Written by: Vickie Sullivan | November 09, 2021
How to Alleviate Buyers’ Fear
Disruptive ideas are only as good as the buyers who are willing to try them. Fast Company published an article recently that includes couple of cool strategies that can help us thought leaders overcome clients’ fear and get that elusive buy-in.
The company profiled in the article, Uncharted, works with cities to anticipate problems such as water leaks and power outages. The approach is innovative, systemic, and ambitious. The solution is so big it’s scary to many buyers. Like some of our ideas.
2 Ways to Reduce Buyers’ Fear
Let’s look at how Uncharted’s founders set the stage to reduce fear:
• They created a cool label for the problem. Uncharted founder and CEO Jessica O. Matthews uses the term “dig once.” It’s short and makes sense in two sentences or less. With this strategy, people immediately recognize the approach. It’s easy to create a label based on your solution. Instead, do what they did and create a label based on a description of the status quo. Big difference.
Listen: 2 Stories to Stop Telling, so a New Approach Can be Heard
• They compared the price tag to the status quo. Consider this key quote about the cost of the project: “It’s equivalent to what a city might spend on a one-off infrastructure study.” Now the comparison shifts from astronomical up-front costs (that’s spent with every project) to a one-time cost spread out over many repairs. So, when you describe your investment, tie it to what the buyer spends already.
Many of us thought leaders have disruptive ideas that are beyond what the buyer can imagine. The strategies described above can reduce their fear and put your solutions on the ground, making them easier to consider.
Now Read This:
- How to Get Buyers to Want What You’re Selling
- Your Position of Power: Packaging Your Expertise for High-Fee Markets