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How To Increase Your Sales By 300% Or More, Raise your prices by 30% and get customers
to buy from you effortlessly and at FULL price. Thatís what weíll answer in todayís video.
Hi, Iím Dillon with Social Media Top Team.
We help business owners grow their business to the next level by leveraging social media,
internet and high performance marketing strategies.
Ok,letís get right to Todayís small business coaching tip. Many small business owners wanna
grow their small business yet they struggle because they can't get NEW customers on a
consistent basis. They also lose the majority of their customers to their competition. Part
of it is because they donít address the buyerís spectrum that we covered in last weekís video.
Weíll provide a link to it in the description below this video.
Yet the 2nd reason why is because they do not address todayís small business coaching
strategy...what we call ëthe 6 stages of the customer buying cycleí. This phenomenon
is what ALL potential customers go through BEFORE they buy what you sell.
The 6 stages of the customer buying cycle can span over a matter of minutes to a matter
of months or even years. 1 person might need 3 months to decide to buy from you, while
someone else will only make few minutes. Regardless, both of them go through the same six stages
of the customer buying cycle. ALWAYS! Letís take a closer look.
The 6 Stages of the Customer Buying Cycle. The customer buying cycle has 6 stages Interest,
Options, Research, Decision, Exclude,and Purchase
So, let's take a look at Stage1. Stage 1) Interest. The prospective client has an interest,
need or want. What happen is when your prospective client or potential client. They suddenly
realize that they have a problem, a want or a need. For example, letís say they realize
that they have a leaking roof on their house. So they go to...
Stage 2) Options: Now this stage, the prospective client starts to consider various solution
options & gathering information on an informal basis. They also ask friends & associates
for referrals
Solution options are any other options that your prospects have for solving their problem
including ones other than buying your service. It could be a do-it-yourself solution, it
could be a software solution, etc. So, let's say If youíre an accountant that does taxes,
their solution options could be to do their own taxes, have a friend do it, buy tax software
or go to a tax preparer. If youíre a caterer, their solution options could be catering the
event themselves, or going to the deli at the local supermarket, or the local pizza
restaurant or hiring a caterer. You get the idea.
In this example, their solution options are doing nothing, fixing the roof themselves,
hiring an unlicensed uninsured handyman named Squiggy to fix it for cheap, or hire a licensed
& insured roofing company with a good reputation who also stands by their warranty.
They then gather light information like picking up a flyer at the local supermarket or saving
postcards that they receive in the mail, ads, cutting out ads they see in the newspaper.
They even ask friends and associates if they can recommend someone.
And this takes us to:
Stage 3) The Research Stage: The prospective client at this stage does their heavy duty
research
This is when theyíre searching online visiting different companies websites, calling the
postcards and flyers that they gathered in the phase 2 options stage. They call up companies
JUST TO GET SOME INFORMATION from them not to BUY! They may even request to have you
send information sent to them.
Most companies miss out on this stage because they are not marketing themselves in the precise
mediums that their potential customers are searching for them in. Thatís why you MUST
know where and how your customerís search for you and find you and implement these into
your businessís marketing blend.
So if they search for businesses like yours in business magazines, you should be there.
If they search for you in certain types of online business directories, like these then
you should be there. If they search for you in the search engines, then again, roofing
companies miami, they may find you this way then you need to be there. They search for
you in Craigslist, you know then that's where you want to be and you wanna have all these
things in your marketing blend so you get the idea.
Otherwise none of this really applies to you because you have NO CHANCE of even getting
this customer. Youíve already eliminated yourself from the running!
So after the potential customer does their heavy research they go to..
Stage 4) and stage 4 is the Decision Stage: And this is where the prospective client makes
the decision to buy your solution yet not necessarily who to buy it from.
So staying with the roofing example, the potential customer has decided not to go with the solution
options of fixing it themselves, doing nothing or hiring Squiggy. They decide to go with
a licensed, insured roofing company. Yet they havenít decided which roofing company to
go with.
This takes us to...
Stage 5) The Exclude Stage: And this stage, the prospective client shops and compares
different vendors. And they wait for the timing to be right.
And this is when they look VERY, VERY closely at all of the information and marketing materials
that they gathered in stage 3 from each company that they talked to. Some companies may have
mailed them information, others emailed them information and even others may have simply
told them to visit their website. By the way, potential customers DO write down what you
say in person and on the phone, so bear that in mind when you and your sales team talk
to them.
This is the 2nd place where many companies lose out.This stage here, stage 5. When potential
customers are comparing the information and marketing materials from the different companies
that they spoke with, if your marketing looks and says the exact same thing as all of the
other companies in your industry, then youíll suffer from what we call ëThe carbon copy
scenarioí. Like these 2 companies here. You see here two roofing companies. Let's take
a quick look at this, we're gonna cover "The Carbon Copy Scenario" more the next video.
If you could see, look at their websites you know, Los Angeles Roofing company here are
services roof installation, been in business for 20 years and blah blah blah, alright.
And then will look the other one. To tell the different company, All American Roofing.
You know, about us, built up roofing, been in business since 1986 blah blah blah.
So, what happens is 'The Carbon Copy Scenario" is the consumer's inability to determine whether
any of the companies theyíre considering are any different, better or worse than any
of the others. Since all of their marketing is underdeveloped, underleveraged and essentially
says the exact same thing, the only difference the customer can determine isÖthe price!
As a result, many small business owners are forced to compete on price, which is always
a losing proposition for you. There's always someone in business wanna grow faster than
you are, by discounting their prices. Yet again weíll cover the The Carbon Copy Scenario
and more importantly how to fix it, in the next video.
So whichever companyís marketing materials are able to separate them from their competition
and make themselves the obvious choice to do business with, they'll stand head and shoulders
above all of the other companies that the potential customer is considering. And at
this point, for some unknown reason the customer keeps waiting for the timing to be just right.
You know what weíre talking about. Theyíre just waiting forÖ.something. Itís likeÖwhat?!?
You like you want it you can afford itÖthen get it! What the heck are you waiting for?!?
Yet they continue waiting just the same.
So in our example, the potential customer looks at 3 different roofing companies, we
see 1, 2, 3look at 3 roofing companies and they're leaning towards one who has impressive
marketing materials, an impressive service warranty for a 50 year roof, letters of reference
from customers, video testimonials on your websites, member of the Better Business Bureau
and the chamber of commerce, a portfolio of before and after pictures on their website
and more. Yet they still want to wait a few more days to let it all marinate.
Finally
Stage 6) Purchase Stage: This is what all about! The prospective client chooses a vendor
and buys! Money changes hands.
This is when they call you or you follow up and call them and they buy. If all of your
marketing and sales strategy has addressed the 6 stages of the customer buying cycle
you will experience what we call ìThe effortless closeî. Thatís when clientís buy from you
virtually without any effort on your part. As opposed to you having to keep calling them
back trying to pound them, or nag them, into submission. Dropping the price and your profits
just to try and close them and get them to buy. Thatís why our motto is ëmarket hardÖsell
easyí.
So in our example, the potential customer called the roofing company that separated
themselves from their competition and made themselves the obvious choice to do business
with.
And remember the 6 stages of the customer buying cycle can span over a matter of a few
minutes to a matter of years. 1 person might need 3 months to decide while someone else
makes the same decision in 5 minutes. Yet they both go through the same 6 stages of
the customer buying cycleÖALWAYS! Even someone whos sitting watching a TV infomercial and
they gotta buy in one minute in 60 seconds, they still go through all 6 stages. This is
abbreviated, it is always the same!
Something important to know is contrary to what many small business owners believe, customers
are NOT always looking for the lowest price. They always want the BEST VALUE! When you
understand this and address it in your marketing, you can charge MORE than everyone else in
your industry andÖGET IT! We help our clients do this everyday. Across 100s of industries.
This applies regardless of what business youíre in. They Sell their products and services
at PREMIUM prices with NO discounts. And their customers absolutely love them. And reward
them with referral business!
All because they understand their customers wants and needs as they go through the 6 stages
of the customer buying cycle.
Enjoy this small business coaching video? Then do us a HUGE favor and share it with
2 or 3 of your closest friends or colleaguesÖor more. Theyíll definitely thank you for it.
And, make sure you subscribe to our channel RIGHT NOW so you donít miss out on our WEEKLY
videosÖwhere you learn innovative ways of getting more customers and growing your business
to the next level.
Plus if youíd like to learn more about growing your business to the next level with our ëThe
Next Level System - small business coaching servicesí, which are just 160 bucksÖwe make
it so that EVERYONE can afford it. Go to www.socialmediatopteam.com or simply click on the link below this video.
Iím Dillon with Social Media Top Team. Donít miss our next small business coaching video
when we cover ëHow To Charge 3times MORE than your competition, and Get IT!, by breaking
the carbon copy scenarioí.
See you next video!