Sales Takes “NUTs” Part 3: Urgency
People don’t like making decisions. After all, to decide is to risk making the wrong choice. So if you want to make the sale, you must be a confident voice smoothly guiding customers through a decision and affirming their choice. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the primary job of a salesperson is to help people make decisions.
As a result, one of the primary principles of sales is that the salesperson must establish urgency: a reason for the customer to buy now, rather than later. “BUY NOW”, “limited time offer”, “supplies limited”, a clock ticking down to zero, or a display of the dwindling amount of merchandise for sale are all examples frequently employed on television.
Perhaps your best tool for creating urgency is the takeaway. The aptly named “takeaway” operates on the principle that people want what they can’t have, and that buying your product is a privilege not available to everybody. It’s important to point out here that One example of a takeaway I would use in insurance is to pepper my presentation with “If you qualify...” In other words, not everyone is able to buy these policies. Frequently the most effective time to use a takeaway is directly after you have heavily established the value of your product. In effect, it creates the thought, “WOW. That’s really amazing... But I might not be able to buy it?” This potent one-two punch, when mastered, can easily close the sale for you. I would frequently get stopped halfway through my presentation and asked, “How can we qualify?” At that point, I’d pull out the applications and ask the medical qualifying questions. Boom. Sale.
Secondly, if a customer is on the fence about a sale, frequently it’s time to use a takeaway. Because a takeaway presents a potential obstacle to the customer’s ability to purchase, it changes the customer’s perspective from “You’re trying to sell me stuff” to “Can you help me get it?” Regardless of your product or service, there’s nearly always something you can do to create this shift. Do you need to check to make sure the product hasn’t been bought out already? Will you need to check the customer’s credit to see if they qualify? Will you need to ask your boss if she even has time to see the customer as a client? Find out, and if the customer is able to buy the product, SMILE and ask for the sale. It’s now riskier in your prospect’s mind NOT to buy than to buy, and the decision is that much easier for them.
Josh Wise
WANT TO LEARN MORE? Come to one of our classes! Visit us online, email us at jeff@360businessinc.com or call us at (828) 407-7139 to find out about upcoming offerings!
