We’ve all been there: scrolling through our Instagram feed and seeing an ad for a limited-time offer that we just can’t resist. We start to feel a sense of urgency, like if we don’t buy this product RIGHT NOW, we’ll be missing out on the deal of a lifetime. But is this urgency authentic, or is it just a marketing ploy?
Let’s take a closer look at inauthentic vs. authentic urgency, and how we leverage urgency in the right way to drive sales without being manipulative.
Inauthentic Urgency: The Sleazy Salesman
Inauthentic urgency is when a company creates a false sense of urgency in order to drive sales. For example:
- If a company claims that a sale is “ending soon” but continues to offer the same discount for weeks or even months.
- Sales and Promotions are also overused. If you’re always having a sale, you’re not actually having a sale.
- When a company claims that a product is “running out” or only “available in limited quanities” despite actually having sufficient inventory.
- Early-bird pricing is also a form of inauthentic urgency.
Authentic Urgency: The Real Deal
Authentic urgency is when there is a genuine reason for customers to act quickly. For example,
- If you’re selling tickets to a concert and there are only a limited number of seats available due to the size of the venue, compounded with a high demand because it’s for a popular band, that creates authentic urgency. Customers know that if they don’t buy their tickets now, they may not be able to get them later.
- Truly having limited inventory due to production constraints.
- Needing to enroll by a certain date to join a live course/program with a clear starting date.
- Limiting your capacity to work with too many clients because you lack the resources to serve them at your standard of quality.
How to use authentic urgency correctly
While inauthentic urgency may drive sales in the short term, it can ultimately harm a company’s reputation in the long term. Customers don’t like feeling pressured into buying something, and they’re unlikely to return to a company that uses sleazy sales tactics.
On the other hand, authentic urgency can create a sense of excitement and anticipation among customers. If they have a positive experience with the company, they’re more likely to become repeat customers.
Beyond that, it’s important to also recognize the External vs. Internal Motivation behind urgency.
External Motivation
Is driven and controlled by you – the business. Your limited inventory, limited seats to your course, your launch dates.
It’s not wrong to use them, but ensure that you are authentic in doing so and transparent about why.
Internal Motivation
Better yet, independent, though influenced by your deadlines/limitations, your prospects will also have a personal desire to accomplish/resolve something by a certain time.
To apply this, you’ll have to identify and understand their timelines. Salespeople can do this by asking timeline related questions when they’re assessing a prospect’s needs. e.g.
“How much longer are you willing for it to be this way?”
“How soon do you want to see <x> result?”
Disclaimer: This post was 60% generated by ChatGPT (a bit of a content creation experiment) and the rest was edited and added by yours truly.
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