[E19] Fundamentals Week: Urgency

“Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value.” – Jim Rohn

“No time like the present, a thousand unforeseen circumstances may interrupt you at a future time” – John Trusler

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda

“Just do it!” – Nike

When you are in a sales role, the final critical step – the part you are working towards – is a closed sale.

And there is no better time for that prospect to buy than right now.

In this episode I explain why urgency is important and how to get your prospects to want to buy from you now instead of you having to use sales tactics to make them buy.

Episode 19 – Transcript

Welcome to Episode 19 of The Sales Experience Podcast. My name is Jason Cutter and we are cruising through the sales Fundamentals between last week and this week. So far I have talked about rapport building, having empathy, maintaining trust, and helping your prospects see and feel a hopeful vision of their life as a result of buying your product or service.

But that last part is the important…buying from you. Not talking to you. Not thinking about it. Not imaging and then going on their way. But actually completing the sales transaction.

The final piece, as you saw the title of this episode, is creating urgency. None of your conversations or efforts with prospects matters without a completed sale. And for that to happen them must be an urgency for them to take action. The sooner the better.

Now when you have done the first four fundamentals completely your prospect will create their own urgency. That is always your goal. Nothing is better than having your prospects say “Okay, so what do you need from me to get this done?” When you hear that either you got lucky with a  prospect who knew what they wanted and knew they were going to buy and you did a good job of not screwing it up. The other scenario is you got them to that point where they created their own urgency. Not you asking “so would you like to buy today?” But instead, the prospect asking you to let them buy.

That is the goal you should have. Your hope stage of the conversation should roll into when they should buy – which is now! Always now. Not next week, not next month, not after they come back from vacation. In your mind, when you have a product or service that you have determined is going to improve the prospect’s life, as a result of your discovery questions and solution presentation – then the only right time is right now.

If you were sick and went to the doctor, and they gave you a prescription, would you wait until the following Monday to start, like you would a diet or new morning routine? No. On your way home you are stopping by the pharmacy to get the prescription filled and buy some water so you can take your those pills in the car before you leave the parking lot. Those pills represent a salvation from the sickness and miserable state you are in now, and they are hopefully your path to getting back to normal health. You wouldn’t wait until the new year to take them. You might be dead by then!

That is the same focus you should have with your prospects. If you have done your job as a sales professional then you have determined your product or service will help them in some similar way to that prescription from the doctor. If that is truly the case, then why would they wait? And why would you let them wait? There is no better time than the present to solve a problem, get started on a new path, satisfy a want or need. Delayed gratification is good, if there is a long process to make the purchase or you can’t afford it at this time. Otherwise, the time is always now.

So what do you do to create that urgency? Like I said, you must do the other fundamental phases right and completely with each individual prospect. Part of your hope step is to help them see and feel what their life would be like with your product or service. The urgency step is all about helping them see and feel what their life will continue to feel like without it.

Since you are solving some type of need, want, goal, issue, or pain, then their current state is less than ideal. They aren’t where they want to be, and would rather be somewhere else. They need to fully understand the unpleasantness of their current situation. This will create urgency.

Like my doctor prescription example, the sicker you are the more urgent you will be to get help. If you end up in the emergency room with a broken arm you don’t tell the doctor that you have to take care of some things first and that it would be better to fix it and put a cast on it next month. No – you want relief right now and you are definitely not leaving until its better.

That is how you want your prospects to feel. Using honesty and authenticity, help them feel their current pain such that there is no other option than RIGHT NOW in their mind. This is where it gets tricky, as I will discuss in the next episode – because I have seen reps use urgency as a dark magic force to manipulate people into buying now. Use your powers for good and not evil. Please.

Create urgency in their mind as a way to move them from their current state into a better state. And not to wait or think about it or plan on when they should start or debate it. If the solution you offer is the right solution, then the right time is right now. If they aren’t feeling the same way regarding buying right now, then you missed some of the steps leading up to this point. 

And we will talk more about that next time. Until next time, always remember that everything in life is sales and people will remember the experience you gave them.