The 4 Important Phases of Selling – A.I.D.A.

BY Feb. 07, 2011 15 Comments


A few years ago, I had spent some time in the sales and marketing industry, and as a professional in that industry, one of the first essential lessons in sales that was taught to me was that of AIDA. which is used to describe the four phases in sales – Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. So, what do they mean?

Phases of Selling

Attention

The first phase is to get the attention and awareness of your target market or prospect. There is no way you are going to be able to sell or market anything if nobody knows that your product exists.

To do this you will need to come up with a plan on how you are going to market yourself. Why do you think Fortune500 companies spend millions on marketing? You see their advertising campaigns all over the place, from books to billboards to sporting events that are broadcasted all over the world. Identify now what you can do to get your clients aware that you exist.

Interest

Once you have gotten their attention, you need to then focus on getting your target market or prospect interested. To do so, create a campaign that focuses on identifying their problems and show how you may have a solution for them. Identify yourself as a product or service willing and able to help improve their lives.

Business is all about improving the lives of others. If somebody told me that they had a product or service that could help me or improve my life, I would at the very least, be a tad bit interested in what it might be.

Desire

Now that you have established some interest, the next step is to create a desire that would compel them to do something you would want them to do. For example, once a car salesman has got a potential buyer interested in a certain vehicle, he will pull out all stops to explain all about the why the potential customer may want to purchase the car. This will help fuel the potential buyer’s desire and will compel him to act on buying the car.

Action

This is the phase where your prospect finds himself acting upon his desire to purchase your product or services. Now although it might seem to be the most difficult stage, the ‘Action’ stage is about creating an incentive for the people to follow through with the action you want them to.

Continuing with the example of the car salesman, he may offer a discounted rate, a free muffler or probably one year of free servicing on the car if the prospect buys now. Find means and incentives you can offer your prospects or target market that would compel them to take action now.

Conclusion

Now although the lesson on AIDA is mainly taught amongst those in the sales profession, AIDA can be applied in any area of business and life. You can use it to increase sales, form business partnerships and possibly even to attract a romantic interest! A.I.D.A. is a fairly simple sales process, but its fundamental principles are immensely valuable. Once you understand A.I.D.A and use it wisely, I guarantee you will soon see an increase in sales and profits.

What are some other phases of selling? What do you think of  the AIDA stages?

Entrepreneurship, Online Business
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  • Morgan

    Awesome! Couldn’t have said it better myself. It always seems to be in the phase of ‘action’ that people tend to get a little lost, unable to really take the plunge because of fear something-er-other. But hopefully this will motivate them to take that last necessary step! :)

    Thanks for this, Nicholas!

    • Nicholas Gerard

      @Morgan: Thanks! Yes, it always seems to be the last phase of ‘action’ that we find our prospects hesitating to take the plunge. Remember, people love to buy but hate the feeling of being sold. The idea is to give them that ‘I want to buy your amazing product or service as I know it will improve my life’ feeling. Read Chris Garrett’s 10 ways to Encourage Prospects to Take Action.

      • http://www.adaringadventure.com/blog/ Tim Brownson

        @Morgan and Nicholas. If I may I’m going to disagree somewhat. Action is usually the quickest of the stages.

        When things do slow up there, it’s often down to the fact that the sales person has missed something earlier in the process.

        In other words, they ‘saw’ desire, when desire wasn’t there. There’s an expression in sales “Happy ears” and it’s when sales people hear what they want to hear rather than what the customer is really telling them, often between the lines or with body language.

        If you are stuck at action, go back to the beginning of the process (fairly easy and quick to do) and take the client through it again because you missed something.

        That’s why books on sales closing techniques are BS. If you have done your job properly, the only technique you need is to be capable of saying “Have we got a deal then?”

        I’d forgotten how much I love talking about this stuff!

  • http://www.webuildyourblog.com Andrew @ Blogging Guide

    I agree, businesses spend too much on advertising because they want to get noticed and they want to get their brand name implanted in everybody’s mind. They said that a person has to see a brand name seven times before it can stick. I don’t really know if there’s a truth to that.

    • Nicholas Gerard

      @Andrew: Yes. That is why businesses spend so much on advertising. The more we see their brand name, the more familiar we become with it. What happens when we are familiar with it? We become more comfortable buying into their product or service. Advertising – The first phase in AIDA. :)

  • Cec

    Great post! Really liked this simple strategy of engaging potential clients/customers. Will be using myself.

    • Nicholas Gerard

      @Cec: Thanks! Do let me know how you have used them and what kind of results you get. :)

  • http://www.funinblog.com Munna

    Well, i am not a marketing guy, but i find AIDA pretty interesting, i think it worth giving a try to implement what you said, :)

    • Nicholas Gerard

      @Munna: Hey Munna Thanks!Let me know what are your results. Cheers! :)

  • http://www.internetentrepreneurconnection.com Hector Avellaneda

    Nicholas – great post!

    My personal belief, largely influenced by Simon Sinek, is that the best way to get someone to buy from you and continue to buy form you, especially for Entrepreneurs, is to start everything you do wit WHY!

    That is, WHY does your business exist, WHY do you get up in the morning, WHY should anyone listen to you and WHY should anyone care.

    You see, most entrepreneurs can clearly articulate WHAT they do and HOW they do it but rarely can I find someone who can clearly articulate WHY it is that they do what they do, and by WHY we don’t mean “to make money” – money is just a result.

    So why start with WHY?

    Take a look at Apple (the company) for example. Nothing particularly interesting about Apple, right? They are just another tech computer like HP, Dell or even Gateway. They have access to the same talent, same resources and same industry. Yet, Apple keeps innovating time after time after time and what’s best, people respond to this. Why? Precisely for that reason, Apple starts everything they do by first asking – WHY?

    Take a look at these 2 visions about Apple, for example. Apple could say:

    “We make great computers. They are beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. Want to buy one?”

    Instead, Apple’s message about their organization is the following:

    “Everything we do we believe in challenging the status quo.
    We believe in thinking differently.
    The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user-friendly. We just happen to make great computers! Want to buy one?”

    Both messages are completely different and all that was done to clearly articulate Apple’s WHY was a change in the order of the information. In the second version we are able to clearly identify Apple’s WHY and we are “inspired” to take action. We clearly understand WHY Apple believes what they believe; we share in their belief and are much more compelled to buy a computer from Apple.

    By buying from Apple and sharing in their belief, we make a statement about who we are as individuals; we think different, we challenge the status quo, and we become loyal followers of Apple’s movement.

    If you notice, Apple’s products are quite expensive and t hey rarely if ever offer deals or discounts. It’s because they know that they dont have to because they are confident enough in their products that they know they’ve clearly communicated their WHY and they have loyal customers who will go as far as experience a discomfort (high prices) to share in their WHY

    • Nicholas Gerard

      @Hector: I agree with you totally. The WHY is one of the most important things for most entrepreneurs. It is the fuel that keeps our entrepreneurial drive running. Getting our clients to identify and connect with our WHY is one of the best ways to do business (the Apple example for instance). That is what makes them feel like buying instead of having the feeling of being sold. Our customers want to know we care for them and that is why they love to buy from us. Once they feel we just want their money, they will feel like they are being sold to. :)

  • http://www.websitedevelopersindia.net Website developers

    Good post! I like the strategy of engaging potential clients/customers. Thanks for sharing with us :)

    • Nicholas Gerard

      @Website Developers: Thanks! I appreciate it. :)

  • http://www.working-miracles.com Dana Dwyer

    Where does trust and relationship come into this process? People won’t take action, at least not big, expensive actions, unless they have a level of trust in the outcome. How does a salesperson build trust?

    Coach Dana K. Dwyer
    http://www.working-miracles.com
    Turning Small Business Owners Into Confident Business Leaders

  • http://www.adaringadventure.com/blog/ Tim Brownson

    Wow, you just time warped me back 8 years before I got into coaching and was working in sales and training sales people.

    Every single sale whether it is a snickers or a Boeing 747 passes through AIDA and yet 90% of sales people couldn’t tell you at any one point in the sales process, where they were.

    Another acronym that is really useful is to make sure you’re taking to the MAN. Not sexists, it stands for Means, Authority and Need.

    I lost many a deal in my early days talking to somebody that either never really had the authority to make the purchase or simply wasn’t able to afford it.

    @ Dana – There are ways and means to build rapid rapport, using techniques like Mirroring and Matching as well as Pacing & Leading. Then using high quality questions and showing a willingness to shut up and listen. Listening is THE most underrated skill of great sales people.