- Their reputation isn’t as good as yours.
- They have only been in business for five minutes.
- They don’t have the accreditations that your company does.
It’s called the buyer’s journey. And it is a science!
This is the process that leads to any purchase, from beans to burglar alarms. It can happen in minutes or months but it happens, every time. Knowing this process helps companies understand their customers and keep them as the central focus in marketing and sales strategies. If you know the route, you can lead them through it!
Stages of The Buyer’s Journey
The journey has 3 stages. Understanding each stage is the key to setting your stall out in the right places! Let’s break it down…
Awareness – The buyer is experiencing the symptoms of a problem. At this stage they will be searching for help, trying to gain a clearer understanding of the problem.
Consideration – The buyer now has a clearly defined problem. They begin to consider and compare solutions to the problem.
Decision – The buyer has looked at all the options available and is ready to make a decision about the best solution and where to get it from.
Most of us don’t realise it, but we have all experienced this journey many times over. Let’s illustrate it with an example of a domestic home security customer.
Mapping Out The Home Security Buyer’s Journey
Awareness – Laura, a busy mum, takes five minutes to catch up on Facebook as the children eat breakfast. The local neighbourhood group reports cars stolen from driveways overnight. Other posts show fuzzy webcam images of hooded strangers hanging around after dark. Later, at the school gates, there’s a conversation about a recent burglary.
Laura is now AWARE.
This is not just a problem, it’s HER problem. These things are real and they’re happening right where she brings up her precious family. After work, she searches online for ways to prevent these things happening to them…
Consideration – Laura’s first looks at official police advice about locking up properly and being careful with social media posts. But she already does this! In fact she already does all the “top tips” she can find – she calls that common sense! The only thing she’s seen that she doesn’t already have is a decent burglar alarm. Laura has moved to CONSIDERATION stage…
She mentions it to her husband. He doesn’t want any more jobs on his list but he doesn’t want his motor nicked either! Mostly he wants his family safe and happy. He tells Laura to go for it.
Decision – Another quick google throws up all kinds of people selling home security. She also has a leaflet somewhere that came with the gas bill. This is confusing, there’s so much choice! Laura decides to narrow things down to her area and comes across some local companies.
Some of these companies have links that don’t click or spelling errors. Not something that inspires confidence!
- Then she sees one that has good, clear information.
- She reads the case studies from satisfied customers.
- Notices the industry badges.
- Sees pictures of actual, normal people that make her feel better about who may be working in her home.
DECISION MADE! Oh, and here’s a handy form to fill in her details so she doesn’t even have to wait for the next day to call them…
But What Does The Buyer’s Journey Do For My Home Security Sales?
The Buyer’s Journey is how you attract strangers who have never heard of your Fire & Security company. And turn them into website visitors. If they are asking Google particular questions, you need to answer them!
These answers are strategically positioned throughout your website and elsewhere online so the people who need them have the best chance of finding them.
You make them AWARE, help them CONSIDER, then turn their DECISION into SALES!
People like Laura will appear in your inbox asking for a survey and they already think you’re great!
Is your website attracting visitors who are ready to buy home security? Not as many as you’d like? Click the image below. Congratulate yourself on what you’re doing right. And, more importantly, find out what could be made better.
