New Shoes
I often use shoes as an example when I am talking about sales. Generally, we all wear shoes at times and we all buy new pairs from time to time so they work very well as an example. Let me explain.
On Sunday, I am going to buy a new pair of black work shoes. It has been about 5 years since I last bought a pair as I do not wear them that often. I was perfectly happy with the pair that I had, they were nicely moulded to my feet, didn’t hurt in any way and did exactly what was required of them. I was in the status quo position where I was completely happy with what I had and could not see any reason to buy a new pair.
As I do not wear them very often, they had not worn too badly but I did notice that they were getting a little bit shabby. That on its own didn’t really persuade me to do anything. In my world. a bit shabby is still perfectly fine!
However, two things came along that have persuaded me to act. Firstly, we are going to a wedding in July and having a new pair of shoes would be nice to have. Secondly, my daughter works in a shoe shop but is finishing there in a few weeks so that she can concentrate on her A level studies. She earns commission on sales so buying my shoes this weekend means she will earn a bit more.
When I buy the new pair, I will probably only wear them for a few hours at a time while my feet get used to them. If I need to wear a formal pair for the whole day, I will probably wear the old pair until the new ones are well worn in. So, I have progressed around the buying cycle, from the status quo position, through the window of dissatisfaction, to searching for alternatives and returning to the status quo.
In terms of change:
I have learnt something new - my daughter is finishing work at the shoe shop
I have understood what this means for me - I need to buy a new pair soon so that she can benefit
I stated to take action - I will buy the shoes
I change slowly - I will wear them increasingly but not exclusively
I maintain the position - I wear them every time they are required.
If we want to sell something, we have to make it easy for our customer to follow the same journey. This is a very simple example. Not all products are as easy to understand and therefore we need to help our customer to progress this way. We cannot expect our customer to work it out for themselves. If we do, we are likely to fail to make progress with our sale.