Why ‘consideration' is the most important part of your buyer's journey

It’s hard to argue that before someone buys your product or service they must be aware it exists. Because of that first step, many businesses believe that is the most important rung on the buyer’s journey.

It’s also true that at the other end of the voyage to revenue success is the actual conversion of a prospect to a paying customer. If you don’t close a deal then nothing else matters. Very important, I’d say!

What about everything between?

There are three basic stages to the buyer’s decision-making process: awareness, consideration, and purchase. Depending on your selling philosophy, you probably fine-tune these into a few more stages, as I do.

One thing is always there -- all practical approaches to mapping out the buyer’s journey include the consideration stage. No matter how you lay out the process metaphor -- sales funnel or buying cycle -- at the heart of it is consideration.

Yet, all steps of the buying process do not get equal attention. It seems that most marketing and selling professionals place the emphasis only on awareness and purchase.

Based on my experience, the pivot point where a “I’m not sure what I want” turns into a “solid maybe” is right at the intersection of consideration and the desire to attain a better future. You’d think that this is a very important step in the buying process and shouldn’t be ignored, regardless of the type of product or service.

Let’s face it; it’s difficult to find a “simple” product that requires no type of consideration. True, high value purchases have a more detailed and extended consideration phase. Yet, for any purchase, small or large, when people have a moment of hesitation while thinking about buying, they are in consideration mode.

Even picking out a garden-variety greeting card has a mini-buying process we go through. And at some point you consider one card over another one. And if I end up buying my mom a card with a scary clown on the inside for her birthday because it strikes me as hilarious, that probably won’t get me an immediately better future.

Consideration is the most important part of the purchase process. Consideration happens three times during the customer’s decision-making and purchase process. First, when thinking about needing a category of product or service and the buyer begins looking at what’s available -- or if they really need to solve their problem now. Next, when the buyer has narrowed down the choices and is thinking about which way to go. And finally, after the purchase has been made your new customer is now thinking about the wisdom of their decision. At each stage your company must reach the buyer in a way to influence their decisions. That requires an understanding of your target customer and what you need to do to help people seriously consider your offering, or consider buying from you again in the future.

Understanding the consequences of the available options is critical. Imagine the impact of having a smart store clerk appear as I was considering purchasing the clown greeting card, interrupting the decision-making process. The right message and actions by the seller could potentially persuade me to reconsider and maybe even upsell me to a more expensive card. In fact, at the consideration stage people welcome help, recognizing that is essential. Customize your sales and marketing approach for every stage of the buying process because your prospect’s expectations for how they are treated is certainly different for each. After considering the consequences, with the help of the clerk, a decision is made -- the more expensive fancy card with a famous entertainer singing happy birthday is purchased; mom will be happy and as a result, I avoid a painful lesson.

Anticipate what people really care about when in consideration mode. Knowing what want kind of interaction with a seller the buyer is looking for at this critical stage will drive profitable customer action. During the consideration stage, you have two goals. The first is to help people identify specific needs for solving the problem they’ve identified. The second is to align your solution with the specific needs the buyer faces. Perhaps a handy dandy chart illustrating which type of cards to use in various situations and why. Or, a video of interviews asking the opinion of people who received greeting cards talking about what made them feel great. Maybe a case study of two sons, one that purchased a clown themed greeting card and the other who gave mom a decorative card, serenaded by a Frank Sinatra impersonator when opened -- and mom’s reaction to each. It’s simple: this is the place in the buyer’s journey where you highlight your solution and how it satisfies the relevant pain points and needs.

Consider the consideration stage as the most important part of the buying process. This is where people make the decision to become a customer -- or continue as a customer.

Prevent bottlenecks that stall the sale with a little extra marketing and selling oomph designed just for this buying phase. Align your company’s action with your buyer’s needs at that point in their journey. Tailor messaging for the consideration stage and create content you’ll need ahead of time. Guides, comparisons, and video demonstrations work great.

Help your buyer get what they need, when they need it and avoid upsetting mom.

Ron Stein is founder of More Customers Academy, helping business leaders build strategic messaging and positioning that cuts through the competitive noise to grow revenue. Ron has developed his own highly successful 5-step Stand Out & Sell More approach to winning new customers as a result of his twenty-five years of business development, marketing, and selling experiences. He works with a range of businesses, from startups to large corporations across industries including technology and healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services and banking. Ron conducts workshops, leads company meetings, offers keynote talks, and consults. He can be reached at 727-398-1855 or by email.