How to motivate your client to buy

I’m being asked all the time ‘How can I motivate my client to buy’

What a great question, follow these steps to get into the right mindset for how to do that

 

How to motivate your customer to buy

The first thing to learn here is: the customer is not you. If you get motivated by saving money, having the best or whatever – we can mistakenly think that others are motivated in the same way. 

So, to set the groundwork, in the same way that a customer thinks, communicates and generally engages differently compared to you or overall, it is highly likely they are not motivated by the same things as you either.

 

You are motivated

To motivate your client to buy, the first step is to make sure that you see the value and that if you were a customer you would buy it! So, ensure you are sold on what you are selling. Everything that you are thinking and feeling impacts how you act and behave, which is naturally being picked up by the client. 

And when I say sold, I mean really sold. You are so sold that you are so keen to get on the ‘blower’ and reach out to help more people. You need to be 100%, inside-out, upside-down sold before you engage with anyone. 

Have regular internal training on your solution to the point where you are crystal clear on how it benefits the client. Prepare the sorts of questions you need to be asking clients to know exactly how your solution fits into the mix. Know what questions your client may ask of you. This includes your USP and crucially, that of all the other main alternatives available to the client. You need to be sold on the investment and the worth to the client. It’s imperative that you are sold on the value. 

If you are only 95% sold, then that’s the best that they will be too.

Persuading the client to buy

When we discuss motivating the client to buy, we acknowledge that there is a journey which starts with a need and ends with them using your solution to solve that need. Along this journey there are different stages of motivation. 

Often, I’m told ‘we need to motivate the client to buy’ or ‘my team need to be more persuasive’ or ‘they need to influence the client’. However, when I observe the sales call, it’s clear the client isn’t actually yet sold at all and the rep is ahead of themselves, dragging or pushing the client to the finishing line. Unfortunately, this can get worse, as frequently the rep gets super keen, flips into discussing discounts and offers in a zealous bid to get the client to committing. 

In all cases the rep has completely misread the situation and whilst they are sprinting to the finishing line waving the contract, the detached client stands bemused (more often annoyed). The rep’s persuasive language and behaviour laced with ‘fear of missing out’ tactics plus discounts etc, unfortunately is now doing more harm than good. They feel they are losing the client even more, so they discount to lure even more. It becomes a spiral. 

So, let us agree that the place in which you find yourself on that journey is pivotal.

Learn more:

Read here ‘When your client is ‘sold’ but still not (yet) going ahead‘

Watch our Video Conferencing webinar, where we discuss how to motivate your client to buy. 

Smarter Selling is sales and mindset coaching for high performing leaders and teams