A sales path is how a customer finds your business, makes their first purchase, and eventually becomes a raving fan.
The Sales Path
Why You Need a Sales Path
Sales. It often feels like a four letter word, but it shouldn't. Sure, nobody likes a sleazy salesman, but sales really shouldn't have to be pushy anyway. Sales should be simple. Simple for a customer to find what they want and simple for them to pay for it. To pay a lot for it, and to buy it again, and again, and again.
But if the process is difficult, this isn't going to happen. This is why it is critical for your business to strategically create a well defined sales path - i.e. the buyer’s journey with your business - which is the process of introducing a customer to your business and providing them with a step-by-step path to move from being a prospect to becoming an ideal customer (i.e. buyer).
What a Sales Path Does
A sales path makes buying easier. Period.
It removes friction. It removes confusion. It removes the awkward “What am I supposed to do next?” feeling that too many businesses accidentally create. When a sales path is clear, a customer doesn’t have to work to understand you. They don’t have to hunt for pricing. They don’t have to guess which product is right. They simply follow the path.
A sales path also makes it easier to be found. When you intentionally design how someone discovers you — through search, referrals, social media, advertising, or partnerships — you stop hoping people stumble across your business and start guiding them to it. Visibility becomes strategic, not accidental.
Most importantly, a sales path shifts the focus from the business to the buyer. Instead of asking, “How do we sell this?” you begin asking, “How does someone want to buy this?” That subtle shift changes everything. It forces clarity. It simplifies your messaging. And it creates a process that feels natural to the customer — which, ironically, makes selling far more effective.
The Four Parts of a Sales Path
We teach that a sales path (we call it “the buyer’s journey” on this site) should have four clearly defined steps: Find It. Experience It. Engage It. Love it. Each stage builds on the one before it. If a customer can’t find it, nothing else matters. If they find it but don’t experience it in a clear and compelling way, they won’t move forward. If they experience it but never truly engage with it, they won’t commit. And if they don’t love it, they won’t return, refer, or buy again. When these four steps are intentionally designed to flow together, sales stop feeling pushy and start feeling natural—because you’re simply guiding buyers along a clear path that makes sense to them.
For example, this is how the sales path (i.e., buyer’s jouney) could look visually:
FIND IT
This is the discovery phase where a prospective customer learns about your business and that it exists.
EXPERIENCE IT
A prospective customer gets to experience (for free) what it would be like to buy from you (i.e., test drive, taste test).
ENGAGE IT
This is an entry-level product where the prospect becomes a paying customer. It needs to be easy to buy with a minimal commitment..
LOVE IT
The final stage of the buyer’s journey where your customer becomes a “superbuyer”, defined by loyalty, extreme buying, and advocacy.
STEP 1: FIND IT
The very first step in the sales path is for the customer to find your business. There are many different ways that your business can be found - these are called channels and include things like referrals, seeing your store from the road, social media, web traffic, or even paid advertising like billboards, print, and mailers. The goal in this step is to make a potential prospect aware of your existence - they need to find you before anything else can happen.
STEP 2: EXPERIENCE IT
Once a potential customer has discovered your business, the next step is for them to test the waters and get a feel for your business. The natural progression of a customer is not to jump from discovering a business to being a loyal fan - just like most don’t get married after the first date, it takes steps to get there. The progression is that a customer really wants to try your product or service before they commit on a larger scale. This often means that they want to see what you have to offer BEFORE THEY PAY for anything. Like a free sample in a mall food court, they want to make sure the water is okay before they get in. The goal in this step is to help a prospect decide that they want to be a customer.
STEP 3: ENGAGE IT
Once a customer has decided that they like what they see, the next step of the sales path is for the customer to make an entry-level purchase. They aren't jumping all in, but are willing to get their feet wet with a noncommittal purchase. This is often a lower-priced product or service that is a one-time purchase with no ongoing commitment. Customers may come and go from your business at this stage without a rhyme or reason as they are sort of outliers and maybe even sort-of regulars, but are not necessarily loyal to your business. The goal of this stage is to build trust and to move them into the final stage of the sales path: Love It.
STEP 4: LOVE IT
The last step of the sales path is where your customers become loyal fans of your business. They tell their friends about your business and make a commitment to utilize you over your competition. These are the customers that purchase your high end products that show their commitment and loyalty to your business. The goal when a customer is in this stage of your business is to keep them happy so there is a high level of customer retention.
How to Create a Sales Path for Your Business
Creating a sales path isn’t about sketching a funnel on a whiteboard and calling it a day. It’s about intentionally designing the way someone moves from first discovering your business to becoming a loyal, repeat buyer. That takes clarity. And it takes structure.
This is exactly why I teach The Buyer-Centric Method. Instead of starting with your product, your pricing, or your internal goals, the Buyer-Centric Method starts with the buyer. It forces you to define who your ideal customer actually is, what problem they are trying to solve, what questions they are asking at each stage, and what would make the buying process feel simple and obvious to them.
From there, you build a clear Buyer Journey Map — your sales path — that outlines how someone will Find It, Experience It, Engage It, and ultimately Love It. When you map this intentionally, gaps become obvious. Friction points become clear. And opportunities to improve the experience practically jump off the page.
If you want a step-by-step framework for designing a sales path that actually works, you can Learn The Buyer-Centric Method and start building your own Buyer Journey Map today.