Your First Step to Jump-start Growth -
Understanding the Customer Buying Process is the first step to jump-start growth. But it’s not the “process” you’re thinking of.
In fact, there’s a strong body of evidence that you can 2X your growth rate with it.
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even in mature markets,
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even with existing undifferentiated products,
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even across industry sectors,
2x your growth rate? Take it from 2% to 4%, or 4% to 8%?
What would that do for your top line?
What would it do for your valuation?
Why is it so important?
Because the KEY TO GROWTH is at a few key steps - somewhere in that buying process. In your customer’s buying process are hurdles that if you address them, generate growth, and convert more prospects.
It’s not part of the conventional playbook, and few companies do it.
Yet, when few do it, it becomes a superpower for those who do.
The Blind Spot
It’s very understandable why it’s not done. Organizations get biased by their own processes for two really good reasons:
#1 Most companies confuse the customer buying process with their own selling process.
Ever done Journey Mapping? CX design? Consider that the “journey” in journey mapping, is almost always YOUR Selling Process, not the customer’s Buying Process. And yet customers BUY completely differently than you SELL.
The second reason is even more critical.
#2 Activating growth in that process often has NOTHING to do with your solution.
And that just takes all the fun out of it for SALES people who are focused on SELLING their solutions. And for your Marcomm team, focused on creating Product awareness. That is to say, resources within your marketing and sales team are singularly focused on their solutions, rather than other things that don’t have anything to do with them.
But if it was worth 50% or 100% more growth, wouldn’t it be worth it to clear those biases?
Actioning this Insight
There are two ways we suggest to begin figuring out if you’re on a good track:
#1 - Understand how your teams look at the buying process.
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Can they describe customer activities, questions and problems?
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Do they use funnel terms or behavior terms?
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Do they know the roles involved in those activities?
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Can they point to the field work that shoes this? or is it what Procurement told them the process was?
With that, you can qualify an inbound not by your milestone, but by wherever they are in the process.
Seems obvious, but few do it.
#2 - Do teams know the few steps that radically change sales outcomes.
Awareness -> Interest -> Consideration, etc... Standard Value Selling stuff.
To find what is stopping customers, you have to question the idea that customer awareness of your solution is the key barrier. Up in the complicated process on the right are hurdles that if you address them, generate growth, convert more prospects.
Here's the problem.
Clearing those barriers rarely requires explaining your solution. They might be organizational; regulatory; technical. Check your sales pitch materials and your marcom collateral. Is it focused on awareness of your solution or selling its value. Chances are you’re not targeting those growth behaviors.
Do your teams know the buying process, and which steps change outcomes?
If you’d like to learn more, we just published a series on the methods described here. Click to learn more: Unlocking Growth - Beyond the Standard Playbook
Until next week,
Kendall -
Find me on LinkedIn or Book a 1:1 call
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