{"id":766,"date":"2020-07-16T17:27:15","date_gmt":"2020-07-17T00:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/?p=766"},"modified":"2024-11-22T09:23:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T16:23:58","slug":"buyersjourney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/buyersjourney\/","title":{"rendered":"ABCs of the Buyer&#8217;s Journey Hourglass"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/play.ht\/embed\/?article_url=https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/?p=766&#038;voice=Noah\" scrolling=\"no\" height=\"90px\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-2\"><h2>Customer Empathy is Key To Growth<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"fusion-dropcap dropcap dropcap-boxed\">S<\/span>uccessful business growth experts have all along known this, which industry is starting to espouse \u2013 empathize with and deliver value to your prospects and their business you will receive.\u00a0 The adversarial approach of \u201cwinning\u201d or \u201ctaking\u201d prospects\u2019 business will not work in the long-term.\u00a0 Greater communication, democratization, and transparency has assured this.<\/p>\n<p>Central, then, to effectively growing your business is understanding your \u201cBuyer\u2019s Journey\u201d \u2013 not your sales process, but the process your prospects go through when buying your products or services.<\/p>\n<p>The days of selling your multi-million-dollar perpetual licensed software EA (enterprise agreement) and walking away celebrating, \u201cMission Accomplished\u201d are over.\u00a0 If your customers don\u2019t actually implement and use your products, what chance is there that they\u2019ll be happy enough to buy again, let alone recommend you to others?\u00a0 Thus, the \u201cfunnel\u201d has evolved to an hourglass where your happy customers can become immensely valuable sources of growth via a wide range of assistance from \u201csocial proof\u201d to active evangelizing.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s plenty written already about the buyer\u2019s journey now.\u00a0 Below is my \u201cABCs\u201d version to hopefully make it easier to remember the stages.\u00a0 Even at the highest level, you can think of your prospects as going through 3 macro phases: 1) Awaken to the possibility, 2) deciding to Buy, and 3) Communicating their satisfaction to others (word of mouth).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter size-full wp-image-641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"113\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271500%27%20height%3D%27113%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201500%20113%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271500%27%20height%3D%27113%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-200x15.png 200w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-300x23.png 300w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-400x30.png 400w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-600x45.png 600w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-768x58.png 768w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-800x60.png 800w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-1024x77.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-1200x90.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator.png 1500w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h1>Aware<\/h1>\n<p>Most agree a buyer\u2019s journey must start with some level of awareness.\u00a0 If they\u2019re unaware, you can\u2019t really help them.\u00a0 But I see disparity in the subject of awareness; thus, break this into two types:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Brand Awareness: Has the prospect ever heard of your brand (name)? Do they know you or your products even exist, let alone what you do or offer for whom?<\/li>\n<li>Need Awareness: Of course, I use \u201cneed\u201d here broadly as \u201cneed\u201d is relative \u2013 e.g., some products provide additional pleasure rather than eliminate a pain, and one person\u2019s need is another\u2019s nice-to-have. Even if your prospect is aware of your brand or company, awareness of their need is critical path to any sale.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For example, if you sell cars, have your target customers heard of you?\u00a0 Do they know about the category of cars in which you specialize? Do they understand the general benefits?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h1>Bother<\/h1>\n<p>Why should the prospect bother to satisfy this need?\u00a0 Does it pertain them?\u00a0 Is it important enough?\u00a0 Have you conveyed the benefit(s) specific to them?\u00a0 This is one of the reasons why segmentation and appropriate targeting is so important \u2013 so you can tailor your messaging and your offering to a very specific need of a niche group of prospective customers.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For example, prospects may know that electric cars have multiple benefits such as fuel efficiency, low maintenance.\u00a0 Maybe they do not realize how much one could save them (if savings is important enough for them).\u00a0 Once convinced they should bother, then they\u2019ll continue down their buyer\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h1>Collect<\/h1>\n<p>So let\u2019s say they now see why they should bother, how they might benefit.\u00a0 Do they just purchase now?\u00a0 For bigger decision items (e.g., larger consumer purchase, or important enterprise purchase), they\u2019ll likely collect more information \u2013 gathering their own priorities, plus those from family or colleagues, social and pundit recommendations.\u00a0 They\u2019ll research the need, the solutions, competitors, others\u2019 experiences, expert opinions, etc.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Back to the car example, you can imagine a prospective car buyer will list out their (and family\u2019s) priorities, research Kelly Blue Book prices, Consumer Reports, speak to friends, research online, etc.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h1>Decide<\/h1>\n<p>At some point, your prospect will have gathered enough info to start analyzing and evaluating his\/her choices.\u00a0 In fact, this is often iterative and intertwined with collecting information.\u00a0 At some point, there is enough information and analysis to make a decision: whether to buy at all, and if so, which option to buy, perhaps based on conditions such as negotiated price.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>In the car example, s\/he may create their own algorithm for scoring the cars \u2013 e.g., perhaps safety is the most important, and then fuel efficiency.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h1>Explain<\/h1>\n<p>If purchasing for themselves, they may only explain the purchase enough to themselves to feel comfortable making the purchase.\u00a0 However, often, the buyer may need to explain and justify the purchase to parent, spouse, boss, or procurement department.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>In a family, a car can be a major purchase.\u00a0 It\u2019s likely one will have to explain the purchase to a spouse, for example.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h1>Finalize<\/h1>\n<p>This is finalizing the purchase \u2013 e.g., signing contract, issuing a purchase order, or making payment.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For a car, this may be paying for the car in full, or signing a lease agreement.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h1>Go<\/h1>\n<p>This is the first post-purchase step (in the bottom half of the hourglass) where the prospect, now customer, goes and uses their product.\u00a0 If they do not use your product, they cannot become happy customers, cannot become social proof or evangelists.\u00a0 Customer Success staff focus on getting new customers not only up and running, but successful with their products.\u00a0 In the software world, SaaS has made this so much easier than perpetual licenses that may have sat on a shelf and you\u2019d never know.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>After purchasing your new car, the dealer may acquaint (train) you with all the features before letting your drive off to reduce any potential usage frustrations.\u00a0 They may also call you a few weeks later to see if you have any issues or questions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h1>Happy<\/h1>\n<p>Ideally, your customer understands, uses, and is happy with your product.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The car owner hopefully enjoys driving their new car.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h1>Increase<\/h1>\n<p>Your customer is so happy with your product that they increase their consumption.\u00a0 They may use it more, shortening the time to buy another; or they may purchase and use more of your products.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The happy car owner may drive it more or even buy a second one for the family.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h1>Jubilate<\/h1>\n<p>The ultimate destination you could hope for your prospective lead is not only to become a customer but to become an ambassador for your product, company, and brand.\u00a0 They may wear your branded apparel, recommend you to family or friends, or even actively evangelizes espousing your benefits over alternatives.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Your car owner now orders and actually wears apparel with your logo.\u00a0 S\/he creates YouTube videos evaluating and praising your product and company often generating valuable leads at no additional cost to you.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter size-full wp-image-641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"113\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271500%27%20height%3D%27113%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201500%20113%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271500%27%20height%3D%27113%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-200x15.png 200w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-300x23.png 300w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-400x30.png 400w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-600x45.png 600w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-768x58.png 768w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-800x60.png 800w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-1024x77.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator-1200x90.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Samirs-Medium-Separator.png 1500w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For ages, sales teams have focused on optimizing their &#8220;sales funnel.&#8221;\u00a0 Marketing, Sales, in fact, the entire company would be well served to immerse themselves in their prospective customers&#8217; buyers journeys.\u00a0 Depending on your business, different segments or roles within a buying process may have different steps in their journey.\u00a0 Optimizing your business for growth and profitability has much to do with reducing friction and in fact helping your prospects through each step of their buyer&#8217;s journey.\u00a0 Hopefully, this hourglass and simple ABCs will help you remember the typical steps (feel free to customize for your business) and remember the importance of the post-sale bottom half of the hourglass&#8230;customer success.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s very rewarding if you find any of this useful, so please let me know.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-salesandmarketing","category-startups"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1496,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions\/1496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghosh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}