October 23/30, 2017: Volume 32, Issue 10
By Jim Augustus Armstrong
(Second of three parts)
When buying big ticket items ($500 or more), the average consumer spends 79 days on the path-to-purchase, research shows. Furthermore, 85% of consumers begin their path-to-purchase journey online, but 82% of the time do they make the actual purchase in a brick-and-mortar store.
To that end, it’s important that retailers stay in front of their prospect throughout the 79 days in order to make sure that the path ends at their store instead of a competitor’s.
In this follow-up to Part I of my series (FCNews, Sept. 11/18), I provide a three-step system for making this happen.
Step 1: Provide prospects with an “irresistible free offer” on your website. By “irresistible,” I mean an offer so compelling that a total stranger is willing to give you her contact information in exchange for the information you’re giving away. In creating this kind of offer, it’s important to understand the mindset of someone shopping for flooring. She is excited about the prospect of getting new floors to make her home more beautiful. She is about to invest thousands of dollars and she doesn’t want to make a mistake, buy the wrong flooring and have to live with a decision she’ll regret. So naturally, her excitement is combined with some nervousness—which is part of the reason the path to purchase averages 79 days.
The consumer begins her research online, so put yourself in the best position to offer her this guidance. For instance, she visits your website and sees a video or ad offering for a free report where she will learn how to avoid predatory dealers and questions to ask a dealer before purchasing. This is a compelling offer that she is likely to opt in for if she’s in the market for flooring.
Step 2: Obtain prospect’s critical information. Basically you need to collect three pieces of information from the consumer: name, email address and phone number. If a prospect is willing to give you all of this, she has raised her hand and identified herself as a hot prospect who is very interested in buying flooring. You can now focus more intense marketing efforts on this prospect.
Step 3: Establish an automated 79-day ‘drip’ campaign. For the first month, your prospect should get an email from you every two to three days. Every email should follow the 90/10 formula: 90% great content and only 10% consisting of an invitation to purchase. This means 90% of the content is valuable, informative, welcome and entertaining; it should be so compelling that she looks forward to your next email.
Up to 10% of the message can consist of a special offer or invitation to purchase. You should include a deadline for the offer along with a very clear, simple call to action: phone you or visit your showroom.
Within a day or two of opting in for your free offer, your prospect should get a phone call from a member of your sales team. The aim here is to schedule an appointment, either in your showroom or the prospect’s home.
Over the course of the next phase—31-79 days—send a weekly email. Follow the same 90/10 formula you used during the first 30 days.
By following this strategy you give yourself a huge advantage in the path-to-purchase game because most of your competitors will never implement a system as I’ve described.
New book! For a free copy of Jim’s latest book, “How Floor Dealers Can Beat the Boxes Online,” visit BeatTheBoxesOnline.com.