The interested prospective client sits across from us and, through our portfolio, views examples of organizations that have mastered the challenge he is now considering. Through our examples and our conversation, he begins to envision a future of wonderful possibilities. Inspired by what his company could become, he summons the resolve to commit to solving his problem. In this moment he says to himself, quietly, “I’m going to do this.” His arrival at the decision triggers a change in brain chemistry that brings a euphoric lift; the bigger the decision, the higher the lift.

He turns to us, excited and grateful for the strength we have given to move forward, and says, “This is fantastic! This is what we need! You people are great! I’ll get back to you.” And he means it. He truly means it.

The Emergence of Doubt

Our mistake is in thinking this is the last step. It is not. What goes up must come down. After only a few hours, the client’s euphoria wears off and he slips into a hangover of doubt called buyer’s remorse. Now he questions everything, including his decision to move forward. He considers all the things that could go wrong, all the reasons why this might not make sense.

As natural inspirers, our tendency is to do exactly the opposite of what is required at this moment. Playing to our strengths, we lean towards inspiration once again at a time when we should reassure.

It is not in the nature of most creative people to offer the reassurance the client seeks here. We tend toward excitement at a time when he requires calm. We speak of an organic approach to problem solving when the client would be soothed by the logic and consistency of hearing about our defined approach. We continue to talk big-picture when the client now needs to process sequentially and seeks to understand what the steps are that we would take together. He asks questions of the smallest detail—questions that seem meaningless and even odd to us, but are of the utmost importance to him in his quest for assurance that he is not about to make a significant mistake.

Alternative Forms of Reassurance

Closing—the last step in the buying cycle—is all about reassuring. Let us remember that when a future client has formed intent and asks us for a written proposal containing free recommendations or speculative creative, his primary motivation is fear of making a mistake. If we can keep this in mind and look past his request to his underlying motivation, then maybe we can find other ways to offer the reassurance he seeks. Most creative firms take these requests at face value and simply comply. Win Without Pitching firms offer alternative ways forward. Phased engagements, pilot projects, money-back guarantees and case studies framed in defined methodologies are among the many viable alternative forms of reassurance. The key is to respond to the motivation and not necessarily the request.