Last blog, Buyer Indecision - Why Your Sales Closing Ratio is Declining, we shared why your sales conversions are declining caused not by “customer’s status quo,” but instead by Buyer Indecision.
Authors Matthew Dixon and Ted McKenna in The JOLT Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision discovered this pattern, spotting what high performers do to overcome this.
These four techniques comprise the JOLT method:
Matt Dixon Explains in this 4-minute video:
High Performers Judge the Indecision
This blog will share how High Performers measure prospects' indecision.
Dixon and McKenna’s research shows that between 40-60% of prospects while convinced they need to purchase, still didn’t buy. (2 Minutes)
High performers qualify opportunities based on externally observable criteria (use case fit, industry attractiveness, company dynamics), as well on less observable but critical criteria based on the customer’s ability to make decisions.
High performers qualify not just on ability to buy but on ability to decide.
When they determine a customer is not hopelessly stuck but still struggling with indecision, they’re able to lean into their “indecision playbook” to forecast when the deal will close.
This is why high performers have fewer opportunities where customers display high levels of indecision and far more decisive customers in their pipelines.
Three Sources of Customer Indecision
The kiss of death for any salesperson is, “I need to think about it”
What drives the customer’s indecision?
There are three sources of customer indecision: valuation problems, lack of information, and outcome uncertainty.
The book provides a series of questions salespeople ask themselves to gauge valuation problems, information issues, and the customer’s outcome uncertainty. You can download the author's Indecision Gauge on their website: Jolteffect.com
Short of using the “Indecisiveness Scale,” developed by Randy Frost and Deanna Shows in 1993, how does a salesperson judge a prospect’s indecisiveness?
The authors discovered a simple four-step process used by high-performers to assess a customer’s indecisiveness and decision-making dysfunction:
Two other dimensions determine prospect’s indecisiveness, their personal level of indecisiveness, and external factors that exacerbate indecision.
Time pressure exacerbates the propensity of a customer to get stuck. The authors’ data points to the ineffectiveness of high-pressure-selling tactics to force a prospect to decide. If anything, it’s more likely for the customer to be indecisive, not less.
Watch Matt Dixon share the difference between a high performer and an average salesperson.
Your high performers already use these tactics to sell more. (You do have high performers?) The insights in The Jolt Effect, turn average performers into above-average ones closing more sales.
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NEXT BLOG – Eliminate Choice – High Performers Make Recommendations