3 Keys to Influencing Indecisive Customers

Regardless of your professional title, we are all in sales, and we all have heard the dreaded words: no, not right now, I’ll think about it, maybe another time; and the like. Sales, as Norman Hall had put it, is an “ocean of rejection.” Face it, every sale is a potential risk to the buyer, and every sale requires the buyer to sacrifice something.

It is not hard to imagine why so many potential buyers struggle to commit. Customers can “like” your product and still not be personally sold, customers can be sold and still not be certain, and customers can be certain and still not be urgent to move forward. It can be frustrating, I know, but take heart because it is you and your efforts that make the difference!

Highly influential sales-makers are able to successfully motivate even the most indecisive of customers to take action and buy now. Below are three keys to influencing indecisive customers. 

1. Offer Them a Compelling Path

It is not enough for your customer to “like” your product. Most customers will not take the leap and buy until you first show them why they should take the leap. Many opportunities are blown because no one actually compelled the customer to do anything. Some professionals might assume that they have added value because they fully explained the features, facts, and figures associated with their product.

From a market standpoint, the features, facts, and figures may be unique, but by-in-large customers don’t care. What really matters is how you and your products can improve their lives, literally! The most influential sales-makers stack value upon value with a message that is real, personal, and unique for each buyer. It’s a fact that if you give someone big enough reasons to move forward, they will move, but it needs to be their reasons and not ours. To influence indecisive customers, make each deal bigger, personal, and more meaningful by creating value that isn’t found in the brochure or on the website.

2. Lead Them Along the Path 

Your customer can be sold on your product, and still not buy. Many customers will not take the leap until you show them how to take the leap. Undoubtedly, the decision to buy takes effort. Your customers do not want to think through the process of buying too! Formulating the “next step” requires additional mental energy, and that’s just too much work to expect from our customers. Whether it’s making sense of the time, making sense of the effort, making sense of the cost, or something else, there are customers that just don’t know how to move forward and they need real guidance.

Countless opportunities are lost because the customer was not truly led all the way through the sale. Some professionals might assume that if they provide enough value, in the end, their customers will take the leap and buy. Anyone who has asked enough closing questions knows that this is not always true. The question itself does not guarantee action! To influence indecisive customers, lean in, and lead by showing them the way. 

3. Familiarize Them with the Destination

Your customer can be certain, and still not be urgent to move forward. Most customers will not take the leap and buy until they can see themselves having already taken the leap and visualize the consequences of not taking the leap. In business, seeing is believing! It’s not enough to talk about the value that you and your products offer. Your customers actually need to see it in their minds. If your customer cannot clearly see a favorable picture of themselves having bought, fear and indecision are likely to rule. People don’t just buy products; they buy how they envision the products will make them feel.

Some professionals assume that their enthusiasm for the product will transfer to their customers, but it is the customers’ mental picture that reigns supreme. The easiest way to familiarize your customers with the destination to ask questions that allow them to paint a clear picture in their minds. To influence indecisive customers, help them see it! When they can see it, they can feel it; and when they can feel it, they are more likely to take action. 

We are all in sales, and we all have to deal with indecisiveness. To effectively motivate indecisive customers to take action, it’s not enough to know the way; you also have to show the way and be able to compel your customers to go that way. By offering a compelling path, leading them along the path, and familiarizing them with the destination, indecisive customers will build the confidence needed in you and your products to move forward.