Boost Your Sales By Designing Your Website Around These 4 Powerful Buying Models


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For most businesses, the primary goal of a website is sales. Yet this “simple” goal is complicated because websites cannot (yet) have a dynamic business conversation. That’s why you always get phone calls, hold strategy session meetings, and talk to clients via email to help them make a decision.

You don’t sell your product or service to everyone the same way because each person has different concerns and different processes they go through to make a buying decision. By deploying thousands of websites, I have identified four main “buying models” of customers. Implementing adjustments to your website based on these buying patterns will result in higher conversions and more sales.

Rather than focusing on intangible personality traits, the focus here is on a person’s tangible ‘how’ in their buying process and ‘what they are looking for in making the decision. I abbreviate the four purchase models in BRAG:

B = Negotiators

R = Researchers

A = Actors

g = Group buyers

Everyone defaults to a primary purchasing model when making a purchasing decision. But, people aren’t limited to just one model: more often than not, you will find that people will support their decisions by supplementing their decision making with traits from other models. Additionally, people will change their primary default model based on what they are buying (e.g. buying a car or buying a book).

Where most websites go wrong is that they really only appeal to one of the buying models (usually by modeling how the business owner buys). Let’s dive into the buying models and easy implementations you can do today.

Related: How To Make Your Website Your Best Seller, Not Your Worst Money Pit

Merchants are still looking for a deal

These are the types of people who are always looking for a deal and are most often mistaken for “bargain hunters”. Bargain hunters are people who shop for a good deal, which usually means getting the same product or service for a lower price. Here’s an example: Store A has the Model X3 TV for $ 399. Store B has the X3 for $ 379, if you can’t match that I will buy from Store B.

Merchants, on the other hand, are people who are looking for the best deal, which doesn’t always mean the cheapest price. They are looking to get the most bang for their buck. Here’s an example of a merchant’s thought process: Store A has the Model X3 TV for $ 399, but Store B has the X3 with a $ 75 speaker set for $ 450, I’ll buy at the store B.

The difference is critical. You can’t always win a “cheapest price” war with a competitor, but you can almost certainly always create value-added offers. The most common way to do this is to offer packages of different products and services or to add additional upsells that are sold at a better rate when bought together with something else.

Here are some website implementations:

  • Add “price charts” that compare different offers with the add-ons and features listed.

  • Bundle your products or services and add meaningful upsells.

  • Add value with expertise, such as informational / how-to guides, books or counseling sessions.

  • Emphasize tangible (price) and intangible (convenience, expertise) value.

Researchers want to make the “best” decision

Primarily, a researcher wants to make a purchase that is “empirically” or “factually” the best decision he can make based on his budget and needs.

As a result, researchers will judge the quality of the product or service based on the ease with which they conducted their research. Brief explanations without details are extremely frustrating. They are looking for answers and want to dig into all the details. If you do not provide this information, you are going to be eliminated as an option because you must be “worse” by default than your competitor who does.

They love to read long documents explaining the processes, explanations of things like the impact of material choice on durability or efficiency and they will defend their purchasing decision based on logical conclusions of “empirical facts”. . Fortunately, since searchers are looking for information, that doesn’t mean you have to stack 18,000 words on your home or service pages. Just add a simple link for more information on the key points to access the long pages of details.

Here are some website implementations:

  • Create in-depth content pages that dig deeper into the details of your product or service, with related articles that go into even more precise detail.

  • Explain your process or methodology in detail on one page.

  • Objectively identify the advantages and disadvantages of your offers.

  • Provide as much data as possible, often offered as a “white paper” for download.

Related: Learn These 5 Personality Strategies To Boost Sales

Action takers want it short, simple and results-oriented

Unlike the researcher, the actor wants short content that gets straight to the point and is extremely results-oriented. Explanations that are too long or complicated will lead to frustration and you will hear statements such as “Get right to the point” or “This is way too complicated for what I need”.

It’s not that action takers are “less intelligent” than researchers, but more often than not they are either pressed for time or just need a certain outcome now and don’t want to go “into it.” weeds “. They will judge you based on your clarity and brevity and the ease of the buying process.

Keep it short, keep it simple, display results and data visually.

Here are some website implementations:

  • Summarize it in 2-3 sentences. Use “executive summaries” and bullet points.

  • Focus only on your most important stats and metrics and focus on results.

  • Display data in simple, visual charts and tables.

  • Make buying super easy – one or two clicks and you’re done.

Related: 10 Website Design Tips That Boost Sales

Group buyers seek social proof

Group buyers are commonly referred to as “partner buyers” in sales jargon. Aside from legitimate purchases that require multiple parties to make decisions, the most common cause of the ‘need to talk to someone else’ phenomenon is that the person is simply not confident in their ability or ability. knowledge to make a decision. Because they do not have confidence in their decision-making process, it is very difficult for them to act on their own.

For example, I don’t know much about cars. I will even actively postpone a car buying decision because I am just paralyzed trying to “make the right choice”. I can’t trust the seller to be objective because their main motivation is to sell something from their inventory. Instead, I’ll ask some car-loving friends what they think about it in order to make a decision.

This exact scenario is what leads to the majority of “I need to talk to someone” situations and nothing you say to them can convince them because they don’t trust each other in the situation. What this buyer needs is third party validation or making a decision “together” so they can be sure they are making the right choice or that they are not blamed for a decision. They need “group” validation and consensus.

Of course, they want to make the right choice, but above all they want to make the right one Socially acceptable choice. They want others to say things like “I would have made the same choice”.

Here are some website implementations:

  • Testimonials are essential – video is best, but at least written testimonials with pictures and names.

  • Don’t be generic with testimonials. Place the testimonials that speak of X next to the content that speaks of X.

  • Add easy “share” link buttons (share url, email, social media) so they can quickly share it with someone they trust.

  • Get support from respected influencers, public figures or local leaders.

  • Add top-level credibility builders (credentials, companies you’ve worked with, etc.)

  • Build trust by regularly posting new content and building followers.