Decision Fatigue
How easy is it dealing with you?
How many decisions do I have to make before I can get what I want and need?
How quick and easy is your competitors' process?
Have you ever got home at the end of a long day and decided you just simply did not want to cook and suggested that you get takeaways, only to have your partner say, “Sounds great- you choose.” You then respond with, “Whatever you want”, and you then have a 5min back and forth trying to get the other to decide? What you're likely experiencing is something called “decision fatigue.”
Here’s a truth worth noting: “The easier we make it to do anything, the more likely people are to do it.” Ease can be measured in the length of time something takes and the number of decisions one has to make through the process. When you look at your sales process, how many decisions does your client have to make? How long does it take? Does your customer know your process before they start the journey with you?
According to Medical News Today, “Decision fatigue is a psychological phenomenon surrounding a person's ability or capacity to make decisions. It is also called ego depletion. The theory surrounding decision fatigue is that a human's ability to make decisions can get worse after making many decisions, as their brain will be more fatigued.” This means that the longer your process takes, the more decisions required, the more interference of other competing agendas and projects, the harder it is for a client to say “Yes”.
The role of the salesperson is to make your client’s life easy. The quicker and smoother you make your process, the easier it is to go to the next step. Amazon perfected this by removing all competing ‘noise’ (alternative products) and creating “One click purchasing” online. In the world of endless knowledge and countless options, do you overload your customers or present them with the best option for what they need?
If we have done the “research” phase properly, we should know what the customers decision-making criteria are. What is important to them, what they are trying to achieve, what their limiting factors are and what their key measurements will be as they weigh up their options. Knowing this allows us to present from their perspective, “You have said xxx is important, and that xxx as a board are looking for xxx results, delivered in xxx timeframe. Is that correct?” By summarising the important factors and then correlating how your offering will meet these criteria, you make it easier to go to the next step with your customer. If you set the expectation at the beginning of the sales process, then it is easier to lead the customer, “As discussed at the start, the next step is to sign the order form and then we will lock in the delivery date and start manufacturing …”
What part of your process could you work on to make life easier for your customers?
