As a sales person attempting to motivate prospects, it can be easy to forget the prospect’s point of view. The strains of quotas, time constraints, and deadlines can make it tempting to put on the pressure to motivate prospects, but in actuality this is rarely the best approach to take. These five ways to motivate prospects offer a lower pressure alternative and are more likely to result in a sale, while making the sales process easier for you and for your prospects.

1. Start with Smaller Commitments

It would be great if all sales cycles moved from first contact to purchase commitment in the same day, but this rarely happens. That’s why it’s the job of a sales person to motivate prospects to a sale, and starting with small commitments is an excellent way to lead up to the buy decision. What you need to do is get the prospect to agree with (i.e., commit to) a series of smaller decisions, such as:

• Is the timeline acceptable to you?
• What do you think are the best benefits of our solution?
• What other information do you need to make a decision?

2. Focus on Results

One of the biggest mistakes sales people make is to focus on price and deliverables to motivate prospects, rather than focusing on the results that the product or service being sold can offer. When moving towards the close and attempting to motivate prospects, in most cases price is the last thing you want to focus on. Instead, remind the prospect of the potential results you have already discussed and throw in any additional benefits that you can think of, while implying that the sooner the prospect buys, the better those results will be.

3. Build Up Credibility

One major reason that sales people must work to motivate prospects is that prospects do not like to take risks. A badly made decision can reflect poorly on the decision maker and damage the prospect’s business in the bargain. When a prospect is hesitating, building up credibility can reduce the perceived risk and lead to an almost instantaneous buying decision. Use the following resources to build credibility with prospects:

• Refer to others who are using the product or service, especially if they are competitors for the prospect
• Mention certifications, awards, or other broad accolades the product or service has received
• For large sales or sales with real long term potential, enlist a sales manager or other senior sales person to meet as a team with a client

4. Create Dissatisfaction

On its face, creating dissatisfaction sounds like a risky way to motivate prospects. However, prospects who do not have a problem to solve won’t buy; it’s really that simple. A prospect who agrees that you have a great offering but doesn’t take steps to move closer to a deal might not see how your offering solves a problem he or she has. This is where knowing your prospects really comes into play, because to create dissatisfaction you need to outline the exact business problems the prospect can solve with your offering. If you hit on real problems that you can help address, you will have the prospect signing a deal.

5. Assume the Sale Is Made

Confidence sells, which is an important tenet to remember when it’s time to motivate prospects into a sale. The furthest that a sales person can take confidence is to assume that a deal is already on the horizon, and only a few further details need be worked out before delivery. Using tact with this approach is important to avoid scaring off the prospect, but when implemented tactfully it is very successful – and can be combined with other methods to motivate prospects for even better results.