only 2 options
I just started a new sales job last week, and I got an amazing piece of advice from the Head of Sales about closing deals:
When someone needs to make a purchasing decision, don't give them an open-ended answer. Ask a question that has only 2 possible answers.
To put this into context, I sell health club memberships, so the final part of my conversations are always about whether they want to sign up or not.
Since I heard the advice, I stopped asking open-ended questions like "what do you think?". I now ask them "when would you like to start? This week or next week?"
If you only give 2 options, you're reducing their decision fatigue by about 6000% (or it feels like that anyway).
The point of this isn't to pressure someone into a decision. It's just a way of making their lives easier when making a decision. Kind of like bowling with bumpers. Both decisions feel safe.
This advice seems to be working because I've closed almost 20 deals since I've started.