Most companies do not sell material directly to the end user. There are often channel partners in between. But they have realized the importance of various types of consumers because end customers will recognize the commodity as a brand only if they have had an experience with the brand. As a result, companies are trying to have touch points with all types of consumers.

The engagement with the customers happens sometimes even before they start using the product. For instance, building materials companies are getting information from retailers about new construction activity to start in their area and sending handbooks on good construction practices to the house builders. The handbooks also promote a specific brand.

Similarly, when the house builder is doing roof-casting, the companies are sending their technical personnel to supervise the work. At the site, the technical person is also demonstrating how their brand is superior to the customers. A paint company is providing complete house painting as a service. Customers just need to call their customer care and the company sends its personnel with the catalogue for colour selection. After the customer has made his choice, the company arranges for painters to paint the house under their supervision.

It is due to the recognition of importance of consumers that commodities companies are now-a-days participating in trade shows. There is no guarantee of getting any order there but it will increase their brand recall. Company personnel also get an opportunity to interact with the house builders and understand the latent needs of the market. This also gives an opportunity to gather Competitive Intelligence.

Companies are trying to even make the purchasing of the commodity also an experience for the customers. Case in point, Ultratech Building Solutions shoppe, where the customers just don’t get cement only, but also all other building materials like paints, white cement, steel, etc.

It is due to the recognition of the importance of consumers that companies are conducting awareness meetings with the customers, wherein they explain their products’ USP. To incentivize them to taste their product, they are running short-term offers like freebies, scratch cards, etc. Surveys are conducted with the customers to understand the brand’s strengths and weaknesses to get pointers for any course correction if needed. End users are gradually becoming the primary focus for commodity companies and those who realized it first are the brand leaders now.

Types of Consumers

While it is important to recognize the importance of consumers, it is also imperative to understand the types of consumers. Customers come in all shapes and sizes and have to be dealt accordingly.

1. Followers: Most of the customers will fall in this category. They are looking for functional need satisfaction. Their dealings with a brand very transactional. They enquire about the various options available from the retailers or influencers and purchase the best option. They are more influenced by the influencers like masons & retailers, advertisements, celebrity endorsements, etc. If they like the product after usage, they keep this to themselves. If they don’t like a product, they follow up with the company’s customer complaint redressal channel and are satisfied with refund or replacement.
2. Independents: Apart from hearsay, the independent customers also gather information from other sources like online reviews or talking to users known to them. They have more specific functional needs than the followers and compare the various options available in the market on various parameters.
3. Promoters: The promoters are emotional customers. They go an extra mile to actively promote a product if they like it. They will post messages online on why they are liking the product, like social media pages of the company and actively promote the product to their acquaintances/ followers. In case of a dissatisfaction also, they will go an extra mile and do negative propaganda of the product.

Despite a few distinct characteristics of each type of consumer, it is difficult to bucket every consumer in one type. Also, the characteristic changes for different types of products.