The 4 Stages of the Buying Process—and How to Turn Each Stage into Sales

Andrew Hunt says that many companies focus too much on driving Web traffic and don’t have a conversion strategy. Because of that shortcoming, their lead generation abilities suffer.

How can you turn the customer experience into a profitable one? Know the four stages in the buying process, and be prepared to sell.

Awareness

Your lead is just “seeing what’s going on” during the awareness stage. Here are some suggestions on what to do:

• Offer them a short educational piece, like a newsletter.
• Have a short (just email address) form with a privacy statement to encourage them to educate themselves via your content.
• Don’t ask for too much information—they don’t yet have a pressing need for your product or service.

Discovery

Newsletters won’t work, and neither will “why pick you” messages. Instead:

• Offer an e-book or guide that educates them on how to solve their problem.

Validation

These customers know what they need but aren’t ready to chat with a salesperson yet. Instead:

• Show an online demo of your product.
• Provide value details and differentiating product characteristics.

Are you ready for the final stage? Read on!