Pascal PersynScientific research has shown that every buying cycle is a sequence of the same mental processes; almost as certain as a law of nature. Our Buying Clock is an easy way to see the willingness to buy of everyone involved in a potential sale.
You can work out where the client is on Buying Clock by asking questions such as:
- Are you 100% sure that the current situation has to change?
- What will the impact be of the new solution?
- Have you calculated the cost and ROI?
- What criteria will you use to compare suppliers?
- Are you trying to understand the differences and benefits of the various options?
- How do you guarantee your future supplier won’t eventually fail on your expectations?
- Have you checked whether the new solution won’t bring new problems?
The buying cycles are far from always synchronized
You know ‘what time it is’ in the buying cycle when you’ve got answers from everyone who is influencing the decision. Everyone goes through the same mental processes in a purchase, and it’s very plausible that different people are in different stages.
The speed at which we go through the various stages of the buying cycle depends on various factors: experience of buying similar products or services, understanding the various options’ impacts, the decision’s importance and impact on us and our organization. A buying cycle can last from a few seconds to months or even years depending on these factors. Being able to detect and influence buying readiness and helping to synchronize the buying clocks will not only shorten the buying cycle. It will also improve conversion rates and decrease discounts.
Understanding the buying cycle leads to better results
Do your sales and marketing teams know what time it is on every client’s Buying Clock®? Wouldn’t it be great for your team to discover how ready your client is to buy, so they could approach them in the right way? Then sales would never start talking about product features before the client is ready to even consider buying that type of product. And marketing wouldn’t overload anyone with too much information about all the benefits. Clients will feel better understood, and make a decision faster, when approached with messages that match their buyer readiness.
When everyone in your organization can detect the client’s buying cycle, you can develop shared terminology to align your sales and marketing activities and increase your efficiency and effectiveness. To maximize your organization’s potential, make your client’s readiness to buy the reference point of your sales strategy and process. This can lead to the following impact:
- Shared terminology for sharing experiences will improve the whole team’s performance
- Precise timing of your actions, resulting in lower cost of sales
- Higher conversion
- Less margin erosion and discounts
- Objective, predictable forecasts
- In summary: more sales with higher margins at a lower cost
