The topic of sales can lead to a lot of different opinions and theories. One thing that remains true though is that creating urgency in the sales process, whether it’s a ‘Buy Now’ button on a website, or a countdown clock to closing the doors, is an important part of turning prospects into customers.
Urgency causes consumers to take action, and that includes taking action to buy now. But for many businesses, it’s hard to look past the old school sales strategies like cold calling and other push strategies. This can create friction in the sales department for any company who knows they need to bring in new customers, but they would prefer not to use those more aggressive sales tactics.
It’s important to know that the days of cold calling are quickly being replaced with more consumer-friendly sales strategies of creating urgency like using scarcity of products and services and time-related language on your website, which are less intrusive to the prospect while still nudging them to take action today.
But first, we want to point out that in some ways, non-pushy sales tactics are easier than ever. Why? We live in an instant gratification culture with the world at our fingertips, which is quite beneficial regarding sales because many consumers are already operating in a state of urgency. In fact, if there’s not a quick and easy way to make a purchase online or even at a brick and mortar store, many will simply leave and never look back. There are a few factors contributing to this need for instant gratification:
Attention spans are short, about 8 seconds to be exact, which is less than that of a goldfish! With information moving so quickly from social media and other advertising platforms, we’ve become accustomed to a faster pace of living and buying. Also, we’re just plain busy as humans. Balancing work, families, and social lives, we’re almost forced into adopting a faster pace of life in order to fit it all in.
So if consumers are after fast and non-pushy ways to make their purchases, what does that mean for sales and marketing in your business? Here are a few sales strategies that create a sense of urgency and encourage consumers to take action now, without feeling shoved.
1. Listen carefully to what your customers are asking for. If you’re always doing research and gathering data on existing and potential customers, you’ll have a much better idea of how to tailor your products, services, website content, and social media posts to align with the actual needs of customers.
2. Integrate easy and intuitive online purchasing options. Check your online purchasing process and put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Are there very clear ‘Buy Now’ buttons on your website or in your email newsletters? Have you used a countdown clock, scarcity of availability, or urgent language to encourage the sale to happen right now? Is it easy to make a purchase on your website once they’ve decided to buy now? You want this entire process to feel smooth and simple. Consider bright colored buttons that are easy to read and well designed ecommerce solutions to assist in this sales process.
3. Use non-direct communication methods. Emails, newsletters and social media campaigns are great ways to sell to your prospects without the receiver feeling the pressure of that in-person conversation or that hard sell. You don’t want to lose sight of the human factor, but you do want potential customers to feel like it was all their idea to take action and purchase from your company. And then, of course, make sure that you’re using the language and calls-to-action to create the urgency.
If you’re looking for a better way to collect customer data on your website or bring customers through a well-designed buying process online, shoot us an email or give us a call today at 508-652-0012.