Your customers! 

So what are the stages of the buyer decision process you ask?  

A simple breakdown by Hubspot define the three stages in the buyer decision process for leads as Awareness, Consideration and Decision stages. 

And again, in graphic form: 

I’m going to halt you there and change this up a notch. We just talked about your business being a person and that person needing some lifelong, soul quenching LOVE. In other words, a Customer Girlfriend to your ‘Smarketing’ Boyfriend.

So let’s get busy understanding your ‘buyer’s decision process’  and adopting some surefire ways to hold their hand along the journey. Get busy getting personal with marketing automation the way Hitch would - through feelings.

The 3 stages to the buyer decision process:

Awareness

A subtle flick of the lashes on the morning tube ride in says “hello, I’ve noticed you”.

The awareness stage of the buyer’s decision is just that: building awareness. They’ve justified a need (hello, single!) and are open to the options that present themselves, without being actively looking. A good example of awareness digital marketing for your business could include a well-crafted blog post, awesome social media post or co-branded event.

What you should be doing:

"How many relationships fail before even making it past the first date?" (click to tweet)

Marketing should be all over this stage of the buyer’s decision - with your brand and business message out there for the taking. If it’s your smarketing boyfriend’s thing to wear memorable cologne, marketing should be all over that ‘lasting subtle impression’ vibe in their efforts.

Great attraction pieces for Marketers:

• blog posts
• podcasts
• ebooks
• social media campaigns
• events

Why not craft an attraction campaign that talks about your industry through the eyes of your ideal customer? Assigning a persona to a campaign hones in the focus, which allows Sales to know who’s coming down the line and prepare the best way to chat to them.  

Consideration

There’s a justifiable reason I’m here and checking you out. I’m at a bar on a Saturday night, with my makeup and hair casual cool, and I’m looking for someone tall, dark and handsome. Is it you?

Did you know that 63% of people requesting information on your company today will not purchase for at least three months – and 20% will take more than 12 months to buy. [Source: Marketing Donut]   

Consideration is the part of your customer’s journey where you become an option. There are more than likely other options - you’re just one of them. Your Customer Girlfriend will need to know plenty about you here, and know that the information they want to find about you is available to them. This girl doesn’t like smokes and mirrors. She’d much prefer you to be using her language to guarantee she’s picking up what you’re putting down.

What you should be doing:

Sales and Marketing — “Smarketing” — should work together to convert awareness  to consideration. Increase Customer Girlfriends interest with CRM marketing automation tools that allow her journey to be gently guided with supportive information.

Essential elements to have in place:

• Service or product pages that clearly outline the features and benefits
• Free offers and tools that cater to their education on you and the product
• Persona-based workflows
• Broad and specific information via email - she might like the bigger picture!

Don’t forget the power of your website UX at this point. The navigation of your site is paramount to the way your Customer Girlfriend gets her information, like the way she’d navigate your brain if it’s a second or third date. No one likes a cryptic person, in the same way no one likes a cryptic site. Your digital presence across social media should be giving her the support to make that decision, holding her hand all the way.

Decision.

The pressure is building - you’re set to meet the parents, and if they approve, the stars will align and you’ll have an actual Customer Girlfriend! She’s just about ready to make it “Facebook Official”.

The decision process is the grand finale before a commitment between Customer Girlfriend and Smarketing Boyfriend get serious - and become a paying customer. At this stage, it’s important that features and benefits are front of the mind. In a relationship, these would be ideal traits, like a sense of humour and want to travel as well as have serious career goals (the trifecta).

What you should be doing:

95% of buyers choose a solution that “Provided them with ample content to help navigate through each stage of the buying process”  [Source: DemandGen Report]

Sales should be taking the lead during the  decision making stage. Marketing’s now done their job and can officially high five themselves and grab a coffee. Sales need to nail their pitch and ensure an awesome experience for Customer Girlfriend, who’s ready to make the commitment. 

Key decision pieces to consider:

• provide pricing information
• confirming the need for the product, while soothing any doubts
• make it easy to make contact with a sales person
• include information about your company values

So, you can see that setting the scene, creating trust and romancing a customer is no different to the beginning of a new relationship. You’re both excited about the possibilities!  

Our love for our customers is the whole reason we exist as businesses, so I say to hell with the term “leads”! Let’s bring back the heart.  Let’s back that language up and start again - this time focusing on how much we LOVE our customers. They’re the reason we all have jobs, AMIRIGHT?

So go and have a SMARKETING team huddle (even if that means you by yourself) and get busy crafting your business love story come buyer decision process from the inside out.

Of course you'll want a handy calculator to create goals you can attach to measure your strategy... It’s as easy as typing in your details below and getting a quick and meeting friendly editable PDF.