The Trouble With AIDA

One of the most fascinating periods in American history is the Progressive Era, which, according to the Library of Congress, began in 1890 and ended in 1913 with the outbreak of World War I. The age was progressive in the sense that the country was changing from an agrarian society to an industrial nation, a tectonic shift that spurred widespread reforms in American life.

The most prominent reformer of the age was efficiency expert Frederick W. Taylor, who sought to remake American business by replacing practices rooted in tradition with ‘scientific’ methods - techniques based on careful observation of people at work. Taylor’s ideas revolutionized manufacturing, and were so influential that they spread to other disciplines.

One of those infected by the Scientific Management virus was advertising pioneer E. St. Elmo Lewis, who studied consumer behavior and concluded that buyers go through four distinct stages when making a purchase: Awareness, Interest, Decision, and Action.

The Lewis model was appealing, so attractive that legions of managers adopted it as a blueprint for selling, to such an extent that scores of executives still consider it a salesperson's job to:

• Make prospects aware of their product or service
• Generate interest in what they are selling
• Persuade prospects to decide in favor of their offering
• Get prospects to buy, today
  

Though useful for marketing and a reasonable facsimile of buyer behavior, AIDA is not a working sales model because you cannot lead people through the buying process at will. Prospects buy in their own time for their own reasons, and are seldom swayed by sellers who try to get them to buy in their time, for their reasons. Were it not so, it would be unnecessary for companies to promote their offerings continuously and make recurring offers to potential customers.

Face it: Prospects are unpredictable creatures. They come into season at random, and are receptive to suitors only when they are ready.

That is why for all its allure AIDA doesn't work in sellling, and salespeople who try to manipulate, bully, and bluff prospects into buying, are likely to fail.

© Bradley P. Simpson 2009