Scenario: It’s the end of quarter. You’re short on quota. You need to close some business… fast. You’ve got a customer who plans to buy but is taking his own sweet time. You’ve got a meeting with that customer scheduled today. You need to speed the process up to get the booking into the current quarter. Here are three specific actions that you can take to close the deal today…
- ACTION #1: Talk Negative, Not Positive. Rather than emphasizing the advantages of your offering, emphasize the disadvantages of not having it. Don’t talk about the positive financial impact, but about the lost revenue and profit that will result if the customer doesn’t buy. Don’t paint a rosy picture of how productive everyone will be, paint a grim picture of how much time and effort will be wasted if they don’t buy.
- ACTION #2: Reveal Potential Roadblocks. Reveal to the customer any circumstance that might make your offering difficult to obtain in the future. For example, rather than hiding that you’ve got customers waiting for installation, explain that if the current customer doesn’t purchase quickly, it may become even more difficult to get the product.
- ACTION #3: Create a Short-term Advantage. Your customer might be waiting for a better price, so you shouldemphasize the cost advantage of purchasing now. Show your customer how much more money he’ll lose if he waits to buy until your next product is released. As an absolute last resort, figure out a way to offer a discount, or bundle more product into the deal.
Once you’ve done one (or, better yet, all) of the above, it’s time to bite the bullet and ask for the business.
The above tactics are based upon the scientific research of Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of the bestsellers Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion and Influence: Science and Practice.
Turns out that customers are more likely to buy if they believe that the product or service being sold is rare or dwindling in availability, or if they stand to lose substantially by not buying.
When I interviewed Chialdini, he cited two examples. The first was a software company that touted “new features” that existing customers. When they changed their sales approach from “here’s what’s new” to “here’s what you’ve been missing,” they achieved a 45 percent increase in sales.
The second example was the Oldsmobile, which experienced a run on the existing product after the brand was discontinued. Even with the possibility that getting service might prove difficult, customers wanted the car simply because it would no longer be available.
Please don’t think, however, that I’m recommending that you make a habit of emergency closing. Such activity borders on manipulation, and is therefore likely to backfire, especially when the buyer doesn’t really need the product.
Still, it’s nice to have some power tools in your bag of tricks when you’ve got to make your numbers or else…
READERS: What action did I leave out? HINT: It’s dependent upon the depth of your relationship with the customer.
