How to Be Successful in Sales: The Key to Overcoming Customer Indecision
In today's intricate sales landscape, a deep understanding of the true drivers behind customer decisions is paramount for how to be successful in sales. Renowned sales experts Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna, authors of the influential book The JOLT Effect, have transformed our understanding of the customer buying journey. While conventional sales wisdom often emphasizes overcoming the status quo, Dixon and McKenna’s research unveils a more profound reality: customer indecision frequently acts as the silent killer of deals, a factor often underestimated by sales professionals.
This blog delves into the core insights from Dixon and McKenna’s research, emphasizing the critical distinction between customer indifference (the status quo) and customer indecision (the fear of making the wrong choice). By grasping this difference, sales teams can refine their strategies and significantly boost their close rates in an increasingly competitive marketplace, a crucial aspect of learning how to be successful in sales.
Understanding the Customer Decision Journey for Sales Success
All customer decisions, whether for new acquisitions or expansions with current vendors, follow a similar trajectory. However, Dixon and McKenna’s research highlights that high-performing sales teams approach this journey with a fundamentally different perspective, a key element in achieving consistent sales success.
The traditional viewpoint often depicts the customer journey beginning with the buyer's consideration of moving away from their current situation towards a new potential operational vision. Sales professionals engage customers regarding their status quo, striving to build consensus on a vision that propels the customer away from this current state, with the seller positioned as the preferred vendor.
From this point of agreement, the seller guides the customer through a detailed proposal and action plan. Numerous steps must occur before a deal is finalized: terms are reviewed, conditions are evaluated, and various departments become involved in the decision-making process.
Traditional Sales Advice: Overcoming the Status Quo
For decades, sales training has primarily concentrated on overcoming the customer's inherent preference for the status quo. This inclination arises from deeply ingrained human biases that lead customers to resist change, even when presented with demonstrably superior alternatives. Understanding these biases is essential for anyone aiming to learn how to be successful in sales.
Traditional sales approaches address this challenge through various methods:
Helping customers fully recognize the problem that needs resolution.
Highlighting clear differentiation between your solution and competitors' offerings.
When necessary, strategically leveraging "FUD" (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) to tap into the customer's apprehension of missing out.
Demonstrating the potential losses customers face by maintaining the status quo.
These techniques aim to amplify the customer's dissatisfaction with their current situation, thereby motivating them to take action and move towards a solution.
The Crucial Difference: Indecision vs. Indifference in Sales
Dixon and McKenna’s groundbreaking research reveals that overcoming indecision necessitates a fundamentally different strategy than overcoming indifference to the status quo. While conquering the status quo involves amplifying the fear of inaction, addressing indecision requires mitigating the fear associated with making a purchase – a critical insight for how to be successful in sales.
According to "The JOLT Effect," the three primary drivers of customer indecision are:
Valuation problems: Customers struggle to determine the most suitable option, package, or configuration for their needs.
Lack of information: Customers feel they haven't conducted sufficient research to make a well-informed decision.
Outcome uncertainty: Customers fear they may not realize the anticipated benefits from their purchase.
As markets present more choices, information becomes more readily available, and solutions become increasingly intricate and costly, customers are increasingly prone to paralysis by indecision—ultimately leading to inaction. This understanding is vital for achieving consistent sales success.
How to Be Successful in Sales: Mastering the Dual Approach
To truly achieve sales success in today's complex market, it's crucial to address both customer indifference and indecision simultaneously. The most effective sales professionals have learned to master a delicate balance:
Motivating Action: Effectively raising buyer concern to drive them away from the comfort of the status quo.
Building Confidence: Simultaneously reducing buyer anxiety and the perceived risk associated with making a purchase decision.
This dual strategy is fundamental to how to be successful in sales because indifference and indecision can be present at any stage of the customer journey. Top-performing sellers develop the ability to accurately identify whether a buyer is hesitant due to inertia or paralyzed by fear of making the wrong choice, and then tailor their approach accordingly to increase their close rates.
Asking the Right Question for Sales Success: Indifferent or Indecisive?
Sales professionals and managers should consistently ask themselves this pivotal question throughout the buyer journey. The answer dictates which strategies will be most effective in moving the sale forward and ultimately achieving sales success.
A common and perilous assumption is that indecision doesn't exist simply because the buyer hasn't explicitly voiced struggles with their decision. Dixon and McKenna’s research debunks this myth, revealing that:
Indecision can be detected as early as the initial customer interaction.
Moderate to high levels of indecision are present in a staggering 87% of sales opportunities.
Indecision is so pervasive that it often persists even after a sales win.
Overcoming Post-Decision Doubt for Lasting Sales Success
Perhaps the most surprising revelation from Dixon and McKenna’s research is that indecision can linger even after a successful sale, sometimes threatening to unravel an otherwise completed transaction. Psychologists refer to this as "post-decision dysfunction"—when individuals re-evaluate their choices after they've been made. This understanding is crucial for long-term sales success.
This phenomenon manifests when customers:
Continue researching alternative options after signing an agreement.
Consult additional reviews and competitor websites.
Seek validation from subject matter experts and purchasing consultants.
Understanding this final stage of the customer decision journey can empower sales teams to develop strategies that reinforce customer confidence post-sale, mitigating the risk of cancellations and building stronger foundations for future business and sustained sales success.
Conclusion
Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna’s work in "The JOLT Effect" equips sales professionals with a more sophisticated and effective framework for understanding customer decision-making, a cornerstone of how to be successful in sales. By recognizing the critical distinction between overcoming the status quo and addressing indecision, sales teams can develop more nuanced approaches that target the true obstacles to purchase.
The most successful organizations are already implementing these insights, empowering their teams to discern whether customers are stuck in indifference or paralyzed by indecision—and respond with the appropriate strategies to improve sales performance. In today's complex selling environment, this dual approach may be the key differentiator between deals that stagnate and those that close, ultimately defining how to be successful in sales.
Want to learn more about implementing insights from The JOLT Effect in your sales organization and equip your team with the strategies for consistent sales success? Contact us to learn about our workshops and training programs featuring Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna’s revolutionary approach to overcoming customer indecision.