Last night on Charlie Rose, former GE CEO Jack Welch underscored just how extreme the uncertainty is today. In past recessions, he said, a CEO could at least have a degree of confidence about what was likely over the next two to three months. Not now.
An uncertain customer is often frozen into indecision. The unpredictability in the marketplace triggers a host of roiling emotions catalogued in this graphic (below) for a related article in TIME. When that happens, many customers freeze up despite outwardly projecting heightened activity and determination.
Selling anything of consequence in a recession requires a strategy for thawing out the customer. Here are five points I’ve found helpful:
#5 – Put the idea of a quick, big sale out of your mind. Defrosting takes time.
#4 — Reduce their stress. Be disarmingly patient and put the prospect at ease. Show interest in their predicament: both the business and the emotional aspects.
#3 – You have an outsider’s perspective – put it to use. Share what other customers are thinking and doing. Be a resource and a problem solver. Suggest options. Talk out alternatives and scenarios.
#2 – Help the customer figure out a first investment that will be advantageous no matter which scenario unfolds. Sell the customer on “being prepared.”
#1 – Make that investment a small, tangible product or service — perhaps a study or trial — with little or no downside. Make the price and the cost/benefit a no-brainer.
Then over-deliver like crazy and you’ll raise the temperature for further thawing.
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