The Art of Choice | How to Let Clients Feel In Control

Today we’re talking about the power of choice and the art of making your clients feel like they’re in control, while you stay in charge.

Now, this is a weird analogy, but stay with me.

There was an experiment where scientists found that if you back a rat into a corner, it’ll go for your nuts. But if you give it a left and a right, it’ll pick one.

Another weird but relevant analogy.

Recently, there was a wildlife project in Shropshire where they released two beavers into the wild within a contained area; heaven knows why.

But they decided to do a naming competition for these beavers.

And you can imagine the comments. In fact, this whole initiative is almost genius because of the attention it’s generated. But there’ll be children looking at it, and they’ve got to be careful with names.

So they narrowed it down to three safe choices, and got the public to pick.

And that’s the idea.

Because that way, you’re giving that choice to each individual person, rather than putting it out to the masses.

God knows what they’d have got otherwise. Probably something like ‘Beaver McBeaver’.

You can even apply this principle with your partner. Give them two choices and be happy with either result.

So if you say: ‘Fancy a takeaway tonight?’, they can only say yes or no – then you’ve both got to figure out which food.

But if you know you’ll be happy with either Indian or Chinese, and you give them those two options, they feel like they made the decision.

And you’re still getting to eat something you like.

Obviously, it’d be annoying if they then said ‘pizza’, but you get the idea.

When I’ve got difficult things going on or choices to make, I find that listing all the positives that can come from each choice is a better way to approach it than looking at all the negatives.

Because if you focus on the positives, it changes how you communicate with people, and you’re less afraid of giving people a choice. So now I say:

‘Do you want the good news, or the better news?’

The only situation where I’d avoid offering choice is when someone’s already made their mind up.

So if someone came to us and said: ‘I want your gold marketing package. I want ads, funnels, landing pages, a little bit of website support and an account manager. Can you do that?’

I wouldn’t respond with: ‘Well, have you seen our silver marketing package? It’s ads-only but it’s a good place to start.’ They’ve already told me they want the gold package, so if I start pushing silver, I’m just going to p**s them off.

Probably do myself out of a sale, too.

And I see this all the time at car dealerships. Nowadays, when people walk into a car dealership, they’re already pretty clued up on the car they want. They’ve done their research, they know the spec, what fuel system it’s got, whether it’s got heated seats.

But the car salesman comes over and says: ‘Oh, I see you’re looking at the Ford Kuga. Could I interest you in the new Kia Sportage? It’s a bit bigger and it’s got more features, you’ll get more for your money.’

And the buyer’s like: ‘But I’d like a Ford Kuga.

Then the salesman’s like: ‘Well, the Ford Kuga’s not very good’ etc. And the buyer starts getting doubtful. They start thinking to themselves: ‘What’s going on, are they getting more commission on the Kia or something?’

Never people back into choice when they already know exactly what they want.

In any industry. Because why the f**k would you?

It’s like the antithesis of sales and business growth.

Only when they’re clearly uncertain should you guide them through the options.

Because giving someone blind options when they don’t have a clue what the answer is? Another surefire way to annoy someone.

It’s also about how you frame it.

We could say to a prospective client: ‘Do you want to spend £2k on ads?’, or we could say: ‘Do you want to get 10 new customers?’

Basically, do you want this, or do you want that? Would you like to start next week, or the week after? Shall we have Chinese or Indian takeout? Same thing.

Narrow down the options and you make the choice easier.

Also, by giving people choice, you’re effectively coaching them through the decision-making process, rather than dictating to them.

So you become the trusted guide.

Often, when you’re guiding someone to a result, there’ll be forks in the road. In those instances, it’s about helping them to make a decision on whether they want to go left or right.

As Donald Miller says: ‘Always be the guide, not the hero’.

‘You make the client the hero.’

Listing out all the pros and cons of each choice is really helpful, too. Then, they can make an informed choice. And even if it’s not the right choice, they’ll feel like they made an empowered decision because you helped them understand their options.

Clarity is crucial in sales, because as soon as someone becomes confused?

You’re losing them as a customer. Or even a prospect.

People in sales will often massively oversell features.

They’ll ramble on and on about all the things their product or service can do, when actually, the best thing you can do is listen.

Because the more you ramble, the more people will switch off. Your job is to find out as much information as you can to see where their problems are.

Then make them feel certain that you’re the solution.

The tiered package approach – silver, gold and platinum – works well because it can put people in choice straight away.

Here’s what that could look like.

‘What are your issues? OK, so you’ve got two or three problems, you probably fall between these two packages. This one will tackle all your problems. The other one can tackle X and Y, because you might not need Z yet. Which camp do you fall in?’

They might say: ‘Oh, well I think I’m a gold customer.’

So then you can say: ‘Right, well this is what the gold package costs. You can pay it in full, or pay monthly – it’s a little bit more but you can split it over the year. Which would you like?’

Then once they’ve chosen, you can go straight into: ‘Cool, are we talking direct debit or credit card?’ and then ‘When would you like to start? We can get you in for an onboarding call on Tuesday or the following Monday.’

That way, you’re keeping the momentum.

But what most people do is say: ‘Oh, we can’t fit you until next Tuesday’ or ‘If you’re coming on board, it’s gonna have to be gold because silver’s not gonna cut it for you’.

And ‘I’m gonna have to take a deposit right now. Is that OK?’

No, that’s not OK, you maniac.

My average Discovery Call used to last an hour. Now, they last about five minutes.

First, I ask what problem they’re looking to solve, and how’s that been affecting them.

Then I’ll ask what they know about us already and what they’d like to know more about. Based on their answers, I’ll give them a couple of options.

Then I’ll give them a choice.

‘Would you like me to walk you through those two options right now? Or would you rather book another call in a few days, and I can send you some info in the meantime?’

At the end of the call, I’ll ask two questions: ‘Is there anything you’re confused on? If so, how can I help?’ and ‘What has to happen for this to be the best decision you’ve ever made?’

Whatever they say, then I know what I’m shooting for.

Once, I had a call where I said: ‘Talk me through how you think I can help.’ And they said: ‘Well, I don’t know how you can help, that’s why I’m here! You’re the expert, you should know!’

Erm, no, YOU should know.

You should know what results you want. Is it 10 more customers a month? OK, let’s work back from there. Why do you want 10 more customers a month? Oh, you don’t know?

Great…

If someone ever says that to you, run a mile.

Because usually, it means they’re indecisive.

Or they haven’t achieved something in the past and they’re scared of risk, so they want you to take all responsibility for everything in their life.

And that is not a fun place to be.

So, how do you get people into choice?

Listen more than you speak. Understand their problems, give them two good options as the solution, then guide them through the process of choosing between them.

I’m not saying it’s easy.

I’ve practiced every day for four years and I’m still not the best at it.

But it helps if you emotionally detach yourself from the result. And that’s actually really hard to do. When business has been tough for us, my sales performance has dropped through the floor because I’m so keen to get people over the line.

And people can smell desperation.

Don’t miss the next episode of Stay Hungry – we’ll dive into straight-talking insights on business marketing, growth mindset, and the realities of running a business. And if you want to take the hassle out of your marketing, we’ve got you covered with our done-for-you service.