In our sales training curriculum, we talk about the unawareness to action continuum (Figure below). In this continuum, it appears that all components of this are equidistant from each other and therefore demand the same effort. But that is not true. The figure below specifies the true work in the unawareness to action cycle, and highlights the fact that the real effort comes from going from unaware to aware.

It’s a constant struggle for sales teams to make their customers aware not only that they exist and that their company exists, but of the assortment of products and solutions they offer.

The answer lies within you. As with most things in life, the answer to this problem is not on the outside, but on the inside. What I mean by the inside is: It’s in your current database right now with people you already know who are somewhat aware of your services and your value.

In other words, why spend all this time trying to court a person who doesn’t know you—spend millions of dollars in advertising, web banners, billboards, radio and TV trying to make a person aware of you who is probably not likely to buy—when you have in your current database people who are already there? It’s a lot easier to take someone from awareness to comprehension of your solutions and conviction that they need your help, than it is to take someone from unaware to aware.

It seems like some kind of challenge that we take on: We’ll do the hardest stuff we possibly can, and we don’t want to do anything that’s easy because that would imply that we’re wimpy.

I say, take the wimpy road. You’ll make a lot more money, you’ll have a lot more fun, you’ll serve a lot more people, you’ll be able to give more to charity if that’s your wish. But why spend all your time making the unaware aware, when you’ve already got people who are in need of what you have—you just haven’t cultivated them yet?

Caskey-Neale-Podcast

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