Every buyer’s journey typically has three primary stages, regardless of the industry. So let's dive in!

The 3 Stages of Your Buyer's Journey

Awareness Stage

When potential customers have identified a pain point, they have officially entered the awareness stage of the buying journey. During that stage, the buyer will seek answers and insights concerning their issues by collecting data and searching the internet. 

To convert leads during this phase, use CRM tools like HubSpot to track your site visitors’ behavior and refine your nurturing process. HubSpot's Marketing Hub allows you to track your social media visitors' activities.

Your goal is to understand how buyers interact with your content and their areas of interest. Then you can implement trigger mechanisms so that when they perform specified actions on your website or socials, you can reach out to them and provide them with additional resources that address their interests.

The awareness stage provides the opportunity to start cultivating your leads.

Consideration Stage

Once buyers have gained a better understanding of their problem, they will begin to research the possible methods to solve their issues. A typical buyer in the consideration stage will investigate your About Us or product pages and look at your solution's features and benefits. Alternatively, they will check your area of expertise. 

To address buyers' needs at this stage, you need to show why your solution is better than the competition's by investigating your competitors and understanding their marketing plans so that you can differentiate yours. In addition, you should provide solutions that positively influence the buyer's decisions in your favor. 

Content such as cost-saving calculators, 5-star reviews, product comparison guides, and product samples will be helpful for your buyer at this stage.

Remember, 67 percent of all lost sales result from sales representatives poorly qualifying leads before taking them through the sales funnel. So, if you want to move as many buyers as possible from this stage to the next, you must pay attention to how you qualify leads!

Make use of your analytical tools and ensure that you have a well-thought-out lead scoring system to help you determine which buyers are ready to move on and which require more sales effort.

Decision Stage

At the decision stage, buyers will move from considering possible solutions to selecting relevant solution providers. Many of them will start to focus on Contact Us pages, pricing pages, and case studies while considering the pros and cons of each solution.

To improve your conversion rates at the decision stage, you must pay close attention to what buyers like about your products, their evaluation criteria and expectations, and the implementation plans required.  

It would also be wise for you to know what your unique value proposition is. Why should a prospect buy from you and not your competitor? What do you have to offer them that they can’t get from other solutions providers?

In addition, be ready to counter all objections a buyer raises at the decision stage. For example, can you justify the purchase costs if your pricing is high? Would you include free add-ons or discounts that make the buyer feel they are getting a good deal for their money?

What if your prospects point out some of the major weaknesses of your solution? Is your sales team armed with enough information to convince buyers that it offers all the features necessary to address their pain points?

Remember to tread carefully when handling buyers at the decision stage. What you say and how you say concerning your products or services and your buyers' concerns will make or break your deal.

In the end, every organization in business wants to sell their products and services, but how much you sell will largely be determined by your ability to attract prospects and creating a good relationship with them. Knowing your buyer’s journey is vital if you are wanting to convert leads into customers.