Direct response has been a subset of sales. In its most simplistic definition, it can be defined as any medium that will get a product offer in front of the most appropriate purchasing audience, offer product information relevant to the target consumer, and make available a response mechanism so they can purchase the product.
All of the above is dependent, ultimately, on the consumer making a decision. You can have the best material, the best product, and the most targeted audience. But if the consumer doesn’t make a decision to respond, it doesn’t matter what you’re selling.
There are many problems inherent in direct response: sellers need a good list, in the hopes that they will find buyers; sellers seek to promote their product with good copy and good layout, in the hopes of luring the buyer into a purchase; campaigns are targeted to discover just those people with an interest, in the hopes they will know how to decide.
I believe that with little effort, and a few extra bells and whistles, we can close more sales, and accumulate a larger buying audience. But we need some additional skills to achieve these goals. I believe it’s necessary–and possible–to help our clients make buying decisions based on their own buying criteria rather than just the strength of our promotion.
As this is my first column, let me describe the new sales paradigm–Buying Facilitation–and then give you an overview as to how to use BF to transform problems that are inherent in the direct response industry.
Over the course of our time together, I will tackle each of the problems, and see how we can help buyers make better buying decisions.
How Buyers Buy
Sellers are often so busy selling that they sometimes forget that buying and selling are two different activities. Selling is the means with which a product or service gets purchased. Buying is the means with which a product or service gets decided upon. Selling is an information-based activity; buying is a systems- and criteria-based activity.
You already know how to sell, and are quite good at the direct response mechanism. Let’s concentrate on the more hidden end of the equation–the buying end. Buying is actually based on the following beliefs–some of which you might find challenging, as they are endemic to the industry.
1. Buyers buy only when they are able to align all of the systems (people, initiatives, current activities, relationships, budgets) that need to be addressed if they are to do something different from what they are doing.
2. Buyers do not buy based on information unless they are already seeking a solution that your product will fill. Many more of the people who receive your message would be buyers if they recognized a need, or knew that they would be able to bring your offering into their system (family, company, team) without fallout.
3. Buyers buy only when they are able to match their criteria–their norms, rules, beliefs, values, history–with the product purchase.
As a result of the one-way channel that direct response represents, we’ve made do with expectations of a tiny market share. Until now, we have assumed that a three percent market share is good. Good for what? Good for an industry that discharges data onto unsuspecting recipients with the hope that these recipients will act on the data presented. Not good for a targeted list that includes consumers, say 10 percent, who actually need the product and would purchase it if they had purchasing options they were more comfortable with.
What Is Buying Facilitation
Buying Facilitation is a method that sits on top of sales, and leads a buyer through all of those unique, systemic decisions that need to be made prior to making a purchasing decision. These decisions need to get made no matter how large or small the purchase–whether it’s a product or a service or if it’s for an individual or a group.
Let’s take a look at the sequence of how people buy, and the beliefs behind the BF methodology:
Before buyers make a purchasing decision, they need to know the following:
1. Is there something missing from what they are currently doing? If so, why haven’t they fixed it until now?
* If they buy magazines, and you offer them some that they have not heard of, how will they know they need a new one?
* If they already have an old X that works well, why would they decide it was time to buy a new one?
* If they already have a vendor, and you are offering them a new service that is actually better than their current service/vendor, how would they decide to switch providers, financial systems, ongoing relationships, etc. because of some data in a mailer?
2. How could they fix what they currently use/have to bring it up to the standard that your offering promises?
People would rather fix what they’ve got then do something new. If your message is so good that it makes them pause, the first thing they will do is to see if they can upgrade what they are using in order to not make waves.
People will NOT do anything different if they can figure out a way to keep the status quo calm while adding some new bells and whistles. Bringing in a new product causes some form of disruption: sometimes a relationship would have to change; sometimes a well-used and loved product needs to be replaced. Whatever it is, it spells CHANGE.
And there’s another problem altogether when you need to, um, convince someone to do something they’ve never done before. Then they need some way to trust.
3. What systems issues are endemic to the buyer’s environment that would need to be re-addressed in order to bring in an untried element?
All buyers–indeed all people–live within some form of system. It might be a family system, or a social system, or a system built around income or technology or social styles. Offering data about something new is irrelevant if it won’t fit into what already ‘is’. And, if it would fit, the existing factors would need to be willing to alter their status quo.
If it’s a small item, like a magazine, the person would need to make time to read it. If it’s a larger item, the considerations include: budget, spouse/family, time. If it’s a service that other vendors offer, the person might already have a vendor that would have to be replaced.
Remember that your offering doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
Here are some givens: you’ve done your research and targeted your audience; you’ve got a great list that has been tested; you’ve hired a wonderful copywriter who has developed some terrific text; your layout and design is superb; your mail shot was successful–brought in three percent response.
Question: given the strength of your list and your research, is three percent a fair assessment of the number of recipients who could use your product? Probably not. What’s stopping those that need your product from responding to the mailer? Is it your product? Is it the copy? Is it the design?
No, no, no, and no.
People aren’t buying because:
* They do not respond to any direct response vehicles;
* They don’t know how to make sense of adding something to what they are already doing;
* They don’t know they need your product;
* They might not understand how your product differs from what they’ve already got;
* They may not want to respond to what you are asking them to do.
In a phrase, they don’t know how to make a decision to buy your product.
Start thinking about this problem. Here are some questions I’ll leave you with until next time:
1. How would you define your job to incorporate the decision facilitation function? What could you do differently to base your promotion on supporting a buying decision rather than selling a product?
2. What would need to change in terms of your materials or your copy in order to bring in the element of decision support?
3. What would you need to test in order to believe that a way to help buyers decide would actually increase your sales? How would you run this test?
If you have questions or comments that you’d like me to address in upcoming columns, let me know at: sdm@austin.rr.com.
I look forward to supporting you in being as effective as possible.
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Should you wish to learn more about this, go to www.buyingfacilitation.com and purchase my ebook Buying Facilitation: the new way to sell that expands and influences decisions
