Businesswise, the fear of a prospect is of great importance to a salesperson. All people (including cusomters) have in-depth fear of something, e.g. failure, lack of money, loss of control, or unexpected events. Similar fears are then often one of the motivations why a client is interested in a new/additional product. You can use this fear quite efficiently, if you know how it is done.
Detecting fears
According to a LinkedIn Pulse article, salespeople often look for positive motivations of the client. For instance, „I want a new computer because it will be fast, dependable, and I will have better conditions for my work.“ From a sales point of view, however, it is more effective to use what clients fear, for instance „I am afraid my old computer will break down and I will lose my data as well as ability to work.“ Detecting these fears might be difficult sometimes, but the requests clients have might help you. When buying a car, is the client asking about crumple zones and safety features? It is likely that they are afraid what will happen to them in case of colision.
Making use of fears
Once you detect the real fears of the customer (in some cases you can even ask the client), determine which of them have high priority, and use them to your advantage. Offer a product that offers answers to the fears of the prospect, and make this a number one feature of the product. Remember that solving a fear is always more important to the client than any added value that he or she is not interested in.
Do not overdo it
Use the fear of the client only to an acceptable degree. Do not try to petrify them or induce some apocalyptic visions in them. It is only business after all.
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