Closing More Business – Understanding the Buyer’s Journey – Consideration/Justification

Apr 11, 2018 Closing More Business – Understanding the Buyer’s Journey – Consideration/Justification

Buyer Gathering Information

In the consideration phase of the Buyer’s Journey, the prospective customer begins to gather more information.  72% of buyers start looking using Google search by typing in some keywords.  So in this phase, you want to make available educational material, customer reviews, testimonials, and be mentioned by influencers relevant to your industry.  You don’t need to be a Marketing Consultant to see that Social media is key for consumer products.  Customers may visit several stores and see the product and gather prices.  In retail, having a great customer experience is most important and will greatly influence the final decision.  In this phase, prospective customers will begin to prioritize their purchase considerations.  Are they looking for style or functionality?  What features are most important?  They begin to eliminate brands or suppliers.  You need to have relevant information available and begin to engage customers.  Asking for an email to get updates about a product or service is a good start.  If you offer white papers, you can request an email to get access, etc.

In this phase, you need to be differentiating your brand and your products.  What do you stand for?  Why should they buy from you?  Which features make your product the best?  You want to be building trust and credibility.  You need to communicate with them with a slow drip of useful information.  Buyers will be self identifying with your brand or product.  Using information from social media, you want to be tailoring your communication.  For products and services sold to corporate customers, you want to provide a justification such as increasing revenue or emphasizing their return on their investment.  Remember, a very high proportion of business customers say that they will find you when they are ready.  This is key.  You want customers to come to you.

Bryan B Mason

Apollo Consulting Group, Providence, RI