Someone stumbles across your site. Your amazing content catches their eye, and they dig further into learning more about who you are. A half-formed idea floats across their mind along the lines of “maybe I’d like to buy something here.”
Now here’s the part where things get interesting: your product or service is about to get sized up.
It’s uncomfortable feeling like we have to measure up to someone else’s expectations. This can be a humbling experience when you are selling something because you wonder why people don’t like you (and usually “like” in your mind = the number of times someone clicks the “buy” button).
In working with clients over the years, I’ve discovered there are 4 levers that they use as they consider making a buying decision. When these 4 things are in perfect alignment, the decision is easy.
And usually one lever is more important than the others, so it’s important to have clarity around the needs of your specific audience because you definitely want that lever positioned just right.
Here’s how your prospect is evaluating your offering:
- Price: Unless there is a budget of millions of dollars (and even then) price is going to be taken into account. You want your pricepoint to at least fall in line with the acceptable price range that they have in mind.
- Product: You have to make it is simple to understand how your product or service makes your prospect’s life better. Features are great to know, but benefits are key. And skip the fancy lingo– nobody wants to feel like they are reading a user’s manual.
- Process: You have to address this from a dual perspective: what’s the process for buying the product, and what does their life look like after the sale? Hold their hand and write your FAQs from the lowest common denominator. Don’t assume that all levels of understanding and skills sets are the same.
- People: People buy from other people that they know, like and trust. Even more importantly, they buy from people that other people know, like and trust. Testimonials and referrals are gold and a personalized touch can go a long way towards building your credibility.
You can dial any one of these levers up or down depending on your audience’s needs. But you need to address each one as part of your overall message to make them comfortable clicking that “Buy” button.
We’ll spend some time over the next few blog posts digging into each one of these levers in more detail, so be sure to stop back again!
(photo credit flattop341)
You might consider adding a fifth lever: “Community.” (It doesn’t start with “P,” though…) Your fourth lever, “People,” almost touches on this, but not quite. Isolated testimonials and referrals are definitely valuable in impacting buying decisions, but so are interactions between individuals—comments on comments in a social network, for example. In fact, from a B2B perspective, a positive (or—for that matter—a negative) comment about a product/service in a LinkedIn group can have more impact on my buying decision than a well-written testimonial posted on a corporate website by someone I don’t know—simply because I’ve regularly “followed” the LinkedIn member’s comments in the group over a period of time and respect his/her expertise. This—and the fact that B2B buyers are generally well-educated about their buying options before their first interaction with a sales rep—is why it’s so important to have a deep social footprint and a findable, active and responsive online presence. Note: The views expressed in this posting are my own; they do not necessarily represent the positions, strategies, or opinions of Hoover’s.