Four steps to create urgency in sales

Creating an urgency in sales process is actually giving a tool to your buyer that helps him to take a closing decision. This is a different way of looking at it because urgency usually looks like a tool for the sales person. Creating urgency is easy only when your customer is sold on the product. If your customer is not sold on the product or he has genuine logistic reasons for not buying your product then it is almost impossible to create urgency.

Patience — Many sales people give very little time before they can say that ‘this apartment is going to sell off soon’. Lot of patience is required in the sales process. there is very thin line between creating urgency and bluffing. Although these statements may not be entirely true, they are entirely not false too. So we cannot throw these statements every now and then to the customer else they will lose value. As you go through the sales discussion, three steps happen simultaneously –

These three things are interlinked and progress simultaneously during the sales conversation. the sales person’s responsibility or job is to see that he is satisfied about all these three points during the sales conversation. These are the three pillars of success in the sales process. If any one of these pillars are weak then it is very unlikely that the sale will happen. These are necessary conditions but not sufficient for the sale to take place. That is where Creating Urgency comes as the fourth step.

In the beginning part of the sales conversation it is very important that the sales person is listening as to what customer has to say. Different customers have different reasons to buy the same product. When I mention the word ‘product’ here in this article, I mean that it represents the product and the company as well.

When a customer is visiting the sales lounge he comes with lot of ideas in his mind about the product and how it is going to fulfill his needs. He has his own concepts about how the product can impact his life. It may be correct or incorrect to some extent. And a lot of this notions and ideas will remain hidden in the buyer’s mind even after the sales conversation in over. For the sales person it would become much easier if he were to know all these notions and ideas of customer so that he can guide him to the right solution.

A customer comes with two levels of requirement. Level one is the product that he is looking at, the product that he thinks would serve his purpose. And level two is his innate need that he needs to address and for which he is looking at various products that can address the same.

Ideal situation for a sales person is to get to know customer’s level two original requirement and address the same. To get to that a sales person must have patient conversation and ask his underlying requirements.

An important tool that I learnt from Chris Voss, author of ‘Never Split The Difference’, which is called labeling. Labeling, I found, is a very effective tool, in bringing out the discomforts and objections deep in the customer’s mind. A Customer most of the times is not articulate enough about what he wants and what he doesn’t like about a product or a solution. Throwing labels can help him bring out those topics and pain points that are bothering him. For example if you want to know when a customer can visit your sales office you may ask “are you visiting this week?” or you may ask “are you planning to visit this week or will it take more time?”. The second question will give you far more accurate reply compared to the first because you are making it easier for him to choose another option. In Real estate customers are often not sure about the location for choosing a project to invest. If you ask a customer if he is also looking at alternate locations by throwing some options — “Are you okay with this location or were you looking for some place near your workplace?” If he replies yes then he will also tell you why this location suits him better, and this is an important piece of information for the sales person because the same reason he can use to sell him this product.

Unselling is another very important tool which creates a neutral environment in a sales conversation and encourages customers to speak their mind about their perceptions about your product and other products. Unselling is when you suggest your customer if he has considered other similar products or other locations and other options. You can check his perceptions about the alternative options he has. He will also bring up the positives about your product versus his other alternative and negatives or any misconception in his mind. This kind of conversation is more fruitful both for you and the buyer and creates stronger emotions and attachment with you and your product.

As you progress through the sales presentation and conversation, you keep on gathering information on what matters to the customer. Then when you do the presentation you can highlight those points to get his attention. In real estate project there may be several towers or clusters and several apartments or spaces in those clusters. As you move through the presentation you may guide your customer through your several options to narrow down to fewer and fewer options. I am selling a large real estate apartment project which has several towers each 32 story tall with eight apartments per floor.

In the course of discussion we would ideally narrow down the options and see i the customer likes a particular apartment. We would suggest options in case a customer is not very articulate or has difficulty in choosing. You will notice i your customer is comfortable with this process. If he is comfortable that means he is a decision maker and he is in a state of readiness to purchase pretty soon. Often customers might feel uncomfortable to narrow down the options. This is an indication that he may not be the decision maker or he may not be ready with funds or for some reason he might not be ready.

So typically in Real Estate sales I would make him fall in love with one or two selective options. Choosing the apartment of his choice or scheme of his choice is when a customer gets hooked to the product. I shall discuss in another article how to help your customer choose and apartment or any specific product from your offering.

Once your customer has chosen an apartment or fallen in love with one particular option he has already in his mind created emotions to buy that option based on specific reasons and advantages that meet his goal. While creating urgency you have to stress upon those advantages and at the same time take away the opportunity from him to own those advantages. for example if he likes a particular facing of an apartment then you can remind him how good that facing is and also that there are very few options with that facing. If customer is not closing quickly he might lose as opportunity to own that advantage.

To make sure what he has chosen is what he loves and wants badly you must go through the first three steps thoroughly. If he still doesn’t take a decision then you will again have to probe to understand what is holding the deal. At this moment you must use labeling to make it easier or customer to articulate his challenges.

This process of creating urgency is to give him reasons and create additional emotions to take action and progress the deal. You must address both the logical and emotional mind.

Creating Urgency is one ultimate weapon that the sales person must learn to execute. This, when done well, will actually convert into numbers at the end of the month.

The first three steps are very important. This sets the foundation or the sales. Urgency is the last bit of hand holding with the customer to help him buy and reach his goal.

As a part o rapport building it is also important that you create your credibility and authority. I shall discuss this in another article. But this credibility and authority will make your work easier when you are trying to create urgency. Otherwise your customer may not take you seriously and you may fail to create necessary emotions or him to take action.

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