Monday, May 24, 2004

Analysis: Buyers Mindset. Chapter 2

continued....from last post...
Let's assign numbers to the members of this group. That way all actions and reactions can be accurately measured, tabulated, cross-indexed, linked, graphed plus meet the basic scientific standards.
-First Reaction: Link 101: Have you ever been to an industrial auction? If not how about a plant auction? No? Any auction? It doesn't really matter what kind of an auction, but industrial auctions, farm auctions and plant auctions have quite a bit in common.
Let's lay out the scene. We will start from the time you arrive at the auction site. We will ignore all the nightmares it took to get to the auction site....flying-in, car rental or driving time, motels, food etc etc.
The first thing you notice is the number of cars. There is no parking near the auction site. It takes a while to find a parking spot and then walk to the actual auction site. Now comes the registration process. After registration you are given a bidder's number or a paddle with a number on it. You can now bid on anything at the auction up to your credit limit established during registration. You start walking around trying to see all the machines or items that are of interest to you.
The first thing you notice is the number of people...like ants...some in tightly knit groups, some alone....all crawling around every machine or part that is up for auction.
-Observations and Analysis: If you are a rookie to auctions and this is your first time at an auction, you will feel like a fish out-of-water. But relax, you have read Dr. Winder's analysis and you feel quite confident. If you have not read Dr. Winder's analysis with rapt attention, then you should feel like a fish out of water.
The Auction Begins: The auction guys reads out the conditions and terms of the auction and goes over any special conditions and the auction begins....
The crowd comes to life...you can feel the anticipation of the crowd..you can actually see guys drooling....some start to gulp.....then you remember, that day, long ago, when little Tommy pulled out that laffy taffy from his pocket....

Analysis : Buyers Mind set. Chapter one

One of the simplest, yet most difficult concepts to understand is what I call the buyer's mind-set. There are quite a few different types of buyers. These analysis can be applied to just about any shopper, but in this article I will reserve my observations and analysis strictly to buyers of used converting machinery. This begs the question, "Why buy a used piece of equipment versus buying a brand new machine?"
Before we immerse ourselves into the deep, dark, arcane depths of psycho-analysis, let's continue to explore the simple, basic common sense reasons.
Buying is the easiest thing in the world. It doesn't take a genius to buy. Even a four or five year old kid knows how to buy. Give the guy or gal behind the counter a quarter and viola!! you get a piece of candy. This first act of buying sets the stage for the rest of the buyer's life! This simple act, this exchange of currency for a commodity is "imprinted" on the child's mind, forever.(Imprinting 101)
Imprinting step 2: The kids are in school. It's recess time. About six kids are sitting around playing. One of the kids pulls out a piece of laffy-taffy from his pocket and slowly starts to peel off the wrapper....The rest of the gang is watching this....some start to drool, others start to gulp. If you monitor this activity as an independent observer, you will notice that the group as a whole moves closer to the kid opening the wrapper. This is quite subtle, barely perceptible to the untrained eye. Yet, the group dynamics has suddenly changed. The kid opening the candy is now the center of attention.
Imprinting step 3: Now, instead of looking at the group as a whole, let's observe the reaction of the kids one by one....