The JOLT Effect summary

Every salesperson grapples with the issue of a customer's inability to follow through on a purchase. This is why understanding where indecision comes from and how to assess its severity are key to overcoming it. This is known as judging the indecision, and it’s the “J” in the JOLT effect. 

According to Dixon and McKenna, the three factors that lead to customer indecision are valuation problems, lack of information, and outcome uncertainty. By identifying which type of indecision a customer faces, you’ll know which component of the JOLT effect to employ. Let’s explore the telltale signs of each.

Having lots of options is a good thing – except when it isn’t. This contradiction is known as the “paradox of choice.” While people value the freedom of choice, too much choice can become overwhelming.

This phenomenon is captured by a now-famous experiment involving jelly samples in a grocery store. Researchers set up a table with 24 different flavors. Customers were so intrigued that 60 percent of them stopped by for a taste. However, only a measly three percent of them bought a jar. The next day, researchers set up shop again, but with only six flavors. Only 40 percent of people stopped. But among these, a whopping 30 percent bought a jar.

Perhaps you’re familiar with a particular type of customer: the one who simply can’t get enough information about potential options. They acquire mountains of info, ask tons of questions, and analyze the minutiae of every option – only to decide they can’t settle on anything.

Dixon and McKenna offer three ways to best deal with these nit-pickers: owning the flow of information, anticipating needs and objections, and practicing radical candor.

Indecision comes in many forms. But perhaps the most pervasive kind of indecision comes from customers’ fear of making the wrong choice. Being stuck with buyer’s remorse is no fun, and potential customers often become frozen by fear of it.

Average salespeople fight this concern with the old FUD tactic – fear, uncertainty, and doubt – but this is counterproductive. Trying to use FUD to overcome customer indecision only makes customers more fearful.

The prominent culprit behind missed sales opportunities isn't the status quo bias, but rather customer indecision, accounting for a considerable 56 percent of these missed shots. This derives mainly from people's innate desire to sidestep loss and an inherent fear of making an active blunder. To tackle this conundrum, a four-pronged method called the JOLT effect is recommended. This method encompasses judging the root of the indecision, providing recommendations to alleviate the paradox of choice, containing the exploration of limitless options by pre-empting needs, exhibiting radical candor, and expunging the risk associated with the purchase to foster buyer confidence.