Andy Neary describes a personal sales tactic: when prospects were hesitant despite strong ideas, he increased demand by deliberately withdrawing his proposed solution at the point of decision, framing the client as "not ready" and positioning engagement as necessary to prepare them. This scarcity/disruption tactic increased his success rate and moved him from second place to winning more deals.
Chapters
I had all the right strategies. In fact, I think I had better ideas than the competition. But my prospects weren't biting, and I couldn't understand why. And this is where I realized I'm going to have to disrupt their buying behavior if I'm going to have more success. So here's what I did. When I would go deliver my cost containment outside the box idea, right before I finished presenting and asking if this is something they wanted to do, I'd take it away from them. I'd say, you know, here's the reality. Does this solution work? Absolutely. Could this help you drive down your premiums, improve your coverage? Absolutely. But the reality is you're probably not ready for it yet. And this is why we need to start working together now so we can get you ready. You see, the second I started taking it away from them, they wanted it more. And all of a sudden, I started seeing my success rate increase. I wasn't landing in second place anymore. I was winning the gold trophy because I started to take it away from them.