Imagine that you are standing at the foot of a mountain.
You can see the peak high up in the clouds. Part of you wonders whether it’s worth climbing all the way up, and the other part of you wants to see what it’s like up there.
Slowly you start to make the climb. You take a few steps, and then you rest. Then, with a little more enthusiasm, you climb a little higher. You repeat this pattern until you are very near the top. This is when your motivation really kicks in. You can see the peak, and it feels like a certainty that you’ll reach it. You push ahead and before you know it, you find yourself standing there at the peak of the mountain.
What do you do now?
Maybe you sit and enjoy the view for a while, but eventually, you decide it’s time to climb back down. You notice as you’re descending that it’s much easier to come down the other side of the mountain than it was to climb. The gravity is helping you place your feet, and you feel a sense of relief having achieved your goal.
Ok, imaginary mountain climb is over… what’s the point here?
I believe that every single one of your prospects is going to go through a similar experience to this when they consider your product or service.
Your prospects are climbers
Imagine a potential customer of your business. They have a need or a desire, or maybe a slight interest in what you provide. In this phase, they are standing at the bottom of the marketing mountain. They are looking up at the peak, half wondering if it’s worth the effort to learn more, and half curious about the benefits of what you offer.
Eventually, their desire to know more kicks in and they start a small climb. They google, they take a visit to your website, they find your social media page. They learn a little, they see what others are saying. Maybe they like your page, or they subscribe to your channel or email list. Then they pause.
After a while, they forget about you. They go back to their lives. But then, you create a new blog post, record a new video or send them an email. This starts their curiosity again, and they make a few more tiny steps up the mountain. They continue this journey, sometimes for months or years. As time passes they keep climbing towards the peak, then stalling and forgetting about you.
Eventually, with enough repeated exposure to you, they start to see the benefits of buying. The peak of the mountain is within their reach. They make that last few steps. They reach the peak, buy from you, and stand there enjoying the benefits of being at the top of the mountain.
And here’s the best part: at no stage did they feel harassed or cajoled into buying. It was their choice to climb the mountain, they feel empowered.
Why sales fails and marketing works
When people take their time to learn about you, begin to trust you, and decide to buy from you, it is a seamless experience.
They don’t need (or want) you pushing and shoving them up the mountain. They want to take the steps slowly, by themselves, towards the peak.
In fact, this is why I believe marketing can be so much more powerful than sales.
Imagine if you were climbing a mountain with someone behind you: pushing you, telling you to keep climbing, promising it’s awesome at the top. Maybe it would motivate you a tiny bit, but it’s probably more likely to make you annoyed.
This is exactly what happens with sales. Salespeople want a prospect to get to the top of their mountain quickly. They fight against the gravity (often called rejection),rush and push people to the top. Even if they get a few people to reach the peak, nobody really enjoys it as much.
In sharp contrast, a person who has slowly, deliberately decided to climb your marketing mountain themselves feels good about it.
Even better, as they come back down the mountain, very often they keep buying from you.
The gravity of walking down the marketing mountain amplifies their trust and loyalty. They advocate your brand, tell others how awesome you are, and sometimes even become a raving fan.
Help them to take small steps at their own pace
As a content writer, I have seen the difference that can be achieved if a business lets their customers take their own meandering path to buy.
Creating valuable blog articles, videos, how-to guides, regularly sending them emails, engaging with them on social media, all these small actions bring them step by step closer to buying.
But the best part is, at no point do they feel sold. They don’t feel you pushing them, because you aren’t.
If you have the confidence to know you provide something of value to your clients, find ways to share a small part of this value with your prospects through your marketing. Do this enough times and they will climb your marketing mountain. They will make their way to the peak and buy from you.
Best of all, they will love you.