Getting Customers Over the Indecision Hurdle
In this volatile economic climate getting business purchasers to commit to a sale is proving harder than ever. Nobody wants to be the person who bought the product or service that doesn't solve the problem, or worse, ends up costing money to fix and implement. B2B companies are having to deal with heightened FOMU – Fear Of Messing Up.
This purchase hurdle has always existed but has become a larger barrier now that budgets are stretched by ever-rising bottom lines. There just isn't the room to make mistakes now, and the individuals in charge of making financial outlay decisions may also be feeling extra performance pressure to keep their jobs.
The approaches to reducing this hurdle are similar for both account-based teams and those marketing without individual contact, it's just the method of delivery and deployment that changes. One of the overarching tenets of helping customers over the indecision hurdle is to avoid giving them more information.
It may seem counterintuitive, after all, surely more information will help make the right decision? Yes, but only to a point. When someone is overwhelmed with information it's hard to make a decent comparison or to properly assess whether a product or service is the right fit. Simplifying information and guiding prospects to the main benefits can be the key to unlocking the coffers.
Understanding the make-or-break factors in the purchase decision helps. You need to know some of the following:
- The problem(s) that need to be solved
- The efficiencies that need to be achieved
- How important is the ease of implementation
- What else the purchaser feels they need to prove, or achieve, by purchasing your product or service
For account-based marketing it's much easier to use the existing relationship to find the answers to these questions and provide bespoke answers. In other approaches insights from any account-based or post-purchase support teams can help identify the answers, and what content needs to be produced to communicate these answers through targeted campaigns. Keyword research and analysing website traffic also provides useful insights here.
Testimonials and reviews which address specific problems, or which sing the praises of the ease of installation and use are persuasive. How-to videos that clearly show a problem being solved with your product or service also go a long way to persuading potential customers.
Sales teams will do well to remember the fear that they feel of not making a sale is very similar to the fear their prospects feel of making the wrong purchase. Appealing on a personal level to leads and existing accounts can help; reassurance from someone who they can see as a peer or equal rather than someone who is pushing a sale will be received much better than a pushy sales pitch.
Offering time-limited discounts can also appeal to someone's FOMU – if they can get the product or service at a better price it reflects well on them and helps ease the fear of the consequences of messing up. For contract-based offerings, safety-nets and further discount clauses can help ease a customer over the indecision hurdle by demonstrating that the future of the product or service is assured.
We're used to marketing and supporting B2B companies who use account-based marketing as well as broader strategies. We can put your campaigns into place, and help create content and collateral to ensure your sales team are well supported to help your customers over the indecision hurdle.
