Does your sales process match your customer’s buying process?

From the desk of Roy Furr, Thursday, 4:57 pm

Good sales approaches are rooted in psychology. Specifically, the psychology of the buyer.

Not, “How can we manipulate them to make them buy?”

But, “How can we map our sales process to our customer’s buying process?”

If you get this right, the sales process is simplified. You don’t have to work hard. And the customer doesn’t feel like they’ve been “sold to.” (A huge taboo for today’s savvy consumer.)

So…

Here’s an inside look into your customer’s mind, as they buy from you (or your competitor)…

And how you can map your sales process to your customer’s buying process… and…

Make more sales with less effort!

Step 1 of the buying process: Recognizing the need/want. Neither you or I will be happy about buying something (or even shopping for it) until we know we either need or want it. Neither will our customers. So, if your customer doesn’t know they need or want what you’re offering, the first step is to inform them of the benefits of what you offer. (Or, better yet, find a hungry mob who needs/wants what you’re offering and is ready to pay for it.) Then, once they’ve decided for themselves that this is a need/want they have, they can move into…

Step 2 of the buying process: Getting motivated to buy. Getting motivated to buy happens before buying happens. It’s when you hop in your car to go to the store. It’s when you actually start reading most of the copy in that long sales letter or advertisement. It’s when you look for the order form. But getting motivated doesn’t mean you’ll buy. It just means you’re going to start taking action leading toward the sale, which leads to…

Step 3 of the buying process: The “Do It” Decision. Now you’re in the store, item in hand, heading for the cash register. You’re filling out the order form. You’re calling the sales line. But you haven’t ordered yet. And a sale is a fickle thing. So getting here is no guarantee the sale will be closed, unless things proceed to…

Step 4 of the buying process: The Convincer. Even once you’ve made the “Do It” decision, you haven’t bought yet. You’re just trying the purchase on for size. You’re seeing if it fits you. If it does, the sale is made. If the purchase doesn’t fit you — even though you’ve already made a decision — you could easily back out. Even a mind that’s made up can be changed. But once you’ve been convinced, the sale is final as long as everything happens correctly in…

Step 5 of the buying process: Reassurance. So you recognized a need/want. You became motivated to shop. You found the right product. You convinced yourself (and others may have helped) that this is the right product for you. The decision is final. Maybe. As long as you can be reassured it was the right decision. At this point you may have already bought the item. But… The store does have a return policy. The mail order company does have a 60 day guarantee. So you have to know it was the right decision. You can be reassured by yourself. You can be reassured by the sales person. You can be reassured by your spouse, your friends, your family. But you have to be reassured or the sale isn’t final. Once you are reassured though, the sale is a done deal. You’ve concluded your buying process. The business has completed their sales process. And everything is good.

An important point to consider here is that cash can change hands at any point in this cycle. But the sale isn’t final until the customer has gone through the entire buying process.

And in any selling/buying situation any one of the steps may bleed into the next, or happen so quickly you think it got skipped. Not true. This process happens in every process where someone has to “buy into” an idea, or ownership.

It’s worth paying attention to. It’s worth knowing. It’s worth trying for yourself by integrating into your sales process. And then when you see the results you can send me a thank you card, reassured that this was the right strategy for you.

To your success,

Roy

This entry is filed under Copywriting, Marketing, Persuasion, Sales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.