The JOLT Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision

by Matthew Dixon, Ted McKenna

From the bestselling co-author of The Challenger Sale, a paradigm-shattering approach to overcoming customer indecision and closing more sales

In sales, the worst thing you can hear from a customer isn’t “no.” It’s “I need to think about it.” When this happens, deeply entrenched business advice says to double down on your efforts to sell a buyer on all the ways they might win by choosing you and your business. But this approach backfires dramatically. Why? Because it completely gets wrong the primary driver behind purchasing once purchase intent is established, customers no longer care about succeeding. What they really care about is not failing.

For years, sales expert Matthew Dixon has been busting longstanding business myths. Now in The JOLT Effect, he and co-author Ted McKenna turn their trademark analysis and latest research to the vital and growing problem of customer indecision—and offer a shocking new approach that turns conventional wisdom on its head. Drawing on a brand-new, first-of-its-kind study of more than two and a half million sales conversations from across industry, they reveal the surprising truth that high-performing sales reps grasp and their average-performing peers don’ only by addressing the customer’s fear of failure can you get indecisive buyers to go from verbally committing to actually pulling the trigger.

Packed with robust data, counterintuitive insights, and practical guidance, The JOLT Effect is the playbook for any salesperson or sales leader who wants to close the gap between customer intent and action—and close more sales.


* This audiobookincludes a downloadable PDF that contains charts, graphs and illustrations from the book.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Entrepreneurship, Buisness, Audiobook, Psychology

Audible Audio

Published September 20, 2022

Reviews

[Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

For 30 years, I’ve been selling B2B Tech. And I’m damn good at it and made a ton of money. Now, I’m head of sales for a global solution in charge of ensuring the success of a dozen reps. JOLT helped me break down into manageable chunks what I’ve been doing “naturally” for a few decades. Doing something extremely well doesn’t automatically mean one can teach it just as well and thanks to this book, the Challenger Sale, The New Solution Selling and 7 Habits all put together, I am well armed to develop great sales people (or replace them with ones that meet my mold). One of the literal few sales books worth reading. God so many are so f’n awful - including those popular ones many vomit all over LinkedIn. Anyway, 5 ⭐️.

[Jacek Bartczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nadal analizujemy Państwa ofertę". "Nie podjęliśmy jeszcze decyzji". "Wróćmy do tego w następnym kwartale". Ta książka jest o tym co robić, gdy negocjacje z klientem stoją w miejscu.

Według autorów ta sytuacja wynika z jednej z 2 rzeczy:
- klient nie chce zmieniać statusu quo. Uważa, że dobrze jest tak jak jest,
- klient chce zmienić stan obecny. Ale decyzja o rozpoczęciu zmian może przynieść negatywne konsekwencje. I potencjalny klient się tego boi. Zmiana nie pójdzie tak dobrze jak się wydawało, obietnice dostawcy rozminą się z rzeczywistością. A wszyscy w firmie będą pamiętać kto najbardziej nalegał na wprowadzenie zmiany.

Książka jest o tym jak radzić sobie z tą drugą sytuacją.

Autorzy zwracają też uwagę, że na początku procesu zakupowego klient lubi mieć dużo informacji i dużo możliwości wyboru. Ale z czasem możliwości wyboru i informacje utrudnią mu podjęcie decyzji. Wtedy klient NIE potrzebuje kolejnej porcji informacji. Tylko wsparcia go w wyborze jakiegoś scenariusza. Np. "na Twoim miejscu zrobiłbym xyz, ze względu na...".

Książka podsuwa też inne sposoby radzenia sobie z sytuacją, w której klient boi się podjąć decyzję. Nie każdy sposób zawsze popieram - ale każdy sposób jest jakimś punktem zaczepienia.
Autorzy świetnie rozłożyli na czynniki pierwsze jeden z najczęstszych problemów w sprzedaży. Ale zaproponowane rozwiania robią mniejsze wrażenie niż te wspomniane we wcześniejszych książkach M. Dixona. Bo to kolejna solidna książka tego autora.

Tak jak "Jolt effect" pomaga radzić sobie z brakiem decyzji klienta, tak "The Challenger Customer" pomaga poradzić sobie z procesem zakupowym klienta. A "Challenger Sale" pomaga zmieniać punkt widzenia klienta, poszerzać jego perspektywę.

Ostatnie 2-3 rozdziały można pominąć. Przede wszystkim świetnie, że powstała książka o tym zjawisku. Pewnie zapoczątkuje wysyp podobnych/kolejnych wskazówek o tym co robić, gdy potencjalny klient zwleka z podjęciem decyzji.

[Brad Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great continuation of research that started with The Challenger Sale, shining a spotlight on how to overcome the natural aversion to risk faced by organizations.

[Bryce Dulaurent · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best sales books I’ve ever read. The principles in this book should be taught and trained to every corporate salesperson.

[Bob Apollo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Challenging concept

There’s a clear line of sales DNA running through The Challenger Sale, The Challenger Customer and - now - The Jolt Effect. Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna help us identify and address the factor that has caused so many apparent “done deals” to fail to close - our customer’s lack of confidence in the decision we are asking them to make. An excellent, thought-provoking and (inevitably) challenging book, and a must read for all serious sales people and their managers.

[Jay McGrath · Rating 3 out of 5]

just ok

Great concept, information, and research. Stretched out to be a book vs long form article. It is a bit repetitive

[Taylor Mendez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed my perspective in approaching my everyday sales conversation. In reading this book, I realized that in addition to my customers struggling to make decisions in fear of messing up, that I was also catering to their fears by being fearful of messing up myself. This book gave many examples as to how, we as sales people, can help over come customer indecision by recognizing cues in conversations and I’m already noticing them in my conversations within my role. Additionally, this book shared great insight into how a high performing sales person can steer conversations away from things going wrong or any doubt.

Overall, I appreciated the data, the observances and inclusion of sales tools, and the tangible and applicable ways to incorporate this into my processes/routines. A 10/10 for me.

[Kate Nieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook- read for work.

J - Judge the level of indecision: Salespeople assess the customer's indecision to understand its source, such as a lack of information or outcome uncertainty.
O - Offer your recommendation: Instead of overwhelming the customer with choices, the salesperson provides a clear recommendation to provide guidance and build confidence.
L - Limit the exploration: This involves managing the flow of information by suggesting what the customer should focus on, preventing them from getting lost in endless research.
T - Take risk off the table: The salesperson helps de-risk the buying decision by offering solutions or assurances that reduce the customer's perceived risk of making a wrong choice.

So many helpful tips and a really good framework for sales!!!

[Tim Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Jolt Effect”, is a must-read sales book by the co-author of “the challenger sale”, Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna. The book is based on research and digs into our biggest competitor in sales, which is where the prospect; after we have invested a lot of time and resource, decides to do nothing.

Matt and Ted were doing research and also found that the common playbook that we use in these situations is the wrong play book in 56% of situations. The book is therefore a playbook on how you can spot deals that will not happen and how you can deploy a new playbook, which is the “jolt effect”, enabling you to win more deals, make more sales and gain more revenue.

[Brian Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh.

Book that is very, very specific for a very, very specific process for B2B sales reps. Would not recommend if you are not an AE.

I liked that they would give situations and illustrate what an average rep would do, and then say what a star rep would do. I learned a lot from that.

It was pretty absurd that they took simple concepts and made the craziest graphs that made the concept more complicated than needed.

Matt Dixon also spoke at our company’s Sales Kick Off and his presentation was word for word passages of this book. Why did I read this book in preparation then… Maybe I’m still a little salty from that…

[Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read for people in sales that see lots of deals lost to “indecision”. The JOLT methods is a common sense approach to measuring when customers are indecisive, are able to buy but can’t/won’t. It offers great diagnosis, strategies and tactics based knowledge solid research observed over hundreds of thousands of sales calls. This book is full of great actionable advice, details on average vs. top rep differences and data showing the impact of the techniques.

[Pawel Jaczewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such gems are rare. I have been working in sales for 13 years and read a lot about sales. This book has given me powerful tools for dealing with the ‘worst’ type of customer – the one who needs to think it over. Required reading for every salesperson and entrepreneur who hears customers say, ‘I'll think about it,’ and then never return. After implementing this book, you will prevent such situations.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Except for the weird plug in the middle…

This book is probably one of the best insights on decision making both in sales and in life.
I found ways to relate it to everyday work decisions, sales processes, and working with colleagues.

Very detailed data driven insights into the customers’ brain.

[michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not inspired by sales books in general but this one was helpful, the art of overcoming indecision versus combating status quo. We have been taught the skills of driving fud but the authors, who had wrote the iconic Challenger Sale, posit that creating fud is not only counterproductive but counterintuitive to indecision, as the fear causes inaction.

[Keith Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been explaining to people about this for the last few years. Indecision, coupled with a lack of accountability hurts sales.
What is missing in this book was, who were the customers. Men or women? What ages? Same with sales? We have a generational shift kicking in and as I often say "you have all the data but might not be interpreting if correctly."
It is a great and fast read about a situation that existing head of sales people stick their head in the ground.

[Trey Echols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional research. Changed my view on traditional sales technique vs the JOLTS mode. I didn’t realize the impact of the abundance of options offered by today’s digital world of disruption. Any buyer of B2B services is no doubt challenged with the fear of failure of choice amid an abundance of options. Dixon and McKenna offer a fresh approach to this dilemma.

[Evan Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to augment your existing sales practices, but my gut says this could be 4 extra chapters added to a new version of challenger sale and not a standalone book.

One sentence summary. Manage your sales like a project to ensure risk is removed while ensuring your skin is in the game with the solution you are suggesting.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important addition to sales strategy. It's a topic totally overlooked and absolutely critical. There are two fears at work in the buying decision and we have to know when to address each.

There are multiple points in this book when the standard advice was proved wrong by the research that they did.

Very glad I read it.

[Pat Krouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 3/4 or so of the book are well done and insightful. Chapter 9 is a not very tactful piece of direct content marketing for the company the authors work for. Definitely recommend reading up through chapter 8 though.

[Falon Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a non-salesperson, this helped me better understand relational and manipulative tactics, and also had some good, multipurpose communication skills backed be research from a unique (to me) perspective.

[Keven Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Binge the audiobook in one sitting gonna go through the hard copy as well.

This book led me to brainstorm my own process and need to re-read a few times to fully implement

[Callie Wallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dude if you are in any complex sales job, you must read!

[Echo · Rating 4 out of 5]

12/2022

[Michael Bernstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Don't create fear to drive a purchase. Show how you can de-risk the investment to move a sale

[Alex Barbato · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very great data driven exploration, but not exactly enough unique content that fully warrants a full book.

[Kayla Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would give this 4.5 stars if it were an option solely based on the fact the book was repetitive at times. 200 pages is not a lot, but some of it could’ve been condensed.

[Will Isaacs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic read - a must read for anyone whose profession involves selling in any capacity.

[Jordana Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a really great book for sellers. I'm not one of them but it helped me understand myself as a buyer and it gives some good tools to help into the selling process.

[Mathijs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great new insights based on data from the field

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

slow and repetitive