Now, look, is there anything more
frustrating than when a client won't make a decision?
I mean, how are you supposed to get any work done if they won't?
In this video, we are going to chat about some reasons why clients put off making
decisions and how you can guide them to what choices they feel good about.
Sit tight. I'm going to be right back.
Hi, Heroes. I'm Warwick Brown,
founder of Account Manager Tips, host of The KAM Club and on a mission
to help busy key account managers get results.
And talking of results, one of your goals as a key account manager
is to keep your clients happy and satisfied with your solutions.
But look, it's hard to get to that point, right, if those clients never make
a decision. You do all the right things, but they're still holding back.
So what's going on?
Let's talk about some reasons why clients put off making decisions.
Lack of interest.
Sometimes clients,
they just don't care enough about your recommendations to take action.
They're not making decisions because they're indifferent.
So how can you win them over and get them
to commit to your idea? Show them it's worth their time and energy?
It's kind of that simple, but it has to be really worth it.
Remember Linda Evangelista?
How she wouldn't get out of bed for less than like $10,000?
For those of you that grew up in the 90s.
That kind of worth it, right?
So otherwise, why would they bother?
The gain, which is to solve the pain, needs to be believable and credible, too.
So use evidence like testimonials and case
studies, demos, site visits, data and analytics.
All that stuff, to spark your clients interest.
Lack of information.
Your clients may not have all the information needed to make a decision.
Or maybe they do, but they just don't have enough time to digest it.
Provide evidence using their data
and yours to help them make their analysis or analyses, you know what I mean.
And collect and summarize as much of that information as possible for your client.
Ask them if they have everything that they need to make an informed decision.
It's all about making it easy. Too many options.
When your client has too many options to choose from well they kind of get
overwhelmed so they avoid making a decision until later.
But by later they mean tomorrow or next week or maybe never.
Present a limited number of choices.
I suggest no more than three.
Your preferred option, a low risk,
low reward option and a high risk, high reward option.
And share all the options at once rather than one after the other.
An interesting study by the Center
for Decision Sciences found that participants are much more committed
to their decisions when options are presented at once.
No urgency.
Have you made it clear enough
why your clients should act now rather than later?
They may be putting off that decision
because they just didn't realize there was any urgency or a deadline.
But don't manufacture that fake urgency
like that carpet store that's been going out of business since 2001.
That's just going to put your client under unnecessary pressure and more than likely,
they're going to say no just because they don't want to make a rash decision.
Disengaged.
Quite frankly, you've bored them or p*ssed them off, or both.
Either way, it's not good time to show
some enthusiasm and get them excited about working with you.
People problems.
B2B decisions are by committee.
A Gartner study found the typical buying
group for a complex B2B solution involves guess how many decision makers?
Six to ten.
And each of them has their own ideas.
They've got their own sets of information that they collected by themselves.
The decision dynamics are an absolute
minefield, fraught with conflict as people defend their points of view.
Provide information that helps your client make their decisions.
So share advice on what to do and support on how to do it.
Decision fatigue.
Now, we humans make as many as 35,000 decisions a day.
And the more thinking we do,
the more decisions we make, the more exhausted that we get.
Decision fatigue is that feeling of overwhelm when you have too many
choices to make, and it affects decision quality as well as quantity.
So take a look at what's going on with your client right now.
Have they got a lot on?
Can you simplify the decisions you're asking them to make?
Can you delay them? Can you create
routines that means they make less decisions or avoid them altogether?
Anxiety.
Clients may put off making decisions because of fear.
Usually it's related to what McKinsey call "Big Bet" decisions.
Those are infrequent high risk decisions with the potential to shape the future
of the company, or at least their business unit.
So you can't blame them for worrying about the consequences if things go wrong.
Now, reassure your client that the options you present it will all work out well
for them, regardless of which one they choose.
Outline the pros and cons of each and highlight your risk mitigation controls.
You might even offer to reverse the decision if it doesn't work out.
So how do you move clients from thinking to doing?
We've talked a little bit about this, but here are a few more tips.
Don't expect too much too soon.
You have to earn trust.
Start with small requests and get some quick wins under your belt.
Then you can talk to your client about bigger decisions.
Don't ask too often.
Picture it.
You ask your client for a favor, they say yes.
So you think, "l'll hit them up for another one", and they say "Yes".
And then you hit them up for another and another until you've worn out your
welcome and they stop returning your calls.
So don't take advantage or rely on your clients kindness and cooperation.
It may be in limited supply if you push it and come back to bite you later.
Be patient.
Don't rush your clients to make decisions.
It wreaks of desperation and a term I just learned "commission breath." Now
commission breath is an expression used to describe a person who is so hungry
for a sale, they will say or do anything to get it.
They need a commission so bad
the prospects can smell it on their breath a mile away.
They are more interested in the commission than in the relationship.
A great succinct definition of commission breath by Liz Wendling and it says it all.
You are in this to build influential
relationships with long-lasting rewards, right?
So don't blow it on a quick win.
Address the Pain.
In the Persuasion Code, authors Morin and Renvoise identify three sources of pain.
Financial pain, which refers to economic
aspects like revenue loss, profitability or return on investment.
Use evidence to reassure your clients
that you've considered risks and made contingency plans.
Strategic pain, which is anything that may
impact the delivery of products and services.
Typical pains are poor quality inefficiency and delays.
So for that you can share information
on historical performance, benchmarks testimonials and industry analysis.
All that will go a long way to help reduce
fear of lack of control. And personal pain.
Those are any negative impacts on your key contacts personal life.
Job insecurity, long working hours,
stress, they are just some of the emotions they might be feeling.
How can your solution, or you indeed, reduce or even eliminate some of these?
Maximize the value you offer in solving these challenges? Highlight the difference
between value and cost, and break it down into that pain versus gain.
Now, if you're struggling with getting your clients to make a decision and you'd
like my help, think about joining The KAM Club.
We're building the world's greatest key account management community with all
the tools, training and coaching you need to help you succeed.
And you can get some one-on-one time with me there too.
Learn more at amtip.co/kamclub or grab the link in the description box below.
So let's do a recap.
Effective decision making is vital for B2B relationships to function.
I mean, it's how we get work done right?
But for many clients, making decisions is often difficult.
There are a lot of reasons for their indecisiveness.
Let's run through them.
Lack of interest.
Lack of information.
Too many options.
No urgency.
Disengaged.
People problems.
Decision fatigue and anxiety.
But with patience and preparation, you can guide your clients through
the decision-making process and you can make them feel good about their choices.
So thanks for watching Heroes.
If you enjoyed this video like,
share and subscribe. It really does help the channel out.
Hey and drop a comment below and let me
know what you do to help your clients make decisions.
I'd love to hear from you. If you want to keep watching,
I recommend The Right Questions to Ask Your Clients to Get to Know Them.
And until next time. Bye for now.