Solving friction with the right content

What visitors ultimately intend to do probably isn’t clear to them yet.

They need to make several other decisions first. This timing element is crucial.

Do you like to be sold to?

Contrary to some opinions, people love to be sold to, when done well.

So, where does our instinct against sales content come from?

The friction comes when we get the timing wrong.

The decision-making timetable

We can flip the magnets from repulsion to attraction mode by learning the intent behind some decision-making steps.

Should I be bothered listening? What are the decision stages of intent

  • Shall I decide to do this thing
  • How will it feel to do it
  • How do I choose between all the ways of doing it
  • Shall I choose this way of doing it
  • Shall I choose this specific product or service
  • Shall I work with you
  • Do I want to start a conversation

The friction comes from someone pushing you past a decision that hasn’t been made yet. I

Understanding where people are

When you understand prospects, who they are, and the decisions they are facing, the friction falls away. You are not ‘pushing’ past a decision. You consider the choices. You are considerate.

At that point, you are just two people in a metaphorical room trying to decide what will work best for them.

The ultimate decision comes later.

We believe the feeling of being sold to is simply a mismatch between what you need to hear at the right stage, and what you are hearing, seeing or reading.

Conversely, nothing is worse than wanting to buy when the person in front of you doesn’t immediately tell you what you need to hear. Don’t get in the way of someone ready to buy.

Inspire people to want to change something first, then show them how it is risk-free later.

See ‘Decision-Making Guide’

Decisions are about choice.

Embracing all the choices available will help us have a better conversation, even if we don’t provide all the options. If we genuinely care about the right choice for clients, then we relax.

The answer to this question: do you like being sold to?

Is yes; conditionally

  • you like being sold to when you have decided that you have a genuine desire to do something
  • you like being sold to when you feel like your concerns are being taken seriously
  • you like being sold to when you have a genuine choice
  • you like being sold to when you feel like you are talking to the right people
  • you like being sold to when the risks have been minimised
  • when you are ready to make a final decision

Making decisions is hard and takes up brain juice. Being genuinely helped, by experts in those decisions, is a joy.

Helping visitors make the right choices is the marketing opportunity.

When you flip the process, you can see we are all individuals on the buyer’s side of the table making decisions every day. It is amazing we don’t all understand this process better, as sales and marketing people. But we are not often trained in it; we live in it.

Where true audience insights come from.

Taking the prospect’s viewpoint, and how they make each micro decision, you suddenly see what is important at different times, and where the gaps might be.

The topic audience is the same. But as a group, the information the audience needs to make decisions is different, at different times. Using the framework around decision-level content helps illuminate what our prospects are thinking.

  • We do better when knowing ‘who’ they are