Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup

STEP 13

Map the Process to Acquire a Paying Customer

IN THIS STEP, YOU WILL:

• Map out the process by which a customer decides to purchase your product.
• Estimate the sales cycle for your product.
• Identify any budgetary, regulatory, or compliance hurdles that would slow down your ability to sell your product.

After knowing who will make the decision, it is critical to know how they will make the decision and what is involved in each step so that you can design your product to optimize for this process.

Determining the Decision-Making Unit of your customer is a big step toward figuring out how to get your product into your customer's hands and money into yours. However, the process by which you convert a potential customer into a paying customer, and from initial contact to final payment, is more complicated than asking your Advocate to pressure your Primary Economic Buyer.

By creating a map of the Process to Acquire a Paying Customer, you will:

• Understand the length of the sales cycle. ...