We humans seem to be rather fond of procrastination and hesitancy.
Which means your customers probably embrace procrastination and hesitancy, too.
And that kills sales.
You’ve accidentally given them permission to mull things over, to examine other options, do the laundry, pick the kids up from school, think about it…and then probably forget about it or just do nothing.
They walked right up to the edge of “YES” and then slipped right down that slippery slope. And all your very good work is undone.
Have you ever flown Southwest Airlines? If you have, you know that everyone seems to be there right on time, early even. They queue up on those numbered lines so they can get the best seat they possibly can. Then everyone rushes on the plane and into their preferred seat in record time. Southwest has one of the fastest boarding times of any airline.
What can we learn from Southwest and apply to your sales?
Urgency.
We board that plane super-fast because there is a great sense of urgency to get that right seat, or to not get the middle seat that doesn’t recline at the back of the plane by the family with triplets under the age of 3.
On the other hand, your offer has no urgency. Your prospect can get it now, or get it later. It will still be sitting there waiting for them when they return—if they ever return.
What creates a sense of urgency?
- A limited supply
- Only so many slots, spaces or seats
- A limited amount of time to say “yes” for this offer (tick, tick, tick)
- Short-term discounts or bonuses that expire
- A free gift for the first x number of customers
- Offering a one-of-a-kind product or service
- One time offer
I’m sure there are others but you get the idea.
And by the way, these are honest, not made-up limitations. There really are only 25 spaces in your webinar, only 100 seats in your workshop, or only 5 days availability. You really are only making this offer once and never again. If you make up some sense of urgency, customers can smell right through it. And frankly, so will you.
If you’re not creating a real sense of urgency, then you’ve accidentally given your customer permission to lollygag.
And that offer they are taking you up on!
Go forth and do great things,
Martha Hanlon & Chris Williams
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