Is It Really Urgent?

Yes, I’m back! After a 2 month hiatus I return to my weekly blog to ask you, my dear readers, for advice.

Earlier today I was sitting in on a weekly sales meeting at one of the companies I’m involved with. I listened to the sales team lament about the difficulties they were experiencing closing sales. They told me how the prospects love the service, they all agree it would be a great system, the price was right, but for some reason they can’t seem to get the prospects to cross the finish line. No one was in a rush to sign up. The sales guys would walk out of the meetings with the words “Let me think about it” echoing in their ears.

The issue was clearly a lack of urgency on the prospects side, which would cause them to delay making a decision and ultimately put the whole thing out of their mind.

My first thought was to create a sense of urgency by using the age-old tool of scarcity. Tell the prospects we are only taking on a limited amount of new clients and there are only a few slots left. Or, perhaps, offer special pricing incentives which expires after a certain amount of time.

An example of successful use of this tool would be Amazon’s “Lightning Deals”:

However, after spending some time doing research on this topic I have learned that perhaps the real sense of urgency does not come just from external motivators.

Take this real life example: I am long overdue a new suit. I keep pushing it off due to my busy schedule and wishing to avoid the painful process of shopping at the crowded local stores. I have turned the page on “SALE 80% OFF” and “3 DAYS ONLY” time and time again. It was only when my suit ripped that I picked myself up and went out to buy a new suit. What changed – the need was clear – now it was urgent.

By really listening to the prospect, understanding their current operations and pain points, asking probing questions like “is there room for improvement” “are you committed to resolve this issue”, getting the prospect to clearly see what they are lacking, and then showing them how the solution will help them – once that is crystal clear – then it’s urgent.

Do you agree? Reply and share your thoughts.

Happy Tuesday & Happy Selling!
Kevin