When you observe sellers, you may see some during the sales cycle that fail to create urgency. They are reactive, adjusting to the whims of a customer like a robot receiving instructions. In its basic term: it is order-taking, pure and simple. This is a surefire roadmap to failure. Sure, the deal may still happen and you may find the occasional success. Most of the time, the lack of urgency created will leave the buyer thinking “well, why do I actually need X solution? I clearly do not have a strong need or desire to have it, maybe my organization will be better off without it.”
In the darkest of times economically, you will often see that potential customers will be more inclined to leave deals that do not give them a sense of urgency. When the purse strings are tightened, you need to ramp up the need for them to get the deal done. So, the question is pretty simple for a seller: how do I increase the urgency of my deal?
The answer is almost like a maths equation but thankfully with the complexity removed. We’re not talking about Pythagaras’ Theorem or Einstein’s ‘E=MC2’ - we are simply talking about two elements combined to get your answer: Pain + Value. These two factors put together can help you put forth the urgency to your customer during the sales cycle. By making them more urgent, you leave less risk of missed opportunities that fall through the cracks due to slippages, missed forecasts, or competitor intervention.
The next point of the call is how you make the urgency. What is the next step in creating tangible urgency using the magic formula highlighted above? It’s simple - you have to Identify the Pain. This first step in creating urgency, it requires you to find the Pain with your customer and specifically highlight how your solution can solve it. After you have identified the Pain with your customer, you need to Indicate the Pain, which is in essence showing how the Pain relates to the Value of their business. The Pain they are having is undeniable causing them a decrease in revenue, costs, or some other important area which leaves them losing money in some capacity. Value can be anything from looking at those revenue losses that can be saved to costs cut down that brings money back into the business.
Now the final part of the equation is finding the value. It might seem confusing at first when you begin searching for the value, but you will find it closer to home than you realize - it’s with your successful customers. You can use them to find what Value they found from your solution, bring it forward to potential customers, and put it together with their Pain. What did your successful customers find so positive about your solution? Was it a boost in revenue that they gained, or did they happen to cut down some unnecessary costs that were a leak in the business’ profits? Once you find these, you can even apply Metrics to make a clear and defined statement to your potential customers.
Once you get the Metrics that are derived from the Pain + Value, you have to go to the final stage of the equation which is Implicating the Pain - the final result of the magical formula. This is the part where you make it clear to the customer that they feel such a strong reaction to the Pain that they have to take immediate action - this is Urgency!
This magical formula can be the perfect remedy for the trying times that the world will be facing. Whilst the economy may be going through turbulent times, you can make sure your success in sales does not, with this lifeboat of a formula that can save your customers.