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Gaining the attention of potential customers is no easy task. Your target audience is bombarded with a slew of messages every day. Whether we\u2019re at home or work, in the car, or on our phone, tablet, or laptop, we live in a sea of communication. And the amount of information<\/a> we swim through every minute is staggering.<\/p>\n Consider that every minute, Internet users:<\/p>\n In order to break through this noise, connect with your target market, and generate more sales, you must first understand how today\u2019s media-rich environment has influenced the way consumers make purchasing decisions.<\/p>\n The Rise of Self-Directed Consumers<\/b><\/p>\n This proliferation of information has altered the way people make purchasing decisions. Consumers no longer exclusively rely upon the expert advice of a salesperson, small business owner, or large corporation. Many consumers take steps to educate themselves about you, your product, or service, and the amount of information consumed prior to making a decision is mind-boggling. The number of sources<\/a> consulted before making a purchase averages 10.4, almost doubles to 18.2 if a person is buying a car, and decreases to 5.8 when choosing a quick-serve restaurant.<\/p>\n The expanse of third-party resources people check before making a purchase has tremendous implications for a business. Today\u2019s buyers may be anywhere from two-thirds to 90 per cent<\/a> of the way through their journey before they reach out to the vendor. This means the vast majority of your target market will traverse nearly the entire buying process before you even know his or her name. These changes have given rise to the self-directed consumer.<\/p>\n 4 Tips to Close the Sale with a Self-Directed Consumer<\/b><\/p>\n After recognizing a certain need or want, self-directed consumers normally seek out information to further understand their situation, answer their questions, and find solutions to their problems. By the time they reach out to a vendor, they have basically made a purchase decision.<\/p>\n Adapting to this new buying process is vitally important to the well-being of your company. Historically, companies predominately found customers; today, customers predominately find companies. Instead of relying exclusively on paid media to reach out to customers, you need to help customers find you. This small pivot will make a tremendous difference in generating more sales for your company. <\/p>\n Here are four tips to help you make this transition, establish loyalty with your target market, and close the self-directed consumer.<\/p>\n 1. Create One Location for Your Audience<\/i><\/p>\n Creating a website for your audience to engage with you online is key. Customers are three times<\/a> more likely to visit a company\u2019s site than to engage with them on Facebook. Treat social media, banner ads, and paid media as secondary outlets that point back to your primary location online. <\/p>\n Create one central location for your target audience to engage with your company, the ideas you espouse, and the benefits you provide.<\/p>\n 2. Provide Value<\/i><\/p>\n Create content that provides value for your customers. When it comes to your product or service, consumers have questions. And they\u2019re in search for answers. Empathize with your audience, understand what they need to know, and provide answers to their questions. These simple steps will help you foster trust, loyalty, and long-term relationships with your audience. <\/p>\n 3. Determine the Format and Channel<\/i><\/p>\n We all consume information in a variety of ways. From the way we access content (mobile, tablet, laptop, etc.), to the type of content we consume (web, audio, video, print), and from the source we obtain content, every individual has a preference when it comes to gathering information.<\/p>\n Your goal as a business is to deliver your content in the shape, way, fashion, and form your target audience prefers. Whether it\u2019s blog posts, social media updates, or email marketing, determine the format and channel your audience prefers to utilize. Consider leveraging platforms\u2014like Salesforce\u2019s Marketing Cloud<\/a>\u2014that allow you to better understand your customers and send them more targeted messages. Think through whom you\u2019re trying to reach, where they spend their time online, and how they access the Internet.<\/p>\n 4. Help Your Audience Make a Decision<\/i><\/p>\n Compel your readers to take action. This seems simple enough, but calls to action are often overlooked. In fact, one study found 70 per cent<\/a> of small business B2B websites lacked this next step. <\/p>\n Before creating content, it\u2019s important to ask, \u201cWhat is my goal with this content?\u201d Whether it\u2019s to create a brand impression, rank for a specific keyword, or grow your email list, determine the purpose of your content. This will not only help you focus your content creation, it will provide a tangible next step for the self-directed consumer. <\/p>\n 1. \u201cConsumers of all types expect to find answers on the Internet now, and companies that can best provide that information garner trust, and sales, and loyalty.\u201d \u2014 Marcus Sheridan (Youtility<\/i>, xi)<\/p>\n 2. \u201cIf you sell something, you make a customer today; if you help someone, you make a customer for life.\u201d \u2014 Jay Baer (Youtility,<\/i> pg. 3) <\/p>\n 3. \u201cContent builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.\u201d \u2014Andrew Davis (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 4. \u201cIf you have a good story to tell, tell it in a way that\u2019s authentic conversation with the customer. You can\u2019t just preach to the customer. You have to engage them, so that they can come to learn and believe it, and build that trust with you.\u201d \u2014 Joel Yashinsky (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 5. \u201cYou have to empathize with your target audience in three ways: How they discover information, their preferences for consumption\u2026and what motivates them to take action.\u201d \u2014 Lee Odden (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 6. \u201cPretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, \u2018Make me feel important.\u2019 Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life.\u201d \u2014 Mary Kay Ash (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 7. \u201cMost of all, I discovered that in order to succeed with a product you must truly get to know your customers and build something for them.\u201d \u2014 Marc Benioff (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 8. \u201cThe key in mastering any kind of sales is switching statements about you and how great you are and what you do, to statements about them, and how great they are and how they will produce more and profit more from ownership of your product or service.\u201d \u2014 Jeffrey Gitomer (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 9. \u201cI like to think of sales as the ability to gracefully persuade, not manipulate, a person or persons into a win-win situation.\u201d \u2014 Bo Bennett (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 10. \u201cA marketer can spend plenty on promoting a product, but unless consumers are actively engaged in believing the story, nothing happens.\u201d \u2014 Seth Godin (All Marketers Are Liars<\/i>) <\/p>\n 11. \u201cUseful content accelerates potential buyers along their journey.\u201d \u2014 Peter O\u2019Neil (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 12. \u201cToday, I see my business as a content marketing company. In other words, my entire goal is to give more valuable, helpful, and remarkable content to consumers than anyone else in my field, which will in turn lead to more sales.\u201d \u2014 Ann Handley (Content Rules<\/i>)<\/p>\n 13. \u201cYour customers don’t buy your product to do your company a favour. They’re doing it because your product makes their lives better. So if you want to sell something, you need to explain how you’re helping them.\u201d\u2014Nadia Eghbal (From Ann Handley, Everybody Writes, <\/i>Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 14. \u201cThese days, people want to learn before they buy, be educated instead of pitched.\u201d \u2014 Brian Clark (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 15. \u201cGreat content is the best sales tool in the world.\u201d \u2014 Marcus Sheridan (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 16. \u201cA sales team armed with content\u2014content inspired by their own insights\u2014is a sales team that can more effectively close deals.\u201d \u2014 Hana Abaza (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 17. \u201cLeveraging content throughout the sales process is a powerful way to educate and persuade potential customers, clarify the value proposition, manage objections, and expedite the sales cycle.\u201d \u2014 Hana Abaza (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 18. \u201cAny content that shows the value of your offerings and highlights the success of your customers is an important, credible asset for your sales team.\u201d \u2014 Amanda Maksymiw (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 19. \u201cIn this digital age, it’s increasingly important for marketing to play a bigger role in helping sales not just get your message in front of a customer, but to make it their message\u2014something that the buyer cares enough about to talk to your rep and to do something that upsets the status quo as a result.\u201d \u2014 Laura Ramos (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 20. \u201cTo maximize the chances of securing the deal when the time is right, you need to stay in touch\u2014and marketing can help by producing materials to keep your business top-of-mind.\u201d \u2014 Richard Young (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 21. \u201cWhen it comes to today\u2019s consumer, if we give them enough valuable content and information, we will in-turn build a relationship of trust with the prospect before we\u2019ve ever even met.\u201d \u2014 Marcus Sheridan (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n 22. \u201cThe paradox is the more info you give away, the more people will buy what you have to give.\u201d \u2014 Brian Clark (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n With shortening attention spans, it’s harder than ever to gain the attention of potential customers. These quotes and tips will help you close the sale with self-directed consumers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sf_justforyou_enable_alt":true,"optimizely_content_id":"","post_meta_title":"","ai_synopsis":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"sf_topic":[4],"sf_content_type":[],"coauthors":[2],"class_list":["post-4984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","sf_topic-sales"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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