Under 60 seconds. This is the time which people spend looking at your website, billboard, article or whatever is put in front of them. The majority of viewers spend less than 30 seconds. Every year, that time is dropping.
In the course of time, people have evolved to use heuristics – shortcuts for making conclusions. They see a suit and think “professional.” They see a sports car and assume success. It is painful to think. It is easier to react.
Your buyer is being bombarded with over 300 selling messages a day. It is hard to pay attention. However, every month, your customer buys thousands of dollars of services and goods. Some are necessities; others are for pleasure. You do the same as well. Take a look at your credit card statement and you will see a long list of items. The two key questions are:
Why did you buy? Why did you pick certain vendors and brands and not others?A typical consumer has spent hundreds and even thousands of dollars in a month eating at restaurants. They love to eat. They love to buy food at places they enjoy. They hate to be sold. They will eat next month as well. They pick foods and places that entertain them like the Rain Forest Cafe. They spend money at Starbucks because of the experience and the escape. They want emotional experiences out of the thousands of options made available at any given time.
Think about yourself. When you bought, two things happened:
You paid attention.
You picked someone you trusted.
Without either of these, you would not buy. The same is true for your customer. They act in the same way. They are on information overload. It is a challenge for them to:
Give attention.
Trust.
What if you stand out from the noise? How would that impact your sales pipeline?
What if you could build trust quickly? How would that impact your close ratio?
There is a way. It requires thinking about the customer and the buying process. It is about asking the right questions of yourself.