Understanding and Using Buyer Motivation

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Do you feel busy? Frazzled? Pulled in multiple directions by conflicting priorities? On a daily basis, are you confronted with new emergencies, unexpected challenges, and a shifting status quo? Do you get annoyed when you find yourself involved in activities that waste valuable time?

This is the world you and your clients live in. It's an environment where few clients have much energy to devote to improvement on a daily--or even weekly basis.

This is also the crazy busy world where you're trying to schedule a meeting with prospective buyers. How can you increase your chances of scheduling a meeting where motivated buyers agree to sit down and talk to you? How can you overcome the inertia of buyers saying "I don't need to take action on this right now?"

As they say in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Psychology," Motivation is what makes us what we do." We take action because a button gets pushed internally. Something grabs our attention. Emotions are engaged. We think, make decisions, and take action.

Do you want to sell more? Then, you should be motivated to learn more about what motivates buyers.

Where Does Motivation Come from?

Motivation is created by internal and external factors. Our personalities, history and experiences push us toward certain goals. Psychologists call these internal factors "drives". Drives work in concert with external motivators or "incentives".

Survival Issues in the Workplace .

Every customer has days where they're focused on survival, and can't wait until the day ends. Perhaps their enterprise is reorganizing and there is job security stress. Or, the boss is obviously unhappy about poor performance. Some days, too much work leads to frustration, either from the sheer number of tasks, or the feeling that all you do is work. When a client is having a day where survival is their main priority, it is highly unlikely that they will agree to a meeting. Why? Because they feel overwhelmed and mentally depleted.

Routinely, we all make hundreds, or even thousands, of decisions daily. Should I check email or work on the proposal? Should I return calls or prepare for the afternoon meeting? Should I fill out my expense report or try to solve a reoccurring problem? Often, decision fatigue sets in. Early in the day, your clients carefully weigh choices. But as the day goes on, the endless decision process wears them out. By the time a buyer finally gets around to checking messages at 4:00 PM and reads your email requesting a meeting, they're exhausted from making big and small choices. To determine if they can meet with you, they must look at the calendar, assess their workload, and find an hour when they are available to meet. It's too much to think of. Instead, they ignore your request.

Buyers feel safe ignoring meeting requests because they assume salespeople are persistent. If you believe in the product you're selling, they assume you'll follow-up.

Tips to Motivate Buyers to Take Meetings.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If you're trying to get a meeting and the buyer isn't responding, seek out a stronger motivation.

· Fill in the blanks and complete this sentence. The buyer benefits from this meeting because ________________. Are the benefits compelling? Will the buyer care about what you have to offer?

· Will meeting with you help the buyer do their job better or meet their goals? If the answer is no, there is little motivation for meet.

· Can you solve a problem the buyer wants to solve right now? Point that out in your meeting request. · How much time do you need? If you ask for twenty minutes, you're more likely to get a meeting than if you request an hour. Bigger time commitments require stronger motivation.

· Offer a small "appointment bribe". This could be a small premium, the buyer's favorite drink from Starbucks, or a book related to their job.

· Psychologists David McClellan and John Atkinson researched workplace motivation and found people had three basic drivers: a need to achieve, a need for power, and a need for affiliation. Look for ways to link meeting requests to these motives.

By motivating buyers, you create a selling edge, and get more meetings. More meetings lead to more opportunities and more income, and that's motivation for you.

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