From accountancy to property, the service industry makes up 76% of the UK’s business population. Compared to those who sell consumer goods, the buyer journey is usually very different. So, this raises the all-important question, what will make a customer choose me and how can I stand out?
This blog puts all the tricks you need to wow over your clients in one place. More specifically, looking at the buyer journey for service businesses, from first attracting interest through to sealing the deal and being paid. We’ll look at all the tactics from advertising and optimising your website to generate leads, through to servicing enquiries via effective follow-up meetings and proposals, plus ensuring the final stages of a deal also hit the mark.
Stages of the buyer journey
It’s all about audience! If you know your customers, you’ve already unlocked the key to success. Making yourself familiar with the stages of a buyer’s journey will help with this. So, what is it?
It covers the processes which a customer goes through when buying an item or going to a business for something. The stages include awareness that change is needed (this might be the need for a new product, or a certain service is needed), a consideration of the next steps, followed by the decision of which person or business they need to go to for the change to be made.
Let’s look at this in more detail.
Awareness
Take someone who wants a new hairstyle because they feel it’s too long and they aren’t happy with it. During the awareness stage, this person has simply become aware of the need for change. There are hundreds of examples because it’s happening all the time… people are constantly becoming aware that they need to find solutions for an issue or there’s a need for change. If their problem is your speciality, you could be who they need to go to.
Consideration
In this stage, people will start trying to find solutions. Someone looking for a bathroom renovation may ask their friends and family for solutions, post on social media asking for suggestions and start googling the appropriate services. This is where you need to make your business stand out, but we’ll cover that a bit later.
Decision
Decisions are starting to be made by the customer, but a final purchase hasn’t happened yet. They’re aware of their options and what they need to do to get what they’re looking for. In this stage, potential clients are having conversations with salespeople or evaluating information on a website. They’ll be finding out the last pieces of information they need to make their very final decision. The person asking for a new hairstyle may want to know more about the offers available. The person planning a kitchen renovation may want to know more about specific costs.
Ways to improve client persuasion
Why have a business if you can’t get customers on board? There’re many simple tips and tricks to pull out of the box to persuade clients you’re the way to go.
1. Optimising Your website
Making the best use of your website will benefit you hugely. Having an online presence makes it more likely people will find you and is an opportunity to show why a customer should choose you.
Make sure your website is engaging: It sounds obvious, but when making a website, lots of people forget about using a professional design that reflects the businesses values. People won’t bother staying on a messy website, so make sure it’s organised, and key information is accessible. People like it when information is easily found. Think about what information you’re including, as well as how and where this is presented.
Show potential customers what you can offer: Your website can be used like a portfolio, so make the most of it. Present photos of your best work and boast about what you can offer. Other forms of media, like videos and podcasts, could be great advertisers for what you do. This is your opportunity to really capture the customers eye and show them you’re who they should choose during their buyer journey. A classic trick is to offer some kind of free information upfront to help you capture leads – this could be a free quote, product demo, newsletter, ebook.
Think about the ten second test… what is this? Essentially your website has ten seconds to grab the viewers’ attention before they will exit. Think about what you want a potential client to see, what will make them stay on your site longer?
Here are five great website editors that could help:
- WIX
- Squarespace
- GoDaddy
- IONOS
- WordPress
2. Advertising your services
If you don’t think about advertising, it’s going to be harder for people to find you. You don’t have to splash a load of cash to be noticed (as our article on free business advertising ideas demonstrates), there’re many ways to achieve being found.
Social media: Just like with your website, this is a brilliant way of getting your content seen and can present a portfolio of your work to potential customers and clients.
Newsletters: Latest offers, discounts and any recent information about your business can excite a customer. Sending these straight to their mailbox is a quick and easy way to get people’s attention. Don’t worry if your business is small or just starting out, this could be something to work towards in the future.
Consider SEO (search engine optimisation): SEO is essentially using methods to rank higher on people’s web searches. Using keywords which people are searching for on your website is one of the most effective methods to achieve this when starting out. Using Google Trends will show you what these keywords are for free.
When weighing up your advertising opportunities, always think about your target audience. The four R’s of marketing is good to refer to.
- Right person – Who’s the demographic you’re targeting? You need to know who your audience is to grab their attention.
- Right channel – How are you going to target your demographic? An example of this could be researching whether they’re more likely to use Instagram or Facebook when thinking about which platforms to perform your social media advertising.
- Right moment – Make sure what you want to tell the client is relevant. Why now?
- Right answer – Clients are usually searching for an answer to a problem. How will you deliver this to them? Think about the ten second rule here.
Presentations and Proposals
When you’re sat in a room with a potential client or pitching over video, it can be difficult to remember your talking points and notes. This is where presentations and business proposals come in. They’re a clear and concise way to showcase a lot of information without losing your thread (or their interest).
When building one out, thinking about how to make it as strong as possible will help you. Starting first with the planning will point you in the right direction. What does the customer want and how can this be achieved?
Next, do your research into how you can help the customer achieve what they want. Then write up your proposal and review it. Getting someone else to read over what you’ve done is a good idea. It’s always better to have a fresh eye, especially if you’ve spent a lot of time going over the same ground.
Follow up meetings
Showing a client or customer that you care creates trust and reflects that you have their best interests in mind. Keep in contact with the people you’ve had a meeting with by sending a follow up email. Don’t pester them of course, but building that relationship plays a part in creating that trust.
Automation
Incorporating process automation into your business could save you money. But what is it exactly? It’s when you take a human job and use technology to do it instead. An example of this is being charged when you buy something online instead of a human charging you face to face. Let’s look at what kinds of tasks could be made into process automation…
- A job which is repetitive like answering phone calls. This can be automated by having an online form for queries that can be checked later. Utilising software to automate contracts and invoices is another good option.
- Keeping track of things like attendance and tasks to complete. Instead of writing down everything, using process automation for organisation will save you time.
- If someone has added an item to their basket or has a limited time to use a promotion, introduce automated emails to spur them into completing their purchase.
When thinking about what to automate, take a look at the jobs you complete daily which are time consuming and how technology can help.
