There’s a lot that goes into a successful sales process, but one of the most important things is understanding the level of awareness that your prospect has. After all, you can’t sell to someone who doesn’t even know they need your product or that your product exists! By understanding where your leads are, you can customize your sales approach to better fit their needs. This, in turn, increases a prospect’s chances of buying from you.

There are generally considered to be five phases of prospect awareness:

1. Prospects Who Are Unaware That They Have A Problem:

These are people who don’t even know they have a problem in their business. In order to reach these leads, you’ll need to do some serious education about the problem they’re likely to be facing and that there is a solution for it.

This stage is hard on education, high on effort, and has little return in the short term. But it builds awareness, authority, and trust, and it creates a community. While it might seem like too much of an investment, it’s the type of thing where you put in the work today and results start showing constantly, month after month.

PS: If you are a SaaS or a tech company and need help with your lead generation, cold outreach or digital marketing efforts, book a discovery call here.

2. Prospects Who Are Aware They Have A Problem And The Pain Is There, But They Don’t Know There Is A Solution For It:

These leads know they have a problem, but they don’t yet know that a specific product or service even exists as a solution. To reach these leads, you’ll need to do some education on the problem they’re facing as well as the available solutions that can help them solve their specific problem.

This stage is all about creating systems around Problem – Impact – Solution – Results framework.

3. Prospects Who Know There Is A Solution Out There, But They Don’t Know You Provide That Solution To Their Problem:

These leads have likely already been approached by your competition, they did some form of research, and they have some kind of market understanding. So you’ll need to differentiate yourself and cut through the noise. This is where you talk about your unique selling points and why your SaaS, product, or service might be the best choice for solving their problem.

This stage is all about use cases and the ability to link the Problem to the Features and how they are specifically a good solution.

4. Prospects Who Know You Provide A Solution To Their Problem, But Don’t Know Yet How Your Solution Solves Their Problem, Specifically:

These leads are getting close to becoming customers, but they need just a little bit more information before they’re ready to take the plunge. This is where you provide them with detailed information about how your product or service will solve their specific problem.

This stage is all about the value you can create for your future client. They are already in the “buy mind space”, but they just need to make sure that the decision to work with you is the right one.

5. Prospects Who Know You Provide A Solution To Their Problem And Are Ready To Buy:

These are the leads that are hot and ready to convert! They know your product exists, they know it can solve their problem, and they’re interested in learning more about what you have to offer. This is where you provide them with a detailed proposal and close the deal.

This is, maybe, one of the most complicated phases to sell, but also one of the best ones if done properly. The biggest challenge is to avoid commoditization of your proposal, because otherwise the decision will be only made based on the price, instead of the value and problem-solving.

By understanding where your leads are in terms of awareness, you can tailor your sales approach to better fit their needs and increase your chances of making a sale. So don’t forget to ask the right questions to discover where they’re at in their journey and adjust your pitch accordingly. If you don’t personalize things, your efforts will end up lost in all the noise your competition makes. You will be just another provider trying to sell no matter what, as opposed to someone who puts in some effort to get to know the prospect. It shows care and dedication, and these are more precious than volume.

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We hope our content will help you optimize your lead gen efforts and ultimately get more leads into your funnels. If you have any questions or want to learn more about lead generation and mapping a good ideal customer profile, feel free to contact us.

We’re always happy to help!