Last week I became unwitting victim of latest Internet scam.

I own and operate 3 affiliate programs and as such am used to receiving and filing order confirmation emails all day long. I was noticing a recently registered affiliate (overseas) for EZineMoney.net was really racking up sales.

Much to my delight, I emailed to congratulate him on his success. Next day, four chargebacks in mail, all attributable to his sales/reseller site. Two cards, both charged twice with different Order Names. Then, phone started ringing with other people who did NOT order my ebook that had EZineMoney.net charges on their credit card statements.

Now, what I *should* have noticed with each/most of these orders was following:

1. Order Name and Name on Card were different.

2. Email addresses of customers were *strange* and often similar in nature ie: fmam@famfdma.net, fasdm@fmasdfm.com, mfa@mfdamfai.com, or, this: juansmithjtiti@yajhin.com. Of course, these don't exist.

3. None of these *customers* bothered to register for reseller program after ordering. About 75% of real customers do.

When fraud hit fan, I called a well-known competitor for his advice, and I wasn't two sentences into my explanation when he stated in no uncertain terms - fraud! He then told me to watch out for an email from this guy "almost begging" for his commissions check. No more than half an hour later, that *desperate* email graced my inbox! See, this astute marketer had been hit with this scheme recently.

Now, what makes this all more ludicrous, is this thieving reseller was using stolen credit card information JUST to receive his commissions a month or more later! I mean, how low-percentage can you get?

Oh silly me, here I was congratulating an active reseller and he must have been laughing his lyin' derriere off at my naivety! However, last laugh was on him, as his site was deleted, and, his HUGE commission check NOT written! Not surprisingly, when I informed him of deletion of his site and withholding of his commissions, he had parts to reply with following:

"all i can say that is not unfair and i will see a way to get my rights and my money. Best regards".

Double negative aside,"Best regards" my butt!

The story gets worse though. Shortly after undertaking a lengthy audit of orders, I came across my good friends friend, who registered under him of course, and voila!, a ton of fraudulent orders there. Migraine-bound at this point, I discover a third and fourth participant!

Yet, while most businesses say that customer is an important part of their business, their actions do not support their words.

Many companies spend most of their marketing dollars trying to attract new customers, leaving their existing, loyal customers fending for themselves. Did you know it is five times more expensive to obtain a new customer than it is to satisfy your existing customer?

Worse still, some do not treat their customer complaints seriously enough.

To run a successful business, you must have in-depth knowledge of who your core customers are and their evolving wants and needs.

There are several key areas that need to be evaluated, in order to understand your customers.

What Benefits are your Customers Buying?

Customers do not purchase features or products, they purchase benefits. Consumers don’t buy laundry powder, they purchase goods that make their whites brighter, save them time in laundry and remove stains. Likewise, they don’t purchase televisions, but home entertainment boxes for family unity.

Similarly, people rarely make purchases based on rational, logical thought. Instead, they purchase products and services based on emotional reasons. Then, they rationalise their emotional desires with logic.

Interpreting buying behaviour can be complex due to myriad of emotional and rational factors that are used in purchase decision process. It is important to unravel this complexity in order to profit from it. You need to find out, from customer’s point of view, what exactly it is they are buying. This will enable you to sell emotional benefits to your current and potential customers and produce innovative products desired by your customers.

What Types of People are Buying your Products/Service?

Some crucial factors that affect purchasing behaviour are personal characteristics of consumer. These are demographics (eg: age, gender, occupational status) and psychographics (eg: preferred recreational activities, level of spending on clothes).