Last Sunday my wife and I went shopping for a couple of armchairs for our new sitting room. We had decided the room needed a make-over as it was one we rarely used and could be put to better use. We settled on another sitting room (no TV allowed) to create a comfortable space for reading and listening to
music.
Now shopping is one of my least favourite activities (unless it involves selecting an item on Amazon and having it delivered the next day) but on this occasion it required my input as it involved ensuring the items purchased were practical and comfortable and not just pleasing to look at (which wasn’t on my list of criteria at all).
Now what does this have to do with running an entrepreneurial business? Well as it turned out it was very instructive about how – as customers – we make buying decisions.
It all comes down to a combination of emotional and logical decision making and if you don’t understand the various stage a buyer goes through then you could well end up
losing out to a competitor.
Here are the five stages we went through: awareness, interest, evaluation, testing and finally the purchase. Each has its own characteristics.
- Awareness was easy but largely driven by how we felt rather than logic; a nearby retail park has a least 5 furniture stores,
it’s easy to park and meant not having to find parking and walk between several city centre stores. Don’t try and convince me it’s more logical to carry out detailed research online and then visit stores in several different locations; it felt better going somewhere where the stress level would be low. This is why the way you attract customers - and the time you have to do it - has to be easy and quick. If its online you have 7 seconds!
- Interest was less emotional but still a factor; as we walked into the stores how welcoming did they feel, were the staff friendly, did they offer coffee (one store even had cookies)? I know, makes no sense at all, but I must admit to walking in and straight out of one (heavily advertised) store because it didn’t feel right. Is your website doing that to prospects? Do you do all the hard work to get them to your site then
they bounce straight out?
- Evaluation and its now all about logic. I want to see and – next step – test the products that meet my criteria. Don’t appeal to my emotional side or you’ll seem evasive by not switching to logic when I have and answering my questions. Ask me what my criteria, budget, must and mustn’t haves and preferences are and show me exactly what you’ve got that meet those criteria.
And you’d better know the answers without having to go ask someone.
- Testing the product, for me, is still all about logic (that’s why you needed to know my preferences). If the chairs have to be well stitched leather that won't slide that is a logical test. You can now ask me: is it comfortable, is it the right height, will it be comfortable when you are reading and so on. Do you offer a 'test
before you buy option'?
- Purchasing, interestingly, reverts back to emotion and is a stage at which many sellers get confused. They think it’s all over! Far from it. I now want to feel good about my decision. Once you’ve ticked my logical boxes and I’ve switched back to emotion you need to recognise it and validate my decision.
And these are the stages your buyers will go through. Does your process recognise these stages and have a system for each one?
There are two more elements to the buying decision that come into play and need to be understood. These are risk and trust. The greater the risk (or value) of the purchase the longer the buying process; we need to feel
that we have given the buying decision proper attention. This is interesting because even when we have completely bought in emotionally to the purchase we will often slow down the actual purchase itself to show that we are being rational.
Trust is equally important and explains why people often choose a brand or are willing to pay more for something from a company they already trust than from one
they haven’t heard of. (in reality very few purchases are made solely on price).
This process is why you may have heard the phrase ‘sell the next step’. Letting your buyers move through the process at their own speed gives them a sense of control. The key is to make sure that one step leads to another, you leave the buyer wanting a little more at each stage and you recognise as
they move through the stages and adjust your selling style (emotional/logical) accordingly. Once a buyer’s brain has moved into a logical gear answering with an emotional response makes you sound evasive.
So after 3 hours, 5 stores and a great many chairs tested we settled on the ones we wanted; what to me was interesting was that we bought from a store that doesn’t pay its staff commission and
yet the same assistant stayed with us throughout the process, was extremely knowledgeable about the product and recognised as soon as we had moved from testing to purchasing and changed her approach immediately. Must have been some training going on there!
Is your sales process as good?
Noel
Guilford
Noel Guilford is the principal of Guilford Accounting a small business accountancy practice specialising in advising owner-managed businesses on current accounting, finance, and tax matters. You can reach him via email at noel@guilfordaccounting.co.uk or by phone at 01244 660866. He is the author of the best selling book 'Figure it out - an entrepreneurs guide to understanding your business numbers' which you can obtain by visiting http://guilfordaccounting.co.uk.