Knowledge:  The shopper must know that you are there and can provide the service or product they need.  This is a marketing issue.  The shopper can find you in the yellow pages, on the internet, through the mail, word of mouth etc.

Learn:  Once the shopper knows that you are in the market, they begin to learn about who you are, the nature of your product or service, and your reputation. You have to be ready to provide information about your business and what makes you unique in the market place. This is the process of getting them to like what they are learning.

Like:  In order to progress along the path of purchasing from you, the shopper must like what they have learned about you.  This is common sense.  You don’t buy from someone you don’t like or trust.

Prefer:  If the shopper likes what they have learned about you, they may move on to preferring you as a vender. Preference does not guaranty a purchase.  You still have to provide the product or service they need and do it with as little risk as possible.

You may prefer to do business with a vender that is very easy to work with, but they do not have what you need.  Conversely, you may find what you need with a vender who is difficult to work with or is risky to do business with.

Conviction:  If the shopper prefers you as a vender, they can develop the conviction to buy from you. Conviction is based upon low risk, meeting critical to quality requirements, and at some level, a degree of personal connection.

This is a tricky area.  Shoppers do not like to be sold, but they do like to buy.  Most shoppers who will not buy on-line or over the phone are simply afraid of making a mistake.  Not necessarily that they will buy the wrong merchandise, but that they might buy from the wrong vender.

Conviction for the shopper becomes a matter of feeling safe and believing that they are making a good decision.

Buy:  If the shopper has conviction that you are the right person to buy from, then they may move on to do business with you.  The key here is to make it easy to do business with your company.  Remember that buying is an emotional decision, not an intellectual one.

A shopper may know everything that there is to know about you and your product or service and still not “feel” right about buying from you.  Conversely, a shopper may not know everything they need to know, but still feel safe about buying from you. This is why it is better to ask questions and listen than it is to tell the shopper something about your business.  Telling is not selling.  Listening is.