Have you ever been involved in a high-consideration buying decision? Consider a time where you were purchasing a product or service, for personal or business reasons, where:
- It was something you’d never purchased before or only infrequently
- You looked at multiple providers and solution options
- The options were a little confusing and difficult to compare
- There was some risk involved making the “wrong decision” (and having to live with it)
- More than one individual was involved in the buying decision
Examples of high-consideration buying decisions include buying a car, choosing a vacation destination, or purchasing a new home. In a business environment, they include buying enterprise software, choosing a professional services firm to work with, or purchasing capital equipment are all examples of high consideration buying decisions.
Buyers involved in these types of buying decisions are anxious, so they need a provider that instills deep confidence that all the outcomes they desire will be achieved (assure the upside) and that nothing will go wrong (diminish the downside risk). They are looking for a provider that they TRUST — one that understands the outcomes they desire but also knows their fears, clearly articulates capabilities that address them, and faithfully guides them into making a buying decision that will help their organization and themselves.
If you doubt this, reference Matthew Dixon’s and Ted McKenna’s recent book, The JOLT Effect, How High Performers Overcome Indecision, where they analyzed over 2.5 million sales calls (recorded during the COVID pandemic where these calls took place virtually) and determined that the No. 1 reason buyers don’t buy is NOT because they prefer the status quo. Instead, over half the time, buyers don’t buy because they’re fearful of messing up. They are hesitant to “rock the boat” and risk making a poor decision.
Marketing High-Consideration Products and Services
For marketers and sellers trying to influence high-consideration buyers, this realization has two huge implications:
- Benefit-focused messaging has a shelf-life in the sales process. It’s important to understand your buyer’s desired outcomes early on, because it communicates to buyers that you know their challenges and can help alleviate them, which helps you get into their initial consideration set. But at some point, continuing to push benefits is counterproductive. At later stages in their journey, buyers crave details and objective evidence that your solution can actually deliver on the promises you’re making and give them the confidence and assurances they seek.
- Approaches and messages that specifically tackle a buyer’s fears can be highly effective in the later stages of the sales cycle. Once a buyer decides something should be done, you have a perfect opportunity to differentiate yourself by taking an alternative approach. This is a time to confront the things that buyers get hung up on and boost their confidence that your capabilities won’t let them down. Aim to be the company that confronts the buyer’s fears about choosing incorrectly.
Modern Buyer Personas Eliminates All the Guessing in Your Marketing
A modern Buyer Persona, developed from interviews with individuals who have recently made the exact buying decision that you’re trying to influence, is uniquely capable of informing your marketing strategy during both the initial and later stages of the sales cycle.
This is not just a fictional archetype of an individual or role involved in the buying decision. A modern buyer persona reveals everything your buyers need to know and experience to have confidence in buying from you. It is authentic and actionable because it’s based on the mindset and steps that real buyers had as they identified options to address a particular need, winnowed down their alternatives, and made a final decision.
Based on the 5 Rings of Buying InsightTM, here are the insights that a useful buyer persona should include:
- Priority Initiatives and Success Factors reveal the most compelling reason(s) that buyers begin to look for a solution like yours and the results they want from that investment.Use these insights to connect with buyers early on in the sales process by demonstrating you understand their needs and expectations.
- Perceive Barriers and Decision Criteria reveal the concerns that buyers have about making the investment, or making it with you, and the decision criteria they use to evaluate solution alternatives. Use these insights to directly address the questions and fears buyers have, particularly in the later stages of the buying decision when buyer are the most anxious.
- Buyer’s Journey will tell you who to target, where to target them, and how.
Interview Recent Buyers to Develop Your Personas
The importance of developing your buyer persona based on interviews with recent buyers cannot be overstated. Dixon and McKenna emphasize the stealthy nature of buyer fears, as they often remain unvoiced. Marketers can only pinpoint these concerns accurately by engaging in interviews with recent buyers. Otherwise, these anxieties could potentially immobilize prospective customers and obstruct sales.
“A big part of the challenge for salespeople—and one of the main reasons indecision has gone unrecognized for so long—is that it is difficult for a salesperson to detect in a conversation… Because it’s rooted in personal fears, it’s something customers either don’t feel comfortable admitting to or, more likely, are unaware is even affecting them and preventing them from making progress.” — The JOLT Effect, How High Performers Overcome Indecision
Interviews with recent buyers is important for several reasons:
- Recent buyers aren’t speculating about their thoughts and actions during their purchasing process. Having just experienced it, they can provide you with all the essential details confidently and precisely. As one marketing executive, who advocates for this strategy, recently said, “It’s like getting the answers before the test!”
- Recent buyers encompass the entirety of the market you aim to reach. They embody the opportunities that might be overlooked or captured by competitors. Therefore, the insights they offer provide a comprehensive understanding, ensuring no crucial perspectives are overlooked.
- Conducting interviews with recent buyers yields the buyer quotes essential for crafting your persona. These quotes offer your organization direct access to the authentic voice of buyers, providing invaluable insights. They infuse depth, richness, and a profound level of understanding that is unparalleled. It’s this depth of comprehension that paves the way for groundbreaking strategies, content, and messaging.
- Conducting interviews with recent buyers enhances the authenticity of your buyer persona and fosters alignment among your marketing, sales, and product teams, ensuring a unified understanding. By integrating buying insights with real buyer quotes, the credibility of your Buyer Persona becomes evident to all stakeholders.
With the ongoing surge in competitive options and information availability, buyers are increasingly apprehensive about their purchasing choices. Marketers who cultivate Buyer Persona insights to craft strategies and messaging closely attuned to buyer needs and concerns will be best positioned to garner trust and secure their business.