Creating a Sense of Urgency in Customers

“Create a sense of urgency by respecting your customers’ needs and they’ll respond by buying,” – Tara Gentile

Most businesses and enterprises are designed to sell products and services to customers. The act of selling can be achieved by many means – these include a variety of approaches, including creating a sense of urgency in customers. This tactic takes advantage of the buyer’s mentality of obtaining goods and services at a very good price, however this  objective may not be necessarily shared by the selling party, but closing a sale remains the holy grail of the commercial enterprise, because sales drive profits. We must bear in mind that when a selling party chooses to pursue subtle pressure tactics, the intent is to introduce the customer to a proposition that offers high chances of culminating in a sale. We must underline the fact that the selling party is obliged to craft a genuine sales tactic that offers a tempting proposition to the buyer. This is the crux of commerce and has been so since time immemorial.

Business strategies that hinge on creating urgency in customers should be constantly refined and polished over time. The customer could be a businessperson or a professional entity and therefore, short-term selling strategies should be abhorred. A genuine bargain may be packaged and offered as part of the strategy to sell to the said customers – this may be well- appreciated by the buyer and could win long-term customers who trust the selling party. Replicating such business strategies may expand the customer network, while helping to boost the annual turnover of the business. We could say that such tactics can yield business benefits beyond the obvious; interesting insights may emerge from the frequent use of such subtle selling strategies. The fact that a business is leveraging urgency in customers may enable a deeper interaction with the customer(s) and could reveal insights that may help to widen the commercial fortunes of the enterprise.

An important source of business profits lies in repeat customers. These individuals are satisfied customers that can boast about products and services offered by a business establishment or a merchant house. Such actions can have the effect of attracting their friends and acquaintances to the said businesses. These new prospects may be subject to selling strategies that induce urgency in customers. Therefore, we may say that that one of the cornerstones of an enterprise is to create customers that create more customers.

A business is subject to business cycles and seasonality; such factors may enforce certain compulsory business practices. These stages of the business cycle may mandate clearing out the product inventory at certain points in the calendar. Such business imperatives may force enterprises to fast track their selling plans by creating urgency in customers. Businesses may choose to offer deep discounts and freebies to boost sales in the hope that such actions may achieve the desired effect. In addition, an extension of such a strategy operates when businesses take customers into confidence and create selling pressure by disclosing low levels of stock. Such tactics may force the customer to accelerate a purchase decision because the alternative scenario is to face zero stocks.

The act of paying close attention to customer requirements and specifications is a subtle means of generating urgency in customers. Consider this: an indecisive customer may choose to make a wide and in-depth survey of the goods and services being offered at a business establishment. The polished salesman may choose to answer every question at length in an attempt to help the customer to arrive at a purchase decision. This scenario creates a perfect picture of the ingredients required to close a successful sale. The attentive salesman has managed to close all avenues of further inquiry while enlightening the buyer about all products and services. This situation leaves the latter with very few options and arriving at a purchase decision promptly would be one such option. The events described above are a positive illustration of the power of creating urgency in customers.

Long-term business plans may call for a systematic deployment of strategies that trigger urgency in customers. Consider this: a product development company may choose to implement such methods of doing business to impart momentum to its product cycle. Software product developers may consider withdrawing support from certain early versions of their software products. This automatically creates pressure on steady customers to upgrade to the latest versions of the said products. Such upgrades may not be a choice for consumers because the use of the said products is embedded deeply in their daily operations. This is essentially a long-term strategy on the part of the software developer to sustain and expand their business under all economic circumstances. We may note that this is a telling example of the efficacy of putting together selling techniques that hinge on creating urgency in customers.

Certain business channels may lend themselves wonderfully to business expansion by creating urgency in customers. Online business models may offer special discounts and coupons to Internet-savvy customers. These legions of smartphone-borne shoppers may find it beneficial and convenient to shop through the said business channel. The aforesaid discounts and coupons may be tailored to exist only in cyberspace and consequently, a zero existence in brick and mortar establishments. Such an approach automatically creates a steady surge of business through online channels to the detriment of sales registered in traditional, physical business establishments. Having noted that the Internet is a recent phenomenon (and online sales even more so), we could say that the evolution of electronic and online technologies has imparted deeper, more substantial meaning to sales tactics centred on creating urgency in customers.

A different illustration of expediting business by generating urgency in customers lies in changes in government regulations. Consider this: certain technologies may be deemed to be hostile to the natural environment and detrimental to public health. The government of the day may choose to act precipitously and ban these technologies. Commercial considerations may play no role whatsoever in the actions of the government. A short deadline may be announced and businesses may have to react on a war footing to dispose of the accumulated inventory based on the recently banned technologies. Such a situation naturally calls for high pressure selling strategies based on creating urgency in customers. Steep discounts and friendly shoptalk may be the planks on which such merchandise has to be disposed of legally at short notice. This instance illustrates the efficacy of such sales tactics in an emergency.

The examples cited in this article illuminate the importance of devising sales techniques that hinge on creating urgency in customers. Such techniques may not be appropriate in certain lines of trade, but work wonders in most aspects of commerce. Urgency, when handled subtly, can provide much needed sales momentum in commercial establishments. The use of such strategies has to be perfected over time and must be applied judiciously. The traditional practices of buying and selling will continue into the future, but the skilled salesperson should be aware of all types of selling tactics. We must make a note of the fact that selling products and services is a refined art, and such artists must continue to polish their craft at all times.

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