The Simplest "Buyers Journey" I've Found

Especially for you ‘impatience addicts’ it’s VERY important to understand how people and teams buy. They don’t leap from a) “oh I see an email from you” to b) “gotta buy this!”

(And if they are the ‘impulsive buyer that actually does dot hat, it’s a red flag because it means they don’t really know what they’re getting into…so say hello to Mr. Attrition.)

People go through a “buyers journey” (whether it takes five seconds, five months or five years) which is unconscious, and here’s the simplest way I’ve found to describe it:

Awareness: “What is this?”
Understanding: “Does this make sense?”
Belief: “Do I believe you and your claims?”
Action: “What can/should I do next?”

For example, let’s say you sell an inbound marketing product. Most companies still are new to inbound marketing, and unsure what it is or if it’s relevant to them. There are actually two buyers journeys here, 1) first buying the idea of inbound marketing, and then 2) buying your product and what it can do for them.

Let’s expand that example: if you’re speaking with a prospect who is new to the idea of inbound marketing, nothing’s going to happen with them until 1) they’re aware of the idea of inbound marketing, 2) understand how it can help, 3) believe it’s relevant to them, and 4) is ready to take action on inbound marketing.

THEN, they aren’t buying your product until they 1) are aware you have a product, 2) understand how it can help, 3) believesin both your product and in their ability to be successful with it, and 4) are ready to take action on getting started.

Sidenote on the belief step: a lot of companies may believe your product can help other companies…but they don’t believe in their own ability to be successful with it, often because they’ve failed with so many other projects (who hasn’t?) Help prospects believe in their own ability to benefit from your stuff.