Page 121 - Social Media Marketing

104 Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

their current need, establish yourself as an expert on the prod-
uct or service, and gain an edge on the competition.
• Comparison research: After gathering sufficient information,
a customer moves into the comparison phase, during which
he or she considers other similar products and services. At
this point, you need to be ready to show how your product or
service is superior to what the competition has to offer. What
do you offer that the others don't?
• Purchase decision: Even if you succeeded in winning the cus-
tomer during the first three stages, it's easy to lose a customer
in this critical fourth stage. Here, the customer may be sit-
ting on the fence, doing risk assessment. The customer doesn't
want to pay too much, choose a lousy product, or deal with
the consequences of deciding not to purchase at this time. This
is usually a good time to review the benefits of your product
and service. Remember: When the person finally makes his or
her purchase decision, stop selling! You can often lose a sale by
continuing to sell past this point.
• Post-purchase: After the purchase, a customer can still back
out. At this point, you simply need to gently reinforce the fact
that the customer made the right decision.

If you know where each lead is in the purchase decision process,
you have a better sense of what you need to tell them and of what
sorts of information and marketing materials they need. This allows
you to customize your lead follow-up system in a way that more
effectively addresses the needs of each lead.

Importance of Being First

The dating process commences as soon as you receive the lead.
In most cases, you are not the only sales representative receiving
the lead. Your lead-generation service probably sent the lead to
several other representatives in your farm area, and the first person