How To Get Inside A Prospect’s Head

Inside a prospect head“Yup, I got some feedback after last week’s description blog,” I said as the troops found their way to the table.

“The best was something I had not considered… where the prospect is in the process and how they got here.”

“Wait a minute,” Rick said, “I think we’ve talked about that before”

“True,” I said, “But let me give you the five things that
I’ve mushed the comments into:

  • Map Their Journey

    • Shove The Statistics

      • Shine a Light on it

        • Keep Your Focus

          • Give ‘em what matters… to them

Let’s take those one at a time

Map their journey

“I’ve got this one” Rick said.  “There’s a lot about this in the Direct
marketing press these days. It’s another way to say you need to know the
process your buyer goes through to be able to address their needs at any point
they happen to be in the purchase cycle. The thing that is new is the emphasis
on sticking with folks once they appear to opt out. Those that are currently customers need to have their actions or requests for information or changes in their data seen as possible indicators of other significant changes. This is when you need to ask what is going on and provide solutions.”

“Shove the Statistics…
I like the sound of that,” said Gail.

“You would,” I replied. What that boils down to is using
empathy.”

“Got it,” she said. What you are really talking about is
instead of describing a single 68 year old woman who is a college graduate with
annual income of $100,000. You shift to something like: This is your aunt
Hattie who is living off Uncle Herbert’s pension since he died. She likes being
comfortable. She has maintained her interest in Europe and shopping and is
planning for one last adventure before she sells the house and moves into an
assisted living facility.”

“Yup”

“Shine a light on it… is mine,“  said Kate. “The easiest way to do that is to
realize we all have blind spots. Jim Grew did a great article on this
not long ago. The words that stuck in my mind were:

Review your latest customer ratings in a management

team meeting. Where the ratings are poor, make a note when you decide something is “an isolated instance.” Then dig into it.

The important thing is you need to look at every point of contact with a client or prospect—really look at it. Don’t just give it lip service.”

Keep your Focus…”tha’s mine.” said Rob, our Brand master. Y’all need to stay focused on building a relationship with prospects and customers. Do not think of them as a cash machine. You need to speak in their language and confront their concerns and objections in ways that are understandable to them. If you have a personality that shines through in your brand, keep it up. If you are known for a specific way of doing business, keep on keepin’ on. When y’all start changin’ things it makes folks uncomfortable anda lot easier for your competitors to step in and sell them something. In short, protect your brand.”

Give ‘em what matters…to them

“I’ll wrap it up,” I said. The easiest way to plug this into your organization is to have anyone that serves the customer write down what they think is going right and wrong in their contacts.  Sometimes it helps to know where in the buying process they are which a good CRM System can help with.

More importantly, regularly ask customers how you could do it better. Forget surveys and little boxes to check off. Ask them and then shut up and listen. Really listen. Sometimes the small change they suggest, when implemented, can have a huge impact.


Jerry and his luncheon companions will be back next week. It will probably
be a discussion about the digital marketing world. Chris will be back from a
well-earned break.


Jerry Fletcher calls himself a Contact Relationship Magician who starts
where the software stops to build automated marketing campaigns that build
business for “Little guys” 
Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry is also a professional Keynote speaker. More at www.NetworkingNInja.com

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