Path of Presence Podcast - Episode 02 - The Buyers Journey 

It has been said that Jesus was a great salesman, so why is it that we have such a negative stigma of sales? 

When you think of sales, what immediately comes to mind?

Many of us think of the used car salesman, maybe the guy that knocked on your door to try to sell you a vacuum cleaner that is thousands of dollars?  Perhaps, who comes to mind is the Jinsu designer knife salesman who demonstrates his product on cutting a tin can? 

We often associate sales with dirty tactics and being duped to purchase something we do not want or need. If this is the case, if you hold this mindset, or a similar mindset and stereotype, I've got good news ~ there is great opportunity for a shift in consciousness!  

Understanding the buyers journey can change your entire energy around asking for the sale. The buyers journey involves three steps. These three steps are consecutive, and may not be skipped.  The three steps are the following:

1. Awareness,
2. Consideration, and
3. Decision.

This article describes the three steps of the buyers journey (awareness, consideration and decision), and what goes on for the prospective buyer as they undergoing the path to becoming your client.

In the article, Social Media and The Buyer's Journey (Path of Presence Podcast, episode 3), I will share with you the impact that social media has on these steps to influence the buyers journey.  

My hope is to help you understand the dynamic process that occurs when individuals engage in relationship with you, be it business, or not.  There is great power in being empowered.  My prayer and affirmation is for you to gain a deeper understanding of social media and the power it has to help your business soar.  This is the case even more so if social media appears time-consuming and nonsensical at first glance.

My intention is to help you build a lifestyle business, through social media so you you could essentially be anywhere in the world, and still conduct your business as if you are in your office.

If your intention is to serve the world – if you have a message, a service, a product, or a method to help others live their lives in a way that will better serve them, - if you want to implement your life work so that everyone has access to it and at the same time, build an engaging, flourishing community, stay with me.

Learning about the buyers journey is understanding the science of buying.

More over people buy from people who they know and trust. They don't just buy your service, program or product, they are buying into the idea of YOU - what you stand for and the space you could hold for a them and their growth.  As a result of this faith, and belief, you will be compensated for your work in the world by their engagement, presence and support.

The buyers journey parallels the journey of friendship.  You might meet someone, and get to know them a little by talking to them.  You don't don't talk at them, you talk to them - a friend would talk with them, in a dynamic , that is a conversation.  Depending on the harmony of that dynamic, you decide whether you want to be their friend, or not.  As friendship is a dynamic between person to person, so too, is the buyers journey.

STEP 1:  AWARENESS

The first step in the buyers journey is awareness.  This is when you first meet someone.

Awareness is when a buyer becomes aware of your company and what you might be offering, whether it is a service, program or product.  They become aware that you exist.  They see you in a visual sense and are aware that you are around and available.

This is the "See Me" phase of the buyers journey.  And for all intents and purposes, on a temperature scale, this contact, to you, as the marketer, is a cold contact.  They don't really know who you are ... yet!  (More on this later)

So after you meet someone you want to talk with them to get to know them a little.  Similarly, the second step in the buyers journey is consideration.  After the buyer becomes aware that you are around and available they begin to look into what it is that you do, be it a product program or service. They are evaluating whether what you have to offer is a good fit for what they need.  In this stage the buyer is taking into consideration and evaluating whether they want to be in relationship with you.

Step 2:  CONSIDERATION

The consideration stage is the perfect time to educate your buyer. Rather than to push your product, the practice is to educate.  This is the "believe me" phase in the buyers journey and an opportunity for you to convert the cold client to a warm contact.  

The progression of technology in today's culture has empowered the normal person to research, find information and make informed, educated decisions.  Technology today has leveled the playing field to share information. No longer does information belongs solely to large corporations, entities and bureaucracies.  The development of modern technology such as websites, blogs, social media, videos, podcasts, and the like allows anyone to share information online, in real time.  Because of the technology at our disposal, we could essentially teach what we know and get this to those who need it.

So you meet someone -- they see you, they are aware of you and you get to know them a little bit by talking to them.  There is an exchange, consideration and evaluation going on - and you are learning more about your acquaintance.  Are haps you are evaluating and considering whether their worldview matches yours and if there is a good fit of energy, or friendship exchange.

And then, after some time of getting to know them (in real life it could be a minute after you meet them or 10 years after you meet them depending on who they are.

Step 3: DECISION

After you get a feel of who they are, what they represent, you make a decision whether this will be your friend, or not.

When you make that decision, it is similar to the third step of the buying process.

The third step in the buyers journey is the decision stage. This is where prospective buyers make the decision to purchase your product, program, or service. They become your customer. 

These prospective buyers "believe you," or believe in you. In the buyers mind, what you have to offer needs very closely to what they need. 

You have successfully earned the buyers trust and consideration, so much so that they are now a client.

You have successfully made a friend which depending on what your idea of friendship is, which may vary from person-to-person. Same goes for the buyer process and relationship.

Again, the steps in the buying process are consecutive and may not be skipped.

The buying process includes the following steps:

1. Awareness
2. Consideration, and
3. Decision.

In the case of a friendship you meet someone they become an acquaintance where there's dialogue back-and-forth you get to know them a little and then you decide whether this person can become a friend.

Most people would not go up to a complete stranger and ask them to go to the movies with you. You don't know whether they are a talker and will talk through you the entire movie or have a whole different set of norms and world views that you may be used to. They may very well be one of those who picks up phone calls in the movie theater during a movie you just don't know.

A friend however you would not hesitate to invite a compatible friend to go to the movies with you to spend the day with you and to exchange ideas and share life with you.

Similarly when someone becomes aware of your product you don't ask them to buy right away.  This would feel contrite as though you're walking up to a stranger and asking them if they want to join you for a two hour movie, without knowing their social habits.

The norm of business today has evolved from push marketing to attraction marketing.

This simply means that no longer are we pushing the product telling them about the features and benefits of your product service for offering, you are instead providing the information to educate your potential client on their purchase. You provide the information you are the expertise they get to evaluate all of this information to decide and to make a decision whether they want to purchase from you, or not.

Attraction marketing is great opportunity for both sides to consider whether they want to enter into a relationship.

OK so I am dipping into the second segment of the buyers process and relationship with the talk of attraction marketing.

So I'll close this episode with a recap of the stages of the buyers journey: (1) awareness "meet me or see me" phase, (2) consideration "evaluating whether there is a fit or believe me" phase (3) decision "join me or pay me" phase.

Join me in episode 3, where I'll talk about the impact of social media in the buyer journey and how it has the power to empower the buyer in every stage.

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