Are You Focusing On Your KNOW Factor?
FACT: Your customers go through a buying pattern before they purchase from you
QUESTION: Do you know what this buying pattern typically looks like?
Think about the last time you began your search for a product or service. I bet you went through the following stages:
KNOW: First of all you had to do “some” activity to find out possible vendors.
Common ways you may have done this include:
* Ask someone
* Google terms on the Internet
* Draw from your memory bank — (maybe you met them, saw an ad or heard them on the radio)
* Draw from your own contacts (you have them in your contact list)
* You searched for them in a directory
Once you have a list of vendors, the next logical step is to check them out to see if you LIKE what they have to say.
Common ways you may do this are:
* Visit their website
* Call them
* Email them
* Ask others about them
* Draw from your memory bank on past interactions with them
So let’s assume you like what they have to say, the final test is do you TRUST that they will deliver on what they say?
Trust can be a toughie, and quite frankly the level of trust required depends mostly on the risk involved in the purchase. In other words, if you see the purchase as low risk, then little trust is involved. But if you are relying heavily on the purchase or it is costly, then TRUST becomes more and more important.
Common ways you gain trust include:
* How familiar you are with the person or company
* What others have to say about the person or company
* Reports or proven facts about the products or services
* Guarantees or Warranties on the product or service
* Demonstrations or proof of their expertise in the market
So Here’s The BIG Question?
Do enough people even KNOW you exist? Think about how many NEW clients or customers you need every year. Let’s say it’s 50. Now think about your conversion rate. Let’s say that for every 10 prospects that call or walk into your store you convert 1 into a new client…that means you now need 500 prospects to contact you somehow. Now think how many need to be checking you out behind the scenes via your website or by asking referral sources and you know that your lead number has to be much larger! At a bare minimum multiply your prospects by 10 and that means you need to be capturing 5000 leads.
How many have you captured to date? In other words, how many are currently in your database that you are staying in regular contact with? If it isn’t meeting your requirement for captured leads, then you need to focus on HOW you are going to capture more!
So stop worrying so much about making your website pretty and start focusing on people finding your website and what you have on it to capture leads. Start getting out from behind the computer and get back to meeting new people and exchanging contact information. Increase promotional activities that include savvy techniques for capturing leads.
In other words focus on capturing and counting your leads FIRST and then SECONDLY improve your ways to build the LIKE and TRUST factors.
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations.
If you would like to build a system to reach those goals quicker, check out Cidnee’s Speak for Leads & Expertise Program.
