Voting Is A Buying Process - Every Buying Decision Has Five Steps

Voting Is A Buying Process

Every Buying Decision Has Five Steps


This is not about politics; it is about the way we all buy anything.

Every four years the people of America participate in a very important buying decision; the election of the next President. The candidates have been participating in what is called an election campaign. It should properly be called a sales campaign because they have been selling the product they know best; themselves, their ideas for the future of America. They are competing sales people; we are the buying committee, in the corporation called America. This is a big ticket sale, and a big ticket buying decision.

Selling is an educational process and during the primary selling effort, you and I were prospects listening to a variety of sales pitches. Each of us on the buying committee has the power to say no or yes and we gradually did that with our attitude, answers to pollster's questions and election results. We, the members of the buying committee have essentially narrowed the decision to two salespeople and their product.

From now until the election, the sales people are going to be asking for appointments with us for the purpose of further educating us about the benefits their product will give us. Between appointments we will be telling them what our needs and hopes are. We'll do this by writing letters to the editor, attending meetings, answering poll questions and even sending them emails. During the appointments we will be listening to their answers. At the end of each appointment i.e. speech, published interview, etc., they are going to ask us for the order. This is the way all, big ticket, selling efforts have been done since selling and buying came into being.

I have watched the whole election process with this analogy in mind and have enjoyed it. I know that each of us has performed the first four of the five steps in the buying decision, for each of the primary candidates. Every buying decision is a five step process. For some purchases we complete all five in ten seconds, for others we need as long as four years.

I have recognized my own progress in this national buying process. I completed the key step about three months ago, a majority of the other folks in the buying committee have also completed this step; many completed it much earlier. My experience in selling tells me that almost everyone has completed it. The great majority of us are now in the last step.

It is interesting to me that none of the candidates that entered the primary election, indicated they'd had selling experience. Experience selling might have taught them the five steps in the buying process and saved them a ton of money. What a shame. They should have read my book - The Perception of a Difference.

Wes

Wesley W. Zimmerman
wes@perceptionofdifference.com