One of the most important three-word phrases in business is: sense of urgency. When I look over the various winners and losers I’ve seen in the business world, those three words tend to define the difference between winning and losing. In a nutshell, winners have the sense of urgency; losers do not. When you’re analyzing your own performance or that of your salespeople, ask yourself, “do they display a sense of urgency about their jobs – or not?”
One might think that tighter economic times would provoke greater sense of urgency on the part of those whose responsibility it is to make things happen (i.e. salespeople). Often, however, the result is the opposite, because urgency’s enemy – fear – sets in. Salespeople who would otherwise be highly motivated to make calls get nervous and apprehensive about “the economy,” and thus calls go unmade (“I’d rather call them when the news is better.” Of course, since “the economy” is simply the cumulative effect of individual decisions to do or not to do business, every such postponement actually makes the economy a little worse.
Let’s take a look at some of the roles within a (your?) company, and look at how a lack of urgency can negatively impact sales success.
The salesperson: This is fairly easy. In fact, we just discussed such an example above. However, I see a lack of urgency in many different parts of the sales process. As an example – recently, an out-of-town company prospected me to purchase a fairly innovative marketing program. Coincidentally, a local KC company contacted me the very next day, offering a similar service. I know and like the owner of the local company, and I am a buy-local guy when it makes sense. So, I met with them and discussed some possibilities. I then waited for a proposal. And waited. And waited. Meanwhile, the out of town company kept calling me to follow up. When I finally received a proposal from the local company (after not one but two calls asking if they wanted my business or not), it was less targeted to my needs than the one I’d received well before from the out of town company. Reasoning that if the local outfit didn’t have a sense of urgency about winning the business, they were unlikely to have one when it came to servicing the business, I went with the out of town company. I’m pleased with my decision – but if the local company had followed up aggressively, they’d have won the deal.
The sales manager: Sales managers can lose sense of urgency in many ways; the decision to make changes in personnel, for instance, becomes a lack of urgency. The most common way for urgency to get lost at the sales management level is when changes are desired by ownership, and the sales manager is lackadaisical about pushing that message to his reps, and making sure that the right things happen. The biggest way the sales manager can reflect a lack of urgency, however, is simply by not making certain that his reps are maximizing their 40 hours per week.
The business owner: Business owners can sometimes lose a sense of urgency because acting quickly is painful. For instance, I have seen numerous instances where long time managers needed to be replaced or reassigned within the company; their abilities weren’t a match for the company’s needs going forward. However, the business owner was reluctant to do so because of personal relationships or simple fear of change. The problem is that the one thing we can never recover is time lost – and when a decision needs to be made, every day lost in the action is time lost (and money lost).
People lose a sense of urgency because they believe that there are no consequences for slow action. In a restaurant, it’s the idea that the customer won’t walk out if their order isn’t taken promptly (I do walk out); in a salesperson, it’s the thought that the customer will be just as willing to buy tomorrow than they are today – or even more willing (not always true); in a business owner, it’s a lack of understanding that money lost today can’t be replaced tomorrow.
While there are other ways “sense of urgency” can hamper companies at every management level, hopefully, you’re getting the idea. Sense of urgency means maximizing every lead, every call, every proposal, and every hour. If you’re doing it, great! If not, remember those three little words.
