What Every Sales Person Should Know about the Buyer’s Journey

You may have heard people say people are ready to buy when they are ready to buy–not when you’re ready to sell to them. This is correct, but does that mean you are at the mercy of the prospect to make a sale? Of course not. Every buyer goes on a buyer’s journey. Some people move quickly through that journey, while some move slowly, but with information, contact, and education, you can greatly influence that journey and ultimately get more customers.
All prospects go through the following three phases.

1. Awareness

In this phase, buyers don’t even know you exist, so they can’t know what your product or service is or if they even need what you sell. It is your job to find these people (they are called prospects) so you can let them know that you exist, who you are and what you do. At this stage of the game, you are simply generating leads with a goal of getting some of those prospects to raise their hands and express some interest in your company, product and service. When you’re creating this lead magnet or content to attract these prospects, you want to focus on helping your prospect solve a problem they have. Once someone’s opted in, they’ve taken the first step.

2. Consideration

In this stage, the prospect now has an awareness of you and your company, but they still aren’t ready to buy because they need more information. In years past, prospects got all of that information from salespeople, but now, thanks to the internet, buyers do not need to chat with a salesperson to learn more. But that does not mean you shouldn’t be trying to get your information into their hands early and often. Make sure this information is focused on helping them answer the questions they have. It should show them additional pain points your product or service is able to solve; it should tell them about the benefits; and it should enlighten them to the features of the product or service.
The consideration phase can literally last days, weeks, months, or even years. It is all dependent on you, your follow-up, and the needs of the prospect.

3. Decision

Once your company is on the short list for a buying decision, the prospect’s purchase comes down to simple verification of facts or terms and last-minute negotiations or next steps/setup types of questions. Answer these questions well, and you’re on your way to having a brand-new customer.

By focusing on campaigns that will help you walk each new prospect through their decision-making process, you will be better positioned to not only be on the short list come decision time but to be the company that wins the customer at the end of the day.

Unfortunately, getting a new customer is only half the battle. Once you’ve acquired your new customers, your job becomes turning them into loyal, repeat customers. At the end of the day, there’s no point in acquiring a new customer if you can’t keep them and ultimately turn a profit.