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The 9 Stages Your Clients Go Through Before Saying Yes · Founder Unfiltered - What Founders Think But Never Say

• 0:00
  Welcome to another episode of 6 Figure Secrets for Fractional
• 0:03
  Experts. My name is Bradley Jacobs.
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  I'm your host and the founder and CEO of Mylance.
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  Today's episode I'm really excited about because we're
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  going to talk about what your buyer experience is actually
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  like and then map it to how you need to show up to actually
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  attract and eventually close that client.
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  So we're going to jump right in. So when we think about the B to
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  B buyer, who is your buyer right there?
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  The founder, the business owner, maybe AC level or high vice
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  president, you know, SVP kind of role.
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  What are they thinking, seeing, feeling in their own words?
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  And so we're going to walk through all of the steps that
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  happened from I've never heard about you to I'm buying from
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  you. So the first touch is probably a
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  random encounter where a friend mentions your name, or they see
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  your name as like a comment on a LinkedIn post, someone
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  references you in a Slack community or your company, or
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  maybe they scroll past one of your LinkedIn posts.
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  They barely even notice it and the internal dialogue is like
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  barely even noticing you exist, right?
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  Like who's this? Never seen them before, Like not
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  important, whatever, right? They're busy, they're
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  overwhelmed and you're really just like a flicker the next.
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  And this is not to be insulting, it's just probably true.
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  It's just how it goes. The next stage would be they see
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  you again. Maybe they see you in another
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  LinkedIn post, another comment, somebody else mentions you or
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  your company. Maybe someone shares a post of
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  yours or replies to a comment. And now you're they're building
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  a little bit of familiarity. They're like, oh, I've seen this
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  before. They're talking about the same
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  thing or they're referenced in a similar vein, but they're still
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  not overly interested. You're kind of, you're kind of
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  like, you know, you're not random and there's a tiny signal
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  forming, forming, but there's not like a, oh, I need to talk
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  to this person. It's like, oh, there's just a
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  little bit of repeated exposure. The third step is there's
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  something that triggers more curiosity because they've seen
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  what you do based on those first two touch points and now there's
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  a problem in their business. So something breaks or they miss
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  a target, maybe they feel stuck and they're, they think back to,
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  oh, like I remember this person or this company was talking
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  about this problem. Let me go take a look.
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  So they might go check out your LinkedIn profile or skim a few
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  posts that you wrote, make maybe take a quick glance at your
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  website and they probably have that tab open and totally forget
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  about it. And the internal dialogue is
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  like, do they actually work with me?
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  Do they, can they get any results?
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  Do they actually understand the problem?
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  Is this legitimate? So there's like some micro
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  curiosity there. They're not at the evaluating
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  stage yet, but they're starting to think like maybe there could
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  be something here. Maybe this person could solve my
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  problem. But again, they probably leave
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  the tab open and they forget about it.
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  Stage 4 is they see something from you that adds value, that
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  starts to hit on that problem that they are experiencing.
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  So it could be an audit or a guide.
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  Maybe you're hosting a workshop, some sort of template, or maybe
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  your newsletter addresses the topic that they're struggling
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  with. And they think to themselves,
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  OK, like this is relevant to me. What do I have to lose by giving
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  my e-mail or signing up or seeing what this, you know,
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  guide has to offer? Let me throw in my e-mail and
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  just like see how legitimate this is.
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  So there's no real buying intent, but they're starting to
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  explore. So that is stage 4.
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  Now they've given you their e-mail and this is stage 5 where
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  they are kind of lurking to see how legitimate you are.
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  They're waiting until there's an offer that nails it for them.
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  So they might skim your emails if you have an e-mail campaign
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  drip, they're noticing your LinkedIn post more and they're
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  reading them a little bit more intently to see like, is there
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  something here? They're noticing some patterns
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  and they're really comparing their situation to what you
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  solve, right? They're like, can this person,
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  can this company solve my problem?
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  Are they going to be a good fit for me?
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  And they're starting to relate more and more to your content of
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  like, this makes sense. This makes sense.
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  I like how they explain things. Maybe I'm not quite ready, but
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  like this is starting to get really interesting.
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  And internally they're they're being warmed up.
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  So they're not quite ready to take action, but their mindset
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  is like, OK, you know, there's something here.
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  I'm ready to learn more. I'm ready to, I'm open to the
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  right offer. Step 6 is what shifts to this,
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  this person being a buyer. And it's when there's that big
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  trigger in their company, like some sort of crisis or, you
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  know, a deadline missed, a costly mistake, the realization
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  they're spending way too much money solving this problem.
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  They fire somebody, a competitor beats them to something.
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  And all of a sudden their pain that they've been experiencing
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  for the first five stages has become real.
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  And it's become significant and it's become a top priority.
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  And internally, they're like, shoot, I don't have the
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  resources to solve this myself. I need to fix this.
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  I need someone I can trust. I need someone who understands
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  this problem deeply. And they think of you because
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  you've been in their feed, you've been in their inbox, now
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  that you've been nurturing them, right?
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  And there's been multiple touch points.
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  This is the sixth touch point that they have with you.
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  So now they're ready for a conversation.
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  They're ready to say, hey, I have this problem.
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  I need it to be solved. I've seen you.
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  You sound like you know what you're talking about.
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  Can we talk? So step 7 is they book a call,
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  they reply to an e-mail, they DM you, they click on your calendar
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  link and or they ask for an introduction and they're like,
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  you know, I'm hoping this person gets it.
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  It seems like they do. I'll see you on the phone.
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  I'll see if it's a good fit. And so stage 8 is where they're
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  on that call with you and they're thinking like, OK,
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  they're validating all of those questions, those hypothesis,
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  those assumptions of are they going to be worth the money?
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  Are they going to be worth the investment?
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  Is this worth my time, energy, money that they are actually
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  going to solve this problem for me and will they make me look
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  good? Will they will this be worth the
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  emotional and operational cost? And then whether if they buy on
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  the call, amazing after the call, it's do I feel safe moving
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  forward? Right.
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  So they're they're they're basically saying, do you solve
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  the problem for me? And do you did you make it easy
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  for me to say yes? Like is there an easy offer that
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  I can just you know it like, let's go, let's make this, let's
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  make this happen. And the last is trust.
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  It's all about trust. Like is it, am I sure that if I
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  pay this person the money or do I have a really good level of
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  confidence? If I pay this person the money,
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  they are going to deliver and I'm going to look good, my
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  company's going to look good, and we are no longer going to
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  have this issue. The internal dialogue is, does
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  this feel right? Does this solve the problem?
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  Is this something I'm just ready to move forward on and stop
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  dealing with? Is this going to get rid of the
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  pain point? That's really what it's about.
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  Does this get rid of the pain point?
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  The decision is always emotional 1st and rational second.
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  So those are the 9 stages that your buyer is going through,
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  which means you need to have all of those things in place so that
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  you hit them that many times in that many ways and navigate the
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  emotional journey from I've never heard about you to I'm
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  buying from you. So let's go to the company side.
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  This is your side. Like this is what you need to
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  have in place. So step one is presence.
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  You get to show up in multiple different places consistently
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  over time. Showing up once, 2 * 10 * 20
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  times is not enough. You got to be showing up every
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  week for months and months and months on end.
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  That's just what's required. You got to find a way to do
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  that. So daily LinkedIn content, DMS,
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  comments and other people's stuff, participation in
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  communities, all with a consistent point of view.
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  Or you have to have clarity in the pain points that you solve
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  so that they are building the right kind of familiarity with
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  you. So the objective is to be
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  visible enough that a stranger can stumble into you.
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  That's stage 1. Stage 2, you're not going to be
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  surprised. It is recognition consistently
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  over time. So you want to be talking about
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  the same problem over and over and over again and relatively
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  the same language with slightly different angles, but
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  consistency over time so that this repetition going super deep
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  in one topic is building that trust that we talked about.
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  So you move from a random person that they've never heard of to
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  1:00 where they're really starting to build in that
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  familiarity. Then stage 3, this is something
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  tangible to have in place is your profile.
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  And if you have a website, your homepage, you have to pass the
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  10 second test, which is does your LinkedIn profile and your
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  homepage, if you have one, answer who you help, what
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  problem you solve for them, the outcome you create and proof
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  you've done it. I'm going to say those again in
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  case you're in the car, who you help, what problem you solve,
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  the outcome you generate, and proof that you've done it.
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  It doesn't need to be clever. It doesn't need to be fancy.
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  It just needs to be clear and legible.
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  That's it. Concise, clear, legible.
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  You probably got 10 seconds with that person.
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  After that, you need a lead magnet that actually adds value.
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  A lead magnet is simply saying I will give you some free value in
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  exchange for your contact information and the free value.
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  You don't need to go crazy. It could be a free consultation
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  call, right? It could say I'm going to offer
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  1520 minutes of my time to teach you something that's going to
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  add value. It could be a newsletter, it
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  could be an ebook, it could be a guide, it could be a webinar or
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  workshop. Lots of options here.
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  You want the lead magnet to align with the problem that you
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  solve, right? So if you're a marketing
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  analytics expert, you could do you know a free guide on like
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  the best dashboard you ever built, right?
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  Just as an example or, or a guide to making that dashboard
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  or something like that. And when you collect their
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  e-mail right now, stage 5, you can nurture them.
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  It's a clean, simple, nurturing sequence of who you are, what
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  problems you solve. Like teach them things, continue
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  to add value, right? So stories, examples, insights.
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  No spam here, right? Certainly just clear, concise
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  value added emails where you stay top of mind and you have
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  clear call to action. So if they want to jump on a
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  call with you, they certainly can.
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  Stage 6 is being there when the trigger hits like we talked
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  about stage 6 at the beginning of this is something happens
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  where they feel that pain and you are right there to say, hey,
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  I got you covered. I'm going to be the one that
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  solves this pain for you. So that's, that's where the
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  consistency is key that enables them to get in touch with you.
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  So you can obviously just have your calendly in your LinkedIn
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  profile and your content will just be the thing that drives
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  them there eventually. But I'd also recommend sending
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  some sort of regular cadence as I, we send a newsletter every
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  week, right? And the newsletter always has a
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  clear call to action to book time with me, right?
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  So sending something consistently where they can book
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  time with you and actually get on the phone.
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  And that's stage 7 frictionless call booking.
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  So simple calendar calendly link, make sure you have time
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  slots available, maybe a few questions just to make sure that
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  they're the right fit for the call, and a thank you message
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  that sets expectations. Really, really, really simple.
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  And you want enough information here to start the conversation.
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  Well, so I ask in my calendly a few questions that are going to
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  help me take the sales call where I want to go to address
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  their concerns, to talk about the value that we create.
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  One of those questions I asked like how important do you
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  believe LinkedIn content is to your business?
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  And if they don't think it's important at all, then I know
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  we're starting at a place of like, why are we even on the
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  call? We help you with LinkedIn
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  content. If you don't think it's
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  important, like why are we here? Maybe you're trying to have me
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  convince you it's important, but I'm not going to do that.
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  I want to work with people that already know it's important.
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  So anyway, frictionless call booking is stage 7.
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  Stage 8 is the sales call itself.
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  And this is not a pitch. It is the opposite of a pitch.
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  It is where you are asking about their problem.
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  You are getting clarity into their problem.
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  You are being curious and you are then seeing if there's an
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  opportunity to solve their problem.
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  And frankly, by you asking really good questions, that's
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  going to be the best quote UN quote pitch you could ever do.
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  So keep this simple. Do if you need to do sales
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  training because you don't know how to do this, do sales
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  training. But the best way to do sales is
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  to ask really, really, really good questions.
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  Stage 9 is clean follow up. So follow up after the call
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  summary in their words. You can use AI for this, at
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  least for a draft and send a proposal.
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  And this is where you make it as easy as possible for them to say
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  yes. So after all of these steps,
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  right? You are just saying like, you
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  know what, I've already built a trust, I built a legitimacy and
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  all you are doing is saying yes. So this was a just clean and
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  clear. This is their journey.
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  This is what you need to have in place and the end of the day, if
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  you aren't creating something like this, right, you have to do
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  something. Otherwise you're just, you have
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  the the prey approach that clients fall in your lap and
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  that will work for a period of time and then it will almost
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  certainly stop. So you get to have a robot
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  system that aligns with what the buyer journey is actually like.
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  With that, we're going to wrap this episode up.
• 15:01
  Come check out Mylance. We have this new LinkedIn
• 15:05
  thought leadership product that is absolutely amazing.
• 15:08
  People are loving it. It's really learning more and
• 15:11
  more better every day to write like you across 20 different
• 15:15
  fields. We've spent a lot of time making
• 15:16
  it really amazing. Come check it out.
• 15:18
  We're still in beta. We're doing 50% off
• 15:20
  grandfathered in for life for a limited period of time.
• 15:23
  So come check it out, Come talk to me.
• 15:25
  I'm happy to chat with you and see if it's a fit.
• 15:27
  Otherwise have an amazing day. Share this with a friend, ping
• 15:29
  me on LinkedIn, we'd love to hear from you and have a great
• 15:32
  rest of your day.