When it comes to business, your products and services are important but they’re not everything. In fact, you can have the greatest offerings, but if they’re not selling, it doesn’t really matter. Attracting leads and converting them into customers is the foundation of your company, which means that you need to put as much time, effort, and attention towards that attraction as you do towards everything else.
Many times a business will offer products and services, nurturing leads that they’re certain will become customers, and then, nothing. No sale. Oftentimes these leads just disappear and the business is left without a client.
Finding prospects, taking them on the customer journey, and turning them into sales, requires a great deal of intention and strategy. If you’re consistently doing the first two and then not closing the deal, you’re doing something wrong. It’s not just a coincidence or bad luck; there’s something you’re missing.
Read on to dissect your process and discover the real reasons why prospects don’t buy from you.
You’re Not Selling to Your Target Market
If your prospect isn’t certain they need what you have to offer or if they don’t know whether or not your product/service is right for them, there’s a good chance you’re trying to sell to someone outside of your target market. When that happens, you’re shooting blindly, without a target, and more than likely, you’re not going to hit anything.
It’s much more important to prospect a few warm, potential leads than a bucket full of random, unlikely clients. This means it’s actually okay to walk away from someone who doesn’t fit in the box of your target market.
Look at each of your prospects and decide if they were carefully and intentionally targeted. Do they meet the requirements you’ve set for your target market? Can you articulate why they would be a good fit for your offerings? If you can’t answer these questions, there’s a good chance you’re simply trying to sell to anyone and you’re not focusing on your target market. If that’s the case, you’re probably putting way too much time, effort, and money into nurturing people that aren’t going to buy.
Instead of continuing wasting your efforts, cut ties with the prospects that don’t make the cut. Then, you’ll be able to focus solely on your warm leads who are more than likely going to convert.
You’re Not Showcasing Your Offerings’ Value
When people are considering buying a product or service, they tend to look at how the offering will provide them with a solution to one of their problems. This solution is the value of your product or service. Your offerings’ value isn’t about its bells and whistles. It’s not about its special features. The value is all about how it will make things better for the customer.
If the people you are trying to sell to are in your target market but they’re still not buying, there’s a good chance you’re not showcasing the value of your products or services. While they may need or want what you have to offer, if they don’t see how it will benefit them, they’ll most likely look elsewhere.
In order to effectively show people the value of your products or services, you’ll need to focus on the message of your marketing. You control the content and information that you put out into the world about your business. If you’re not publishing content that showcases the value you provide, your audience isn’t going to understand why they should buy from you.
The best way to create content that showcases your value is to understand your target market’s pain points. With that understanding, you’ll be able to paint a picture of how your products or services provide them with a solution.
Take a look at your current messaging. View it from the eyes of your target audience. Does it reach their pain points? Does it provide them with a solution? If not, it’s time to redo your messaging in order to showcase your value.
You’re Confusing Your Prospects
It’s said that a confused mind never buys. If there is something about your business, products, or services that your prospects don’t understand, they’re most likely not going to search for the answers. Instead, they’ll move on to your competition, finding something that is clear.
It may be that your website is sparse or confusing. It may be that your content isn’t clear or you don’t have an engaging social media presence. If you aren’t publishing consistent, informative content and you’re not connecting with your audience on social media, you are missing an incredible opportunity for providing prospects the information they need.
Without these opportunities for understanding your products, there’s a good chance your target market is going to be confused. That means, they’re not going to buy. Make the effort to design a clear website, publish regular, informative content, and to develop a reachable and relevant social media presence. Then, your audience will have everything they need to make an informed decision to become your customer.
You Have a Poor Customer Journey
The customer journey you create is your sales process. It begins with awareness, moves seamlessly to interest, which then becomes desire, and in the end leads to action. If your customer journey is built effectively, once your target market becomes aware of your business, they are well on their way to the last step of action, where they become your customer.
A great customer journey is built strategically, providing a simple and streamlined way to move your target market through the path towards conversion. However, if your prospects aren’t buying, that means that your customer journey is broken somewhere along the path.
Take the time to break down your customer journey and determine which portion lacks effectiveness. Where are your leads bowing out? Are they failing to move from interest to desire or are they leaving at the last minute, right before conversion? Figure out what step in your journey is poorly designed and fix it. Once you have a complete and effective customer journey, your prospects will be taking action left and right.