TennisandSales

Head Of Sales

you cant create urgency in sales.

ive had bosses in the past say things like "you need to help create urgency!" to try and like close deals faster like its some sort of tactic.

my hot take? thats bullshit.

I can illuminate problems, make them understand how big they are, explain the cost of NOT doing anything. but thats not really creating urgency.

Urgency happens when there is a trigger event that we cant control. budget approval process, new leadership coming in, an audit happening things like that.

Understanding what the trigger event is will for SURE help you accurately forcaste when a deal will close.

but thinking you can create urgency i think is not true.

i forget which influencer said it but it was something like "you cant create urgency, you can only align with it."

and i actually agree with that.

anyone else feel this way??

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44 comments

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LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

I agree you can't create urgency where none exists, but you can shine a light on it when the buyer is completely oblivious that there is a need or even an opportunity to act.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Ding ding ding ding! Tell him what he's won bois! 😆🥂

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Or a cost to not acting.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

SDM

Politicker

Sales development manager

Agree

KendallRoy

Politicker

I wish my manager understood this, instead of insisting on calling the prospect because a deal was going to close in Q3 instead of Q2, telling him the price would rise if he didn’t sign to “create urgency”, only for him to get pissed, completely lose trust and abandon the entire deal. True story.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

oh Vlad you nailed it!

this is exactly what happens ALL OVER the place. leaders think price is the best lever to pull and its normally NOT the case. especially as the price gets higher, it actually becomes less of an issue.

revenuegenerator

Praised Answer

Sales Management

The "the price will increase next quarter" is such a 2000s tactic. This day and age it obliterates trust. Plus no one believes you. If leaders are resorting to this, most likely they need to step up their qualification game/training.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

haha yes very 2009 kinda thing 😂

coletrain

Politicker

Account Executive

And/or those leaders are desperate for revenue in the door due to investors/c-suite/etc. pressure

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

I swear VC/investor pressure is the cause of almost all problems

SaaSsy

Politicker

Yep, been here before. LOVE your user name lol

Wellss

Tycoon

Channel sales

I find this especially true in an inbound role. People come to us because they already know they have a problem. So then everything we're telling to try & 'create urgency', they already know

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

great point. with inbound i have found that you need to understand HOW much they know about you, and just help them get to where they want to go. inbound deals are normally smaller but faster so thats a good trade off.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Spot on. You can't create it, but you can find it and ride it all the way to the bank.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

I am in agreement for the most part. I think there is a false sense of urgency created when there are incentives involved.

Slapsnacks

Praised Answer

Account Manager

I don't know - if you bring a gun to a meeting, I would bet you could create urgency, might even be a little easier to upsell. The downsides being that this method only works one time, so use it wisely.

KB_FarmerType

Opinionated

Strategic Sales

Love it !

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

It helps them managers sleep better at night [ oh yes, my job has meaning ]

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

haha yep nothin like lazy leadership to help you sleep at night!

"man i used SO many cool buzzwords today! Im so important" 😂😂😂

SaaSsy

Politicker

YES! Please blast this out to every sales manager in the world. It all ties back to sleazy tactics for me and buyers are so much smarter having seen all the BS. In true tech sales, you need to align as a consultant/partner/collaborator. Unless you can truly quantify profit leak from doing nothing or having a real sticking point, everyone knows sales people just want their money.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

haha for sure!!! and even if we do show them that if you dont fix this now you are losing a ton of money......there is STILL no guarantee they can take action. although we should all still be doing this.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

This is so common in low complexity, transactional sales.

And often is tied to dirty/dishonest tactics.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

ah a leader who feels the same way! lets go!

travelhappy

Fire Starter

sales executive

i am in consulting sales. you can illuminate the cost of not acting but with mature prospects, that's not a conversation that can be elongated.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

consulting sales, so you are selling consulting services? what is your target market? this seems like a hard thing to sell outbound haha

UserNotFound

Politicker

Account Executive

Yes… and no. There are situations where you can create the urgency by highlighting how high the cost of no change is (often perceived as $0). You can also create urgency with BS expiring discounts. Not my favorite. But in low revenue deals it often works.

I do agree that for the most part outside of commodity items, you can’t create an urgency that doesn’t exist already. You merely align with current initiative targets and twist the knife when applicable. I also think that often “create urgency” leads to fear based tactics and I just refuse to be that sales person. My entire process revolves around: making my decision maker look like a god damn jeen-yuhs, making people feel good throughout the process, and setting achievable expectations.

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

+1. I am super glad someone said this. My review from the leadership always has been that I don't drive urgency. There was no urgency for me to drive. But if I said that, I'd have been judged bad.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

oh yeah thats the worst thing, is that you cant say there was no urgency because then they will make THAT your fault too!

SalesinSeattle

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

Perspective on this I haven't seen anyone share yet is that urgency can also apply to your approach to the deal as well.

My sales leader rides us about this all the time, "don't be a passenger" in the client's process. Identify what you can understand, drive, and help move along faster rather than wait for the client to check their own boxes.

Legitimately 50% of the time if you step back and reflect after a deal is finished you may realize there were some additional levers you could have pulled.

But agreed - price often doesn't create urgency because it's only one out of a handful of buying factors, and it doesn't drive the car.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

i like this! this is for sure important. if you cant figure out a way to drive the deal you will most likely lose.

salezkween

Opinionated

Enterprise Account Executive

tie pain to company initiatives or it’s doomed to be pushed off and non-urgent. What trigger events do your customers commonly have?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yes I agree. you have to align your solution to the company initiatives for sure. i dont believe we as sales ppl should be expected to get a company to SET those initiatives though.

Jace

Contributor

Account Executive

I actually love this post

Thank you for writing this.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

Officer of ♥️

This is why a lot of sales is dumb luck

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

hahaha there is a bunch of that for sure!

SaaSguy

Tycoon

Account Executive

Its called a "critical event" and it must come from the team are selling into. You cant create a critical event - you often need to rely on discounts/favorable terms to get a deal closed on YOUR timeline as opposed to a customers.

GDO

Politicker

BDM

You are right. However you can ask: by when does this need to be solved. Then calculate back exaggerating and creat urgency that way.

bassinshaps

Politicker

Territory Sales Manager

Creating false urgency is unethical but highlighting on facts that are ACTUALLY urgent and just so happen to get your deal closed sooner is a must.

RomyJax2020

Valued Contributor

Enterprise Sales Dev

I think there's a difference between creating urgency and pressuring to close.

I think you can create urgency in a helpful, advisory way, "With x problem you described, you will lose $x in 6 months time. With us, you can double x in the same time."

And then you leave it- that's creating urgency, but urgency doesn't dictate timing.

Creating the right time is impossible, you can only support and let them know how their pains will get worse, but not create the perfect time to act.

revenuegenerator

Praised Answer

Sales Management

I've always instructed my reps that creating a "sense of urgency" needs to be internalized as a "mindset" to be in, not an operational task to complete.

i.e. don't show up to just demo the software. Have an agenda, have next steps. Constantly progress your conversations towards a common goal/objective with your prospect. Ask you prospect "do you know so and so in procurement, if we buy them lunch do you think they'll fast track our order?", "mr buyer, I understand this project doesn't hit the books until Q4, what if I paid you to complete it now with a 20% discount. Would an agreement like that help your budget in this economy?".

Just always be in the mindset of progressing the opportunity towards the next milestone. IMO that is what is meant by having a sense of urgency.

There are almost always levers to pull, you just need to be inquisitive and always looking for them in the back of your head during meetings. And identifying what the timeline is, and if it can be altered, is best uncovered during the initial qualification process.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

BOOM! very well said. if you approach urgency as a mind set YOU need to be in, I can see that being much more helpful. solid examples/

AnchorPoint

Politicker

Business Coach

Your job is to create urgency. That is a qualifying check mark. Find pain, help the client understand the depth of the situation, and help the client determine how important it is to "fix".

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TennisandSales

you cant create urgency in sales.

44 comments

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