shop our Poshmark closet
Learning source: Donnetta Brown’s supplied quiz results on customer personas, DISC, and See–Think–Do–Care.
Comments
Post a Comment