Episode 1064: Your Biggest Competitor Is Doing Nothing
TLDR: Your buyer isn’t just weighing you against your rivals, they’re weighing you against doing nothing at all.
One of your biggest competitors, whether you sell a product or a service, isn’t another company. It’s your buyer doing absolutely nothing.
You have to be really clear with them why taking action beats leaving things exactly as they are.
What Happens When Your Buyer Does Nothing
When you don’t say the right things to your buyer, it costs you more than one lost sale. You waste enquiries. People don’t understand what you do, so conversations take longer and fewer of them convert.
All of that has a time cost and a financial cost. If your messaging isn’t clear, this is what happens whether you notice it or not.
Why Buyers Don’t Feel The Cost
Here’s the problem. Your buyer never gets a bill for the cost of doing nothing. No invoice lands on their desk for the money they lost by waiting.
So it’s easy for them to think, “well, I’m not seeing the money anyway, so it doesn’t matter.” But it does matter. It’s up to you to make that painfully clear.
Putting A Number On It
One way to do this is to use a simple percentage. If a buyer increased their annual sales by 10%, what would that actually look like for them?
If they turned over half a million last year, that’s fifty grand. So the cost of doing nothing could be fifty grand or more. It sounds obvious once you say it out loud. Sometimes buyers need you to point out the obvious.
What’s something you’ve decided not to deal with recently, even though you knew it was costing you?
Take Action
Pick one buyer or lead who’s gone quiet on you. Work out what doing nothing is actually costing them, in real numbers, not vague terms.
Send them that number this week and see what happens.
See Also
- 129+ ways to inspire buyers to take action
- The Consequence Effect
- The Comparison Effect
- The Law of Inaction
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