Are you winning the zero moment of truth (ZMOT)?
The zero moment of truth is something that, as a business owner, you absolutely have to get your head around and understand exactly how this impacts the sale of your products and services.
The concept of the zero moment of truth (ZMOT) was coined by Jim Lecinski, and you can click here to visit the website that contains many case studies, research notes and eBooks about ZMOT taking place all over the globe. I urge you to spend time on the website!
I was signposted to ZMOT via Jay Baer’s recently published book Youtility, which you can purchase on Amazon by clicking here. I have since used examples at recent workshops and speaking events and I’m continuing to study it and pass this knowledge on to the people I’m working with. Very much worth a read!
I have prepared a short introduction to ZMOT which will get you thinking and spur on some questions, which I welcome you to post at the bottom of this article.
What is a moment of truth?
A traditional moment of truth is when a prospective customer, or current customer, makes some sort of contact with your business. This could be by picking up the phone and making an enquiry, or when your team reach out to your client base with a marketing message. In short, a moment of truth happens every time your clients and business communicate with each other.
Depending on how each moment of truth is managed in your business, your prospective customer will either continue to take steps forward in your sales funnel towards the sale, or they will exit and look for another option. This depends on may different things, including the service you provide.
What is the zero moment of truth (ZMOT)?
A zero moment of truth can be understood by thinking about how consumers typically look for a solution for a problem they have. In many cases your prospective customer is researching and considering their purchase prior to entering the traditional sales funnel. For example:
- It’s looking at coffee shop reviews on Trip Advisor before heading out on your trip
- It’s researching new snowboarding equipment online before deciding where or what to buy
- It’s reading reviews of the latest mobile technology before deciding to buy a Samsung tablet
- It’s that moment when you grab your mobile device and start researching a product or service that you are thinking about buying.
What you really need to know is that 70% of the consumer’s buying decision is being made before they even pick up the phone – mull this over for a minute and try to think about how this affects your business.
The average number of information sources used by shoppers DOUBLED from 2010 to 2011 – Jim Lecinski
Are you winning the zero moment of truth (ZMOT)?
I have had this debate with people in the recent past about content and information. Some people seem to think that consumers aren’t interested in reading lots of information about a product or service, but nothing could be further from the truth. Information and content is continually shaping consumers buying decisions.
People have questions to ask and problems to solve and they want to find what they are looking for online, quickly.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being ‘poor’ and 10 being ‘winning’, how do you think your business is performing with regards to ZMOT?
“If your company isn’t trying to win the zero moment of truth, you’re losing customers you didn’t even know you had the chance to get” – Jay Baer
We’re always on – 24/7/365
We all know that we can grab our iPhone or iPad, go to google and start researching a product or a service within seconds. We can do this anytime we like, we want to do this at our convenience, in our own time, and be left alone to get on with it. The truth is that we are all researching products and services online before we contact the business directly. And because it’s so easy to do, you have to ask yourself if you are losing customers because you aren’t being found when people need you.
People want to be able to research you online, at 8pm, on their couch, on their iPad, and it’s your job to enable them.
“If you make a bad purchase decision, of any kind, you’re just lazy” – Jay Baer
Reversing the risk with content
The more information you can provide to your prospective customer, the less likely they are to perceive the purchase as risky. You can use your content to educate your prospects about your products and services and help them to make an informed buying decision. One way you can do this by simply making sure that all their big questions are answered up front on your website.
Your turn
- Are you there when your prospects need you the most?
- Have you provided enough information upfront that will help your prospects to make a decision?
- What do you need to do to win the ZMOT?
I look forward to chatting to you about ZMOT below.
Don’t forget to be awesome!
Chris.
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