To increase sales and close more deals in 2023, marketers have found it essential to balance their efforts between increasing their customers’ fear of missing out and addressing their fear of failure.
Mathew Dixon in his book “The Jolt Effect”, references B2B salespeople as having been preconditioned by most of the established sales methodologies to focus on cultivating their customer’s fear of missing out.
However, as a result of focusing solely on feeding the perception that people will miss out if they fail to engage with a particular brand, marketers have failed to help their potential customers feel more confident in their decision-making process, by focusing on the benefits and unique value proposition of their product or service.
“It’s projected that 90% of buyers face intense indecision prior to making a purchase. But what is the reason for all of this indecision and uncertainty? The fear of failure. Customers are not just afraid of missing out on a great deal or product. They’re actually afraid of making the wrong decision and messing up. This fear must be understood and addressed in your sales strategy,” Brandon Bornancin, CEO @ Seamless.AI pointed out in a LinkedIn submission.
He continued: “Additionally, providing social proof such as customer reviews and testimonials can help alleviate their concerns. At the end of the day, understanding and addressing your customer’s fear of failure can help you close more deals and build stronger relationships with your customers. So don’t be afraid to address this issue head on and help your customers make the best decision for their needs.”
According to Barbara Weaver Smith, founder and CEO of The Whale Hunters, one key way for marketers to help their customers to overcome fear of failure is to recognize that each person who influences a deal has a different perspective on fear.
She said: “A sharp salesperson gets to know each person on the buying team and to understand their particular fear. Some are just afraid of change; others fear more work. It is complex in large account sales.”
Steve Sellin on his part insists that marketers need to educate the customer on the features of the product and service and how the benefits of such will provide the customer with a solution to a problem or frustration they have had knowingly or unknowingly.
He also buttressed the need for marketers to listen to what the customer is saying and ask follow up questions to understand the full scope of their needs.
Over the past decade, marketers have leveraged FOMO drive sales by incorporating it into their marketing strategies.
Fear of missing out was coined as a term to describe a phenomenon observed on social networking sites which involves the perception or anxiety of missing out on opportunities, experiences, great deals, knowledge, and trends that others are already privy to, and the compulsive behavior to maintain social connections by jumping on such trends.
