The people who show up at the grocery store are ready to buy something because they have a clear desire to buy food. That is the beauty of known needs that are immediate and consistent. You get people that are ready now.
But what about the timing of your stuff for people who can wait until later or who need a good understanding first? If your customer needs to be educated before they feel comfortable, then an immediate “Yes” is not going to be likely.
Furthermore, if there is not a crisis that makes your product or solution something that fits, then no amount of selling will overcome the status quo.
If you can imagine that much of your pipeline is unseen, then your marketing strategy might cater more towards unready buyers. These are the people that will likely do business with you when the timing is right. You can’t force it or increase pressure. That will only create mistrust. When a person is not ready, they are not going to feel great about being pushed.
Assume that most of your buyers will be entertaining a purchase later and want you to help them come to that decision at some point in the future. What do they want in the mean time?
The fact that they found you online or started a dialogue means that they have some kind of initial interest. If you have a marketing system in place to continue to build a relationship and provide value, then this helps you have a flywheel effect. If you keep refining and feeding your prospective customers with value and helpful content, then the flywheel builds momentum.
If you are sporadic or half-committed, then your momentum will die, and it takes a lot of energy to build it back again. You also leave room for your competitors that are more persistent in providing value to position themselves in the mind of your buyer.
We all like immediate gratification, but the reality is that building a strategy around buying now is not effective when most people are making a decision later.
Assume your first contact with a prospective customer is an introduction. Do you have a nurturing strategy and system to continue the conversation without missing a beat? Is it personal, relevant and timely?
It may be the difference between steady increasing business and continual struggle.
It’s still within the first thirty days of the new year. How about fixing the problem and connecting with us to help?
