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So how can you begin to move your potential customers across
Purchase Chasm™?
Step 1 - Awareness and Knowledge: Before someone can purchase your product or service they must be aware of it. They must also be able to picture in their minds problems service will solve for them. And that picture must be enticing enough to motivate them to take that first step. At this phase your objective is to make your potential customers aware of your services and give them knowledge about benefits they will gain from working with you. This is generally done through activities where you can reach a large number of people at one time. A major goal at this stage is to collect contact information so you can continue to provide information to help these prospective clients move across Purchase Chasm™.
Step 2 - Liking and Preference: Awareness alone is not enough. Potential customers must also have a positive disposition regarding your services. During this phase it is important to maintain consistent contact. Consistency builds credibility. You also want to let prospective clients “sample” your service in order to minimize perceived risk of purchase. You can do this by sending out a regular newsletter (e-mail or hardcopy); sending out a monthly tip related to service you provide; offering free or low cost introductory trainings; participating in selected networking events on a regular basis; and offering teleclasses. The important thing is that you are consistently in contact with these potential clients. After all, you don’t want to leave them out on middle of ladder over a deep chasm without a guide.
Step 3 - Conviction and Purchase: The final step in process is getting those potential customers who have begun journey across chasm to actually make decision to purchase. Now it is time to sell. And if you have developed a relationship with potential client throughout their journey, this step should be as simple as reaching out to take their hand as they reach end of ladder, reassuring them they have made right decision by embarking on journey and asking when they would like to get started. At this point, it is critical that you ask them for their business. If you don’t, they will wonder why you had them take journey. They’ll feel like person in appliance superstore who is ready to make a purchase and can’t find a salesperson.
It may take as many as five to 15 exposures to your product or service for a potential client to move through process and cross Purchase Chasm™ from lead to loyal customer. The key is to build those exposures so each one matches level of process where potential customer currently is (i.e. direct mass media activities to potential customers in awareness phase and use personal selling with prospects in conviction and purchase phase).
Writing, speaking and networking are activities that many coaches and consultants enjoy. By systematically using these activities as marketing tools you reduce time you actually have to spend selling, you focus your selling activities to people who are actually ready to buy, and it becomes a natural ending to relationship building process.
© 2004 STRATEGIES-BY-DESIGN. May be reprinted with credits and contact information
Julie Chance is president of Strategies-by-Design, provides a unique combination of consulting, coaching and training to help clients improve the return on their investment in marketing and promotional activities. For more information or to sign-up for their marketing tips newsletter, go to www.strategies-by-design.com or call 972-701-9311.
