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The Invisible Close Sales Nugget: Pressure vs. Tension: Are You Selling Them or Are They Selling Themselves

Guest post by: Lisa Sasevich

Article Overview: Stoke the Tension, Don't Put It Out Some of you may be uncomfortable with the idea of creating tension because you're confusing it with pressure. Understanding the distinction between the two is critical. I want to explore this so that you can apply tension without qualms and to great effect. Let's start again with this definition: pressure is applied externally; tension happens

The Invisible Close Sales Nugget: Pressure vs. Tension: Are You Selling Them or Are They Selling Themselves

In the last article, I told you that one secret of my success is my ability to provide great value while presenting information in a way that creates a great deal of tension in the audience. Now, I know that you have been offering great value for years. And you've seen for yourself that value, alone, is not enough. You need to create tension. Tension moves people from "It would be nice to have that" to "I need that now!"

Stoke the Tension, Don't Put It Out

Some of you may be uncomfortable with the idea of creating tension because you're confusing it with pressure. Understanding the distinction between the two is critical. I want to explore this so that you can apply tension without qualms and to great effect.

Let's start again with this definition: pressure is applied externally; tension happens internally for people when they listen to what you're offering.

Pressure is the tactic of a used car salesman: "Are you going to buy?" He's pushing the prospect. It's coming from the outside. It doesn't feel good to the prospect and it wouldn't feel good to you as the presenter.

Your goal is not to pressure people to buy; your goal is to raise the value so high and keep it there, through the stories that you tell with each of your points, and the seeds that you plant, that the people in your audience who would greatly benefit from your offering become more and more certain of that truth.

I call that creating the gap: showing where your audience is now without your product and where they would be if they had it. There has to be some pain in the gap. And that's why some presenters try to tame it. They're uneasy about the discomfort in the audience and, again, confuse it with pressure.

I tell this story in The Invisible Close about a business owner who held excellent, intimate introductory presentations with women in which he provided a great deal of education and value. When it came time for the women to take advantage of the irresistible offers, he would get so uncomfortable that he'd blurt out, "Remember, you have a week to think about it."

Arggh! I wanted to crawl under a rock. While a few people bought that night, he was cutting his sales in half.

I worked with him to stop this behavior, but to no avail. So, I came up with Plan B: to redesign the offers so that prospects received a great deal if they called within a week, but a much better deal if they signed up that night. Much to our delight...it worked!

Having shared that story, I'd rather see you comfortable with Plan A. That is, you know without doubt the value that you provide. So when you feel the tension in the room, you don't shy away from it or try to tamp it down, because you know their discomfort is real. Their lives or businesses would be better with your offering.

You also understand that tension is just the energy of someone who wants to buy, but hasn't gotten there yet. So, you stand up there, allowing them their process and waiting for them to get to the place where the pain of continuing with the status quo outweighs the pain of parting with their hard-earned bucks. And that's when they make the leap and invest in your irresistible offer.

And, they will feel relief from making that decision to act. When you let your prospects sell to themselves, it's a win-win for everyone and your sales will soar!

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Article Tags: close sales, presenting, selling, speaking, tension



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