Among several barriers to getting the customer’s attention, there is one that is so often neglected and it is called the ‘Preoccupation Syndrome’.
The Pre-occupation syndrome are those things that your customers are presently interested in and occupied with, hence may not pay attention to whatever product or service you have put out there for them. The Pre occupational syndrome is emotional and you need to be skilled in preoccupation breaking if you are to cash in on massive sales consistently with your customer. The fact is, your customers are all busy and pre-occupied with one thing or the other so what you are showing your customers or trying to get them to listen to must be much more interesting than what they are presently occupied with.
Preoccupation breaking is the marketing skill is used in creating so much excitement in the customer’s mind regarding your product or service, such that they cannot control their anticipation about what you are bringing his or her way. Your customer longs for it, earnestly desire it, and craves the satisfaction that your goods or services will bring to him/her.
As a salesman, marketer, business owner, or business head, it is the same principle you use in pre-occupation breaking.
This article will share how you can break the pre-occupation barrier.
First, play around with the emotions by provoking a feeling of curiosity, surprise, or concern
- A perfect example is the sales of products to get rid of excess tummy fat and you have a list of prospects for cold calling. You pick up your phone to call
- Call 1- Hello Ma, I am calling from XYZ company and we sell the world’s best Tummy trimmer. Would you be interested in buying one?
- The customer’s brain does a quick analysis and the following questions pop up. What is the world’s best? Based on whose assessment? Any social proof to show?
- Call 2- Hello Ma’am, I am calling from XYZ company and our tummy trimmer combined with our recipe can help you lose 70% of the fat in 7days. Would you be interested in a virtual or physical meeting so that we can discuss more and I can show you how to use it?
- Call 1- Hello Ma, I am calling from XYZ company and we sell the world’s best Tummy trimmer. Would you be interested in buying one?
What do you think? which of these calls will make you take action? with the first call, there is a great possibility that the customer will say, “Sorry, I am not interested”. But with the 2nd call, her curiosity has been piqued and there is a great probability that she will give you time for the meeting to hear and see how your product will deliver on her burning need.
2. When we interrupt people from what they’re engaged in, whether verbally, print, or with visuals, they automatically and subconsciously ask themselves these four questions:
- Why are you bothering me?
- So what? Who cares?
- Why should I believe you? In other words, “What’s in it for me?” What value am I getting from this?
- Why should I do something about this now?
If we can’t give good answers to those questions, and do it very quickly, our chance of getting them to engage with us by listening and taking action may be zero. Read here the 5mins rule to making a sale
As business owners and salesmen, getting past the neutral zone and into a more receptive frame of mind of our customers concerning what we want to communicate is very key. You must get and hold the attention of your prospects simply by connecting with what they desire.
I will leave us with three of such desires
- Exclusivity: Being one of the few that own something or belong to something- This product is for only 20 persons. The Facebook group is only for my tribe.
- Preservation or lifeline: Being given the opportunity to escape something unpleasant- Skin issues which most times erode your self-confidence.
- Flattery: Made to feel good about something you did or you have. This works for repeat customers every time. Tagging or thanking them openly for purchases made on your social media platform may just do the trick. You endear yourself and your product to their hearts and they will always want to patronize you
Business owners must understand that not every sale comes when a buyer demands. Most times, you have to put in more effort to make a sale by going out of your way to convince your customer to buy your goods or services. You have to be strategically consistent and persistent.
Deliberately getting your client to take action seems quite difficult as everyone is occupied in his/ her life and doesn’t want any kind of disturbance. Hence as a business owner, you cannot afford to wait till your product or service is requested, you just have to be pro-active by reaching out strategically and ensure you are well-positioned before your prospects to break loose of the pre-occupation syndrome.
You can drop in the comment section what you think about breaking the pre-occupation barrier.