How can you create a sense of urgency to finish a transaction when your client doesn't feel the same

Developing urgency is a sensitive tactic that can backfire especially at the end of the sales process.

The ability to create urgency is subject to the type of product or service and the buyer's situation. I believe in discovering a trigger for urgency early in the cycle. It may be the solution to a large problem, the need for change, or a personal want.

If you're near the end, it's too late to bring urgency into the game unless you're using a drastic price reduction, something I do not advocate.

As Charles quoted, "How can I make someone else feel something they don't?"

Agreed that many customers want to buy at a different time than the seller wants to sell. There is nothing worse than that desperate seller calling at the end of the month or quarter to let you know about a "very special promotion" just for them. THAT almost always backfires.

I would never encourage making up a false urgency - but there can be real urgencies - in the case of a graphic design firm with limited designers to get their job in the queue in order to have delivery of the finished products by the date needed. There can also be big cost savings by implementing your products or services. Have the facts to back that up - then it can become a smart financial conversation.

Finally, when people stall or don't buy when they said they would it is often a smoke screen for something else - they never really "got" the value of what you are proposing or they have issues behind the scenes that you are not aware of. Find these things out early on and it will help you to bring more opportunities to closure.

In response to: "Are value adds or cost reduction the only thing that really works?" No.

There are many product/service offerings where "position orders" carry sufficient leverage. These position orders ripple through the entire supply chain by exploiting the supply and demand curves. Here are some A-Z examples:

- Aircraft - Manufacturers like Boeing, EADS, BAE Systems, Dassault, Bombardier, etc. all use position orders to induce orders as the sooner you order, the sooner you take delivery. Furthermore, once Boeing takes an order for the 787 Dreamliner, all of the suppliers of the 80,000 components are, in turn, impacted as well.

- Apple - No additional color needed here - you may already be on a wait list.

- Architects - Here is an example of a service where the available human capital is the gating factor. Can you imagine the wait list for Frank Gehry?

- Automobiles - Limited production or new model automobiles usually have waiting lists. Again, there is a position pressure.

Gosh, I can't even get out of the "A's" in citing examples without becoming too long winded. So, in short, if you can leverage POSITION - you create a natural urgency.

There is no dishonesty in this approach whatsoever. You simply offer the prospective customer visibility into your demand flow and assess the downside impact of waiting. This dynamic works for both products and services.

Neither. This is a variation on the question, "How can I make some else feel something they don't?". The answer is, you can't. (Listen to Bonnie Raitt's lovely "I Can't Make You Love Me.")

What you can do is to take a small personal risk by talking about it with the customer. Ask them why they don't feel urgency, and listen to their answer. Empathize. Try to understand them. Stop trying to control them. Instead, help them figure out the right thing for them to do--which may not include buying from you.

You might be surprised by the grateful response to such a selfless approach.

Gary brings up a great point about how urgency can backfire. If a salesperson attempts to use urgency as a reason for the customer to buy too many times it runs the risk of being like the little boy who runs around yelling "fire." If you're going to use urgency as a tool to close then you have to be able to demonstrate it after the fact if the customer buys or does not buy. Nothing will destroy credibility faster than a salesperson who comes back to the customer who rejected the urgent offer the first time with another opportunity to buy.

Avoid creating a "sense of urgency" at the end of the sales process as that may break rapport and lose you the sale. The best way to create urgency is to do a thorough needs analysis of your prospect, build value for your product/service and help them identify the opportunity cost of not having your product/service.

One additional strategy to use when applicable is to offer a savings or added benefit for quick movers to close a sale by a certain date. A simple example would be to offer a 5% savings for all deals closed within x # of days from your initial offering.

Hope this helps!

Psychologically you should never be more excited to sell someone something than they are to buy it.

And I agree with the comments above, first and foremost the "urgency" should always be ethical (not created out of thin air because you want to close a sale) and be in your client's best interest to start enjoying the benefits of your product and/or services sooner.

Once you've qualified the prospect, identified a need, build value and they have reached a buying decision, the merits of using your product or service should speak for themselves but you still have to ask a closing question. Have you tried to close? What responses, feedback, objections do they give?

One additionally mutually beneficial strategy, is to identify your prospects buying criteria early on in the sales process so you know what they are expecting and can properly educating them on the features and benefits of your offering. Asking a question like, "What is your time frame for making a buying a decision like this?" early on in the sale's process should help manage your expectations.

If a prospect is still hesitant to make a buying decision, regardless of whether the answer is "yes" or "no" perhaps you have not properly qualified, identified the need, build value for your offering or perhaps the prospect doesn't like, trust or respect you. Any one of these missing (like, trust, respect) will prevent a prospect from moving forward with a sale. One important strategy is to remain a value-adder and refrain from becoming a "bill collector." If they know you are calling to try and "close them" they will put up resistance and in some cases stop taking your calls. Be sure you continue to add value, get to know them and continue to build rapport to strengthen the relationship and give them a preview of what working with you will be like, rather than focusing on "closing the sale."

In closing, all sales professionals and consultants can agree the best time to make a decision is when the information is fresh in the prospects mind and all the decision makers are present (assuming all the steps of the sales process were properly followed).

Great thread - hope this helps!

I'd agree with the point several have made, which is that if you're feeling a sense of urgency that's not shared by your customer, perhaps you're forgetting to do one of the most basic skills of a good salesperson: to listen to your customer and hear his/her real needs. The focus has to remain on your customer, not on your sales manager.

Two methods you can use:
First is by putting into the customer's mind the element of scarcity and the feeling if they don't make a decision now they may not be able to take advantage of it. Scarcity can be presented in a number of ways, lack of time, lack of materials, etc.

Second method is when you're in the discovery phase with the customer learning what the needs and benefits are the customer is looking for. The goal is to get them to identify one that can be linked with time, this will then give you something you can use to come back and close with.

Ben, you've got to back it up. People buy when they're ready to buy.... NOT when you need to sell to them. You're further ahead of them in the buying process if you need to create urgency and they're not feeling it. Ask them early and often when they'd like to finish up the transaction, if at all.

As Dan notes however, if you're lucky to have scarcity of supply (like ad impressions) and multiple parties interested, the advertiser can be motivated by the fear of loss.

In response, my questions is "Why are you trying to create a sense of urgency." I agree with others above. Only desperate salespeople are worried about trying to create urgency. As salespeople it is our job to keep the sale moving forward and help the customer buy in with timing that is comfortable for them. Keep your sales funnel full so that you always have a number of deals you are working on and you are not depending on one deal to "hurry up and close". Unfortunately, companies impose monthly sales quotas which cause salespeople to panic when sales don't close on their time line. "Listen Mr. Customer, I have a quota here so why don't you hurry up and make your buying decision to fit my company's financial goals." Keeping your Funnel full makes it much easier for you to meet your quota and feel confident allowing your customers the time they need to make a good decision.

Marketing strategists have used the ACT NOW!, or before it's too late!, the lists goes on. As soon as I see this sales tactic brought before me I say I'll be back,,, never to return. People get it now, all but the young and uniformed. I agree with Charles Green, and really liked Judy McKee response.
We are really like fish in the sea, and you have to watch out for the sharks!
If your honest with your client you'll have a voicemail call to return.
Patience is a virtue!

Creating a sense of false urgency to close a sale is the antidote of relationship building. Sales is an art where human needs and desires are valued and satisfied at the single event in time.
Jorge Rivera-Bernal PhD.MBA
Chief Executive Officer
American Hope Charities, Corp.

Truth can be spoken without a sense of fault. That's what I try to do. When training in a Call Center, If I can demonstrate the loss of money or results by listening to the calls and giving sound advice, the Client sees the value. I don't have to point out that time or lengthy calls are expensive, they know this. I don't need urgency to close. I just use the truth to make my Client "Right" to choose another path. The sooner you start the training, the sooner we cut the call time down. It's your choice, I am like Delta, ready when you are....~Judy

Great responses and agree that if the salesperson "needs" a closed sale they have already missed something in the beginning of the sale. Back when the salesperson and customer were initially talking, did the salesperson ask and establish time lines or expectations? Did the salesperson uncover and discuss potential barriers (not objections) that could delay or derail the sale (internal-external)? Was there a clear understanding of the decision process and who was involved in the decision and who could influence the decision? Was urgency part of the discussion early on when the "core issue" was uncovered and discussed? If this has been part of the discussion, then when the sales is delayed the salesperson can ask, "What has changed and why:" If these questions and conversations have not been held, then the salesperson is out in the cold with only hope.

I see this lack of questioning and discussion as the main reason salespeople lose sales, have stalls and end up in price wars.

Doing a webinar on this topic March 18, http://www.businessexpertwebinars.com/component/option,com_attend_events/task...

Tempting as it is to say "What they said," there's more to the story. Even playing a genuine urgency card smacks of what happens at old-school auto dealerships - feels wrong even when it's right. And, if there's genuine urgency and the client/customer doesn't get it, you've already failed. Don't make it worse.

But, the entire discussion has centered way too much on selling, selling, and more selling. Many of us (more than we even realize) are - or should be - in the serving business rather than in the selling business. It's amazing how much more satisfied, and willing to buy, customers and clients are when you serve them. Including, as mentioned, telling them when the time is not right or that you might not be the right solution for the real need.

As to generating fear, that's a good way to not get invited back - ever. Odds are that the fear-manipulated buyer is not really the kind of winner you want to be selling to and working with, unless bottom-feeding is actually nourishing.

Charles and Judy said it best. I don't use car sales tactics and wont do business with people who do. Sure, I lose sales all of the time, but my goal is to build relationships with honesty, value, and integrity. Be patient and get to know your clients and their needs. I heard the word “listen” a few times in this conversation. The best sales people listen more than sale. We don't offer discounts to seal a deal or to meet a lower bidder, even at a customers request. Your company must maintain it's margins in order to offer true value in staff and product. You just might be surprised when you explain that to a potential client who is on the fence.

Maybe there are concerns, issues, priorities for which you have no understanding. I agree with Charles Green's response. However, maybe you are misreading the real issue. Honest and open discussions with the stakeholder need to happen often. When the project / task, no longer appears to have a priority, maybe it is because the priorities for the enterprise have changed and you have yet to be informed.

Having the discussion with the stakeholder has to happen and you have to share your concerns. MOREOVER, maybe the stakeholder has been instructed to keep you focused AND maybe the stakeholder's manager has instructed the stakeholder to do so. At that point, it is time for a different type of discussion. In that discussion you will need to use words like, "although I accept responsibility for managing the project, your organization still has ownership. If your organization is not ready for me to help with this project, maybe I need to leave and wait until the time is right for the project to receive the focus it requires."

Gary Hart has it right when he says you better understand the "trigger" for change early in the sales qualification process. If you don't understand why, when and if budget is available then you haven't done a good job understanding the need to change something in the customer's environment. Without triggers, nothing happens.

A good salesman should always try a get the signed contract ASAP but not at the risk of alienating the buyer or reducing the trust built throughout the selling process. In my career I've seen contracts either lost or postponed for many reasons including earthquakes, snowstorms and the arrest of the contracting officer. All true.

A way that m

I know it sounds corny but if you don't use those "old boy-Used car dealer from the 50's" techniques...You will be better off. People are all motivated. But people are all motivated by different things. People do things and I mean everything for their own reasons NOT mine or yours. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can find out the reason but even if you can't, I will give you one reason that every person has...Listen Up. this is coming from 30 years of experience and I will back it up with my numbers and my successes. Everybody wants to be RIGHT! Everybody wants to FEEL SMART! You can take that advice to the bank.

So, whatever you say to your prospective customer. Make sure it makes HIM/HER feel right! NOT you or your company or your product or your service. Make the Customer RIGHT to go your way... Check yourself out today. See how many "I" statements you have in your presentation...Change them you YOU. Just that can change your life.

It's NOT Have I got a DEAL for you. It's "You can take advantage of...." It's not I advise you to move fast before the sharks get here. But, "You will be so glad you moved quickly, as it will probably show up in your bottom line fast!"

If you have confidence in your product or service, what's the BIG hurry unless it will be better for them? That's my rant for the day and I am sticking to it. ~Judy

In my point of view, when an offerer is able to offer the rightest thing that his/her offeree aims to have then the value of any transaction will reach the point of urgency. It is clearly dissclosed that the purpouse of a salesperson is to sell the product so the selling and lock in the costumers are urgent to every seller. Producer should think about the offers that can attract and maintain the customers. So the costumers also feel high uregency of the transaction....

I would argue that if you have to create a sense of urgency in the customer you did not sell the customer. We are living in different economic time, we have gone through or are going through an actual shift and the consumer is now in complete control of the buying cycle. Think about it, globalization, advancements in technology and increased competition make what we sell a commodity but how we sell it our competitive edge.

Trust and value now are the new return on investment customers are looking for, that is what they use to make decisions. A lack of urgency or a rejection are simply a clue that we did not communicate, understand or convey the value, the benefit, the difference our product or service will make for them.

Rather than work on a technique to create urgency, I agree with the comments above. Back-up and ask questions, listen, empathize, and figure out what the true need is. Then share your product or service in a way that shows them how you can solve their problem. Invest in building relationships that build trust and sharing information that conveys value and customers will buy!

The commenters here make some very good points that I agree with.

Let me add another alternative that sometimes works - - the negative sales approach. Our sales team at my company working with prospects in this state of mind, sometimes start a dialog around discovering what would be "wrong" with getting the product - - in other words they suggest limitations or drawbacks they think the prospect might consider in using the products. What happens - - and this is somewhat counterintuitive, is that often the prospect answers "no, that's not a drawback" or "no, that won't be a problem in purchasing this". Done correctly, this proactive objection discovery process moves them off the mark. We don't view it as a negative if it confirms for us they don't want to buy - - we've at least got them at a decision point. But more often than not, we find it moves us into closing position.

I wouldn't recommend this for an initial approach, but for a "stuck" prospect it gets them to declare one way or another and often can result in a deal.

Hi Ben,

Sharing a great post by by Doug Kessler on the very topic (albeit from a marketing angle but the same principles apply). Hope it helps!

Thanks,
Holger Schulze
hhschulze@gmail.com

How to Inject Urgency Into B2B Marketing

We talk a lot about the Battle for Attention in B2B and about Buyer Attention Deficit Disorder and the relentless Mississippi of info-dreck that gushes through us all every hour of every day and about how the best-laid campaigns of the humble B2B marketer doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in Haiti anymore.

But we haven’t yet talked about one of the most important implications of all this; the new challenge facing every B2B marketer: the need to create urgency.

In today’s multi-threaded, multi-tasking multi-verse, it’s no longer good enough to make a clear, compelling case about why someone should do something. You have to make a case about why they have to do it NOW.

It’s no longer good enough to change someone’s mind (difficult as this is); now we have to change their very next action. We need the click NOW or we’ll never get it. We need the download NOW or the chance is gone. We need the engagement NOW or they’re off into the ether (or to a competitor). And ultimately, we need the sale NOW or we have to start all over again.

Of course, part of this is about identifying the people most likely to be urgency-sensitive—the ones who are ready to move to the next stage but need a nudge (or, let’s face it, a kick). If we’re talking to a tire-sniffer with a 3-year timescale, no amount of urgency-injection will make a difference (that’s where lead nurturing comes in). But if we’re talking to someone already leaning forward, already swaying back and forth to our plaintive ballad, already tripping towards the next step in the rocky road to revenue, then a sense of urgency really, really matters.

Here are five ways to inject urgency in your B2B marketing, starting, well, now . . .

1) Make the cost of delay tangible

This is probably the single most important thing you can do in the urgency-injection process: show people how much their dithering is costing them.

One of our clients, Reevoo, can show exactly how much a prospect is wasting every month they delay their decision. Their service improves conversion rates for e-commerce sites. They know exactly how much that means to each prospect, based on their traffic, current conversion rate and average transaction value. So they do the math(s) and show how delay is quite simply burning money. They can make powerful statements like “If you do this now instead of in three months, the extra profits you make will pay for the whole service. It will be free.”

Every B2B marketer needs to do these calculations. If your product or service saves people time and money, then delaying the purchase loses that time and money. If you can help people seize profitable, new opportunities, then delay means losing those opportunities and that profit.

You can’t be shy about this. If you believe in your product, you can look anyone in the eye and show them the cost of delay.

2. Drive down the sense of risk

People won’t overcome their inertia if they feel they might get a smack in the head for doing so. It’s safer staying on the sofa. Part of injecting urgency is reducing perceived risk. And that means leveraging all the risk-reducers and credibility-builders in the B2B kit-bag: Killer testimonials, great cases, awards, reviews, analyst endorsements . . . (we list 17 of them in this B2B credibility-builders blog post).

3. Turn the big leap into mini-steps

Instead of asking for one big jump into a new world, ask for a step. Instead of asking for a 10X-sized commitment, ask for a 1X-sized one.
One example: we helped App-DNA create a Launch Pad product that lets prospects taste their fantastic application compatibility software on a few apps instead of the entire estate. It’s a hit.

Read complete post here: http://www.businessmarketinginstitute.com/tmn020811.html

The “Stephen Covey Approach” advocated by Charles Green is right on. I emphatically agree. But if we get just a wee bit more tactical, I would argue that there is a direct relationship between the perceived value of your solution and the urgency to get a deal done. If your value is high, the urgency will be too. BTW a very related relationship is value and the amount of selling “work” you have to spend managing the buying process, but this is an inverse relationship. More value, less work. Value can be driven by many many things: solving pain, meeting unmet needs, ensuring initiatives, achieving goals, etc. But in the end just about every piece of value can be defined in $$. This is why an effective ROI exercise can be so useful.

Let’s make up an extreme example. Let’s pretend that you have magical “solution” that your prospect eventually believes will eliminate all downtime and outages in his IT environment and double his revenue at the same time. How fast do you think they’d move to buy? How urgent would they act? How much of the normal buying process and work you have to do as a salesperson would just be skipped? The real world is of course rarely this dramatic, and some working through the customer’s buying process is unavoidable. But I’d argue you’re almost always most well served focusing your efforts on learning about, aligning, and building value vs anything else. The obvious extension to this is, if you wait until the “justification,” or worse the “close,” to start selling value, it’s probably too late. As many have stated, a lack of urgency is a sign of other issues.

Never stop selling value. Never stop reminding your prospect they’re buying value, not a product or service.

Combination of both ...Building Value by us in the transaction and reduction in cost works in clsoing the deals. Most important is the perception of customer for the benifit arived "now" will help in closing the transaction.

Ben, If your product has a lifetime expiration date or evolution, (Most electronics do) like an ipad, every six months or so, technology advances and the new now becomes obsolete then. Become a master of your product and learn to get your pitch good enough to build strong interest. Take a one-to-grow-on pill and hit the next one with a great attitude. This prospect is a slug and you can afford to lose the next opportunity.