Creating a Sense of Urgency Without Pressure

No client wants to feel pressured.  No one wants an indecisive client.   So professionals encounter a scenario of motivating an indecisive client to act without placing undue pressure on them.  Trying to rush a client by emphasizing deadlines or trying to overcome stalls tends to place a lot of pressure on clients.  Pressure often causes clients to flee and hide.  The only way to create an unpressured sense of urgency is to have the client make the case that they need to take action.

So how can a professional create some sense of urgency without pressuring a client?  The easy answer is to avoid indecisive clients.  Unfortunately that is out of the professional’s control.  Furthermore, most clients will be reluctant to move forward at some point in the client development process.  This is usually defined by stalls for more time.

A friend of mine, Adam, recently contacted law firms to represent him for a real estate tax assessment.  Through referrals and initial conversations he had narrowed his options to two firms.  Adam had been fairly indecisive and laboring over the decision for weeks.  As a result he was procrastinating on making a decision.  The firms involved had to be frustrated with how the selection process was dragging out.  Their objective should have been to put some urgency into the decision so they could get a clear answer on whether they would be retained for the project. 

Adam felt more comfortable with firm X and called for what he thought would be a final conversation before hiring them.  Adam talked to the lawyer about timing and his gut told him he needed to pull the trigger.  The court date was only a month away and Adam knew the law firm would need time to work on the case.  So as one of his final questions Adam asked, “How much lead time do you need to be prepared for this case?”  The attorney, who likely didn’t want to be a pushy attorney said, “The more the better but we could be prepared with a week’s notice if need be.”  I’m sure the lawyer thought that sounded impressive to potential clients.  However the message delivered to Adam was, “feel free to keep procrastinating.”  So Adam ended the call and continued mulling over his options.

To be safe he called firm Y and asked the same question.  The lawyer at firm Y asked Adam how long it would take to get some documentation together.  Adam was unsure of the document requirements and admitted he had no solid time frame.  The lawyer at firm Y said, “Honestly, you need to decide by tomorrow.  It’s going to take longer than usual to get the case together if the documents aren’t in order.”  Adam hired firm Y.

I asked Adam later why he hired firm Y when I knew he had been leaning toward firm X.  He said, “Time was running short and I needed to make a decision.  The lawyer at Firm Y seemed to have a plan and knew what needed to happen when.”  Adam had provided the lawyers at Firm X and Y with similar information about the case.  The difference was the lawyer at firm Y wasn’t afraid to put some urgency to the matter by asking appropriate questions.

Understanding a client’s situation is the first key to creating unpressured urgency.  Information about the client’s situation allows us to honestly place time requirements.  Informing clients of time restrictions is not a pressuring tactic.  It assigns reasonable timelines that the client will need to follow if they want to implement the product or service.  It also has the benefit of voiding stalled client development opportunities because clients understand that they don’t have an indefinite time table.