Act Now and Save

Act Now and Save

A proven sales tactic over the years has been the “act now” close. It requires some kind of incentive to get your prospect to say yes and give you the order. The reason for “act now” can be positive or negative. Either way it works if done right.

A positive reason to encourage your prospect to act now could be a price concession or other throw in.

When I sold medical billing computer systems to doctors, I used this tactic often and it worked for me most of the time. Of course, I had already qualified them to be a customer and had gone through a discovery, presentation and proposal cycle. If I did not get the order on the spot, I was ready to deal with the prospect later. I had some flexibility in each sale so I could offer an incentive and still make a profitable deal.

Here are a couple of positive examples:

“If you act now I am authorized to include an extended service contract with your purchase. It represents a $500 value. The offer will expire at the end of the month. Act now. “

“If you act now, I can put your order in front of the others and get your system up and operational by the end of the year. If you don’t act now I can’t do it, if not, I can’t”

“I have five certificates for a free Windows 8 upgrade.  If you act now, I can give one of them to you.”

And, a few negative examples:

“If you act now you can avoid the 15% price increase schedule to take place after the end of the year.”

“Your current system is in dire shape. If you don’t act now you might lose valuable programs and data at any time. Please act now.”

“Your software will not be supported after the first of the year. To avoid potential problems and act now.”

I will leave it up to you to create some great “act-now” rationale for clients and prospects in your industry.

Give it a try

Again, assuming the prospect has the need, budget and decision making power, I recommend that you pull out “act now” and give them a call. You can do it and by doing so, finish the sales year strong.