The Physics of Sales and Hunt's Ladder
Marketing is all about motion. When it comes to attracting and retaining customers, why not think of Sir Isaac Newton? There are four forces at work with a customer: hope for the best, dissatisfaction, fear of failure and habit. The salesperson's job is to counteract these forces.
People are afraid of change. The unknown is frightening. Fear and habit keep you in the present. Hope for the best and dissatisfaction drive forward. Most salesmen promise savings, profit, happiness, love. But the buyer walks away - the fear of making the wrong choice is stronger. Selling is hard and buying is even harder. If you can remove the fear, the deal will happen. In Betonlogos company we use special stages to lead a client to a sale.
The potential customer recognises a problem and a need, but does not associate the salesperson and what they have to offer with his or her need. This is the stage where they open a search engine and type in the first lines of a query. Topical searches become the starting point for content creation. The customer is interested in details. They look for reviews, expert opinions, read testimonials and study recommendations and opinions. In other words, they are gathering information. At this stage, there is no fear of choice.
First step. No problem
The customer does not suspect they have a need for a particular product or service. They have probably never encountered a problem or thought about it. The familiar world surrounds them. There is no need to step out of their comfort zone. He is comfortable with everything.
How do you engage and intrigue him? You have to get his attention. Articles, catchy headlines, scandalous discussions, viral content, intriguing PR and ad blocks - all marketing efforts should direct the customer, force him to follow the link, increase his awareness and resource traffic.
Step two. There is a problem but no solution
The salesperson overcomes customer inertia, removes customer fears, lowers barriers and uses what is known as 'sales physics' and the concept of the awareness ladder. Hunt's ladder is a simplified marketing model that can be used to segment the needs of a target audience by assessing their propensity to buy.
At each rung of Hunt's ladder, the salesperson analyses the customer's selection criteria, works with awareness, and overcomes objections and fears.
Fear of heights on Hunt's ladder
Step three. Compare solutions
The potential customer is already aware of the problem and is looking for a solution. He or she studies the problem in more detail and formulates a request carefully. At this stage, they may not understand who or what can help them. However, as they become aware of the problem, they seek out others who have been in the same situation: they join social networking groups, subscribe to newsletters, continue to actively gather information from friends, acquaintances and, of course, the Internet.
During this period of working with a potential customer, the salesperson should connect and test as many promotional tools as possible: contextual and targeted advertising. Retargeting is set up to show ads to users who have left the site and have not placed an order.
Step Four. Product selection
The potential customer already knows how to solve the problem and where to find the solution. But now they are thinking and are not sure about the choice or the product itself. This is the time of sales and image content, when the customer wants to learn as much as possible about the seller and his product. He evaluates external factors: website, social media, reviews. The salesperson must constantly keep the potential customer interested. Answering questions promptly, staying in touch, overcoming objections, responding to negative statements, convincing the customer of the right choice.
At the choice stage, the customer is struggling with fear and uncertainty. The salesperson must act immediately. Respond to user comments and questions on social media. Talk about benefits, social proof and results.
Fifth degree. Choosing a supplier or vendor
A potential customer knows exactly what he wants, what his future purchase will look like. He has already decided from whom he will buy the chosen product or service. The customer is on the verge of realising the problem. Fear and determination are the two characteristics that prevail at this moment. For B2C products, this fear can be overcome by instilling hope and describing the experiences of other customers. In B2B, where the customer is afraid of losing and has to take responsibility for the decision, it is up to the salesperson to reduce this fear. Give guarantees, explain how to place an order, set up the system so that checkout is just a few clicks or steps away, show the customer what they will get when the transaction is complete, and incentivise them to write a review and give a recommendation.
Betonlogos: automating routine tasks
Betonlogos helps redesign and automate business processes for companies to operate online.
Betonlogos marketing experts provide practical advice on how to implement new sales profiles using Hunt's Awareness Ladder approach. This approach helps to identify the most targeted market segments and to increase sales conversion by building profitable product lines.
Other BetonLogos company's articles
Quick links
Join to us
Contact Us
Adress: Dlouhá 715/38, Staré Město, 110 00 Praha 1