What Is a Buyer's Journey?
Every buyer takes a journey with your business. Some of these journeys last years and produce great profits, while other journeys end before they really even begin. While most businesses think of sales from the perspective of a business, the buyer's journey focuses on how a customer evolves in their individual engagement with your business.
In developing a business model, it is important for any business to understand that there is a natural progression every buyer takes in regards to their engagement with your business. Think about it. Just like we don’t ask someone to marry us on the first date, a typical buyer doesn’t go into any business and buy their flagship product without progressing through several stages of their journey. It takes time to build trust with a buyer and it takes a pretty significant effort for them to walk through their journey of doing business with you.
To understand a buyer's journey, we must start by looking at the stages a buyer takes during their journey with a business. There are four stages to a buyer’s journey:
Find It
Experience It
Engage With It
Lock Into It
Now, before we dive into each of these stages, let’s walk through these stages from a buyers perspective.
A Buyer's Journey Example
Imagine you are out of town and shopping at a mall you have never been to. You’ve been shopping all morning and decide to head to the food court for lunch, though you aren’t really sure what you are in the mood for. As you walk into the U-shaped food court, you see that there are quite a few restaurants in a row, so you decide to take a walk around all the U to look at all of your options. As you begin your walk, you see the typical fast food burger, sandwich and pizza chains. Then all of a sudden, you see a young man smiling at you with a tray of samples. He makes eye contact with you and hands you a sample of his grilled chicken dish to try.
At this point, you have no other option but to take this free sample from him and try it. It’s really good. You were starving before, and now you are suddenly in the mood for chicken, and your taste buds are now screaming for more of his chicken dish. At this point, the young man now hands you a coupon and basically walks you into his line. At this point, you aren’t really thinking and are on more of an auto-pilot.
Now in line, you naturally pick up a tray and the server shows you four side options. You pick one and they ask you if you would like a second, which you turn down. You then have the option of choosing your entree, which of course is going to be the chicken you already tasted. As they are loading it on, they ask you if you want a double portion. This time, you agree to it. As you get up to the register, you decide on water until you realize that adding a drink makes your meal a combo. The combo is only a dollar more, but you will be able to use your coupon to get $0.50 off your purchase. So you go for it.
As you are paying, the cashier asks you if you have a loyalty card. You say you don’t and they quickly grab a new one and punch it three times - one for the new card, and twice for each of your two entrees. The cashier explains that once you have punched all ten holes on the loyalty card, you will get a free entree. So, you take the card and put it away for future use.
Overall, the process was extremely smooth. As you hadn’t eaten there before, you might have expected it to be challenging to figure out what you wanted and to place your order. But it wasn’t.
Your journey was smooth. And your journey didn’t stop with your lunch. You now have a loyalty card that is halfway to a free entree the next time you are in town.
And guess where you will probably eat the next time you shop at the mall?
While very simple, the food court example is the perfect way to introduce us to the four stages of a buyer’s journey.
The Four Stages of a Buyer’s Journey
Let’s now break down each of the four stages in more detail.
1-Find It
The first stage of a buyer’s journey is the Find It stage.
This is where a prospective buyer discovers that you even exist. If they don’t know you exist, they can’t possibly buy from you.
This stage can happen in a number of different ways. It could be through a referral. It could be through social media. It could be through advertising. It could be through search engines.
In the food court example, the Find It stage was simple. You were physically there. As shoppers walked around the U-shaped food court, they naturally discovered you.
In your business, however, it isn’t always that simple. You have to intentionally place your business where your ideal buyers are already looking. If you aren’t showing up where they are, they won’t find you.
2-Experience It
The second stage of a buyer’s journey is the Experience It stage.
This is where a prospective buyer gets a first-hand understanding of what you offer.
In the food court example, this was the free sample. Before you paid anything, you got to taste the chicken. That small experience changed everything. It built trust. It reduced uncertainty. It helped you decide what you wanted.
In your business, this might be a free consultation, a demo, a trial class, helpful content, or even a strong first interaction.
When buyers experience your product or service before making a big commitment, they naturally move closer to the next stage.
3-Engage It
Once a buyer has found you and experienced what you offer, the next stage is Engage It.
This is where they make an initial purchase or commitment.
Notice something important here: this stage is usually not your biggest or most expensive offer. It’s often an entry-level product or a smaller commitment.
In the food court example, this was simply buying the meal. You weren’t committing to eat there for the next five years. You were just purchasing lunch.
That small commitment allowed you to continue building trust with the business.
Many businesses make the mistake of asking for too much, too soon. They skip this stage and try to push buyers directly into long-term commitments. When that happens, buyers hesitate.
The Engage It stage should feel like a natural next step — not a leap.
4-Love It
The final stage of a buyer’s journey is the Love It stage.
This is where a buyer becomes more than just a one-time customer. They come back. They refer friends. They become loyal.
In the food court example, this was the loyalty card.
The loyalty card didn’t just reward you for today’s purchase. It gave you a reason to return. It extended the relationship beyond one transaction.
When a buyer reaches this stage, your business becomes much more stable and profitable. Instead of constantly chasing new customers, you are building a base of loyal ones.
Removing Friction Along the Buyer’s Journey
At every stage of the buyer’s journey, there are opportunities for things to go wrong.
Maybe your messaging is unclear. Maybe your pricing is confusing. Maybe the next step isn’t obvious.
When that happens, buyers stall.
They don’t always tell you why. They just don’t move forward.
In the food court example, imagine if there were no samples. Or if the line was confusing. Or if no one explained the combo. The process wouldn’t have felt smooth.
Your job as a business owner is to make each stage clear and simple. When the path is obvious, buyers naturally keep moving forward.
Why the Buyer’s Journey Is Important
Now, you might be thinking, “This seems pretty obvious.”
Of course customers go through stages. Of course they don’t just show up and buy the biggest thing you sell.
But here’s the problem: most businesses don’t actually think about this when they design their marketing or their offers.
Instead, they think about what they want to sell.
They think about their flagship product.
They think about their biggest package.
They think about their highest margin service.
And then they try to push everyone toward that.
But buyers don’t think like that.
Buyers move at their own pace. They build trust slowly. They need clarity. They need confidence. And if something feels confusing or rushed, they simply don’t move forward.
When you understand the buyer’s journey, you stop trying to force a sale and start helping someone move to their next logical step. That’s a very different mindset.
Using the Buyer’s Journey In Your Business
The four stages of a buyer’s journey are fairly simple: 1) Find It, 2) Experience It, 3) Engage It, and 4) Love It. These stages are always there for a buyer. Always. Even if a business hasn’t recognized this, or hasn’t designed a clear business process around how a buyer will take their journey with a business, the four stages always exist. Therefore, those businesses who help to create a clear buyer journey map will find a business model that is designed to grow and sustain the business.
But here is where many businesses stop.
They understand the stages, but they don’t intentionally design them.
This is where the Buyer-Centric Method becomes important.
The Buyer-Centric Method is built around creating a clear sales path — a simple, intentional path that guides buyers from first discovery to long-term loyalty.
Instead of asking, “How do I sell more?” the method asks, “How do I help buyers move from Find It to Experience It to Engage It to Love It?”
When you think this way, your marketing becomes clearer. Your offers become more logical. And sales begin to feel more natural because you are simply helping buyers take their next step.
If you want to intentionally design a sales path that aligns with how people actually buy, the Buyer-Centric Method shows you how to do exactly that.