Creating Consistent Urgency
When I'm in the habit of working out, I'm pretty good at getting it done. When I'm out of the habit, I have a hard time getting back into the habit. The same is true for a lot of people. It's easier for me to get in the habit when I have to look my best for something. My wedding? Let's take a jog. Have a work trip coming? Show me to the stairmaster! Summer around the corner? Fire up the elliptical!
It's the exact same in ticket sales. Most reps are good when the urgency is obvious. Ticket on sale? Let's go! Pricing window increase upcoming? Get a move on, client! Schedule release? What are you waiting for? Season opener around the corner? BUY TICKETS NOW!!!
As I've mentioned before on this site, urgency is a mindset. And let's remember one huge thing, urgency works because seat location matters to people who are going to buy. Urgency doesn't work on people who don't care about seat location...because they aren't going to buy. So let's focus on some real opportunities to create urgency:
Weeks before a deadline: Everything named above doesn't have to be urgent only in the moment. Pricing window, on-sale, schedule release, player signing, season, etc are all great in the moment urgency drivers...but they also work WAY ahead of time, too. Making sure you drive towards these a month ahead of time, letting your clients know that it will be crazy AT that time is a way to move them off the fence.
Friday's: Friday is Buyday! All things equal, organizations sell their most amount of tickets on Friday's. They are pay day's, they are the last day of the week, etc. Use Friday as a way to drive urgency on Monday-Thursday.
End of the Month: All things equal, we also sell more tickets at the end of the month for a lot of the same reasons as we do on Friday's. We can use that as an urgency driver, too.
Holidays: People do make decisions before they leave for holidays. #Sportsbiz sales reps can utilize these as a way to create urgency throughout the year...as holidays happen a lot. It has to be sincere, like the 4th of July, though. Pushing people to make a decision before Arbor Day isn't quite as genuine.
So what could one of these look like?
'Listen, organizationally we sell the most amount of ticket on Friday's and at the end of the month, which we are coming up on next week. You've talked about how this mini-plan will allow you to spend more time with your dad at the sport you both love. The last thing I want is for this office to move a ton of tickets today or in the run out next week, and have you lose this seat location. If you're going to spend the money, you 're going to want the best possible experience for you and your dad. What do you think?'
These are all levers for you to use...but they only work if you decide to use them. Like working out, you can always push urgency off one more day...but you also can't sell consistently if you don't push urgency consistently. The quote on the right above is a little dark...but it's true. Decide to use what's around you to drive urgency right now.