The Psychological Pressure Of Clutter

When was the last time you cleaned everything off your desk?

Or your garage?

Or your closet?

The other day I cleaned up my desk.

Not a big deal to you. But for me it was very refreshing.

Sifting through the papers I found a lot of great ideas I scribbled over the past, um, hmmmm... well, let's just say it has been a long time.

The papers had hundreds of various scribbles about business ideas, product ideas, and things to consider starting.

On the other hand, most of the pages had more things that were simply junk. Clutter. Garbage. You know, things you really don't need anymore.

I threw it all away.

I feel a huge a sense of relief.

Shackles were removed. There's a sense of ease now. Some peace. Less pressure when I sit down.

Don't think I was attempting to work among piles of garbage. Far from it. It was a handful of legal pads, random notes written elsewhere, a couple of Moleskine notebooks, some books I'm reading, and my writing hats (Yes, I have two hats I like to wear when writing. I haven't been wearing these enough.).

Now, with everything gone, I'm reminded me of a psychological strategy I love using when selling face-to-face.

Space, Constraints, And Pressure

Imagine you're sitting in your prospects conference room, or at their kitchen table. As you discuss your offer you bring out your sales literature.

You have sales collateral spread across the table. As you continue your presentation more piles up.

You scribble notes and options on your legal pad. These end up on the table too.

In front of your prospect is nothing but clutter. You've spread out item after item. It's all laying in various states of disorganization.

It's not a mess making you look disorganized. It's the natural process of bringing up items to help your customer make a great decision.

But this clutter places psychological pressure on your prospect.

They feel pushed back a bit. Like there's a wall building in front of them.

Then you ask for the sale.

And you get a "no." - Or worse, an "I'll think about it."

This didn't happen because you did a bad job. The sales process always involves your customer experiencing some pressure and anxiety.

You have the pressure from the sale, you build a psychological barrier of clutter in front of him, and then you add more by asking for the sale.

I learned to start removing all the ‘crap' sitting in front of your prospect before you ask for the sale. As you do that, you can see the emotional change on their face.

And as you ask for the sale they're in a process of changing from stress and anxiety back to relief. And your closing question will hopefully fall in line with that emotional change.

Of course this one strategy isn't a cure for a bad job selling. You have to use it along with everything else. But the point is critically important.

Remove the clutter in front of your prospect.

Remove the clutter on your website and your sales pages.

Remove any distractions causing pressure and help your prospects more easily make a decision.

Now, go clean your desk.

Or your garage.

Or your closet.

Or all of the above.

Throw out that two year old idea that will make you millions and that exercycle that will get you skinny. If you haven't acted by now you never will.

Just throw it away.

You'll be surprised how much better you feel when it's done.