Scarcity VS Urgency

Most people associate urgency with scarcity.

Urgency is a feeling that gets people to act NOW.

Scarcity is a LIMIT of some kind (limited time price, limited quantity, expiration date, etc.). Scarcity is what most people use to create urgency.

Why? Because scarcity is the easiest way to get people worked up and get them to take action.

But, scarcity isn’t necessarily the best way to create urgency.

If you use a limited time price, when the time runs out your reason to buy is gone.

If you use a limited quantity, when the number runs out your reason to buy is gone.

If you use an expiration date, when the date passes your reason to buy is gone.

I learned this the hard way early in my career. I created a course that was only available for a limited time. I also said I would NEVER sell that product again after that date… EVER!

I sold enough copies to pay off my house. (Which was great, and yes, I’m grateful to this day.)

But, I also left at least $1 million on the table because it was an awesome product and I could have kept selling it. But I had to honor my word and never sell it again.

It was a hard lesson. I chose the easy path in the short term and paid for it in the long term.

So what is the alternative to create urgency?

Well, urgency is an emotion. Scarcity is an external motivation used to build that emotion of urgency. But, it’s external. It’s artificial. It’s outside of your prospect.

You can also create urgency with their INTERNAL motivation. Fear. Hate. Desire. Lust. Guilt.

You basically just key in on a few of those emotions and create urgency to either satisfy them (desire / lust) or get rid of them (fear / guilt).

You say things like “Think about how you felt when you discovered your husband’s affair. The pain. The embarrassment. That fear of your spouse cheating on you again is NEVER going to go away unless you take action right now!”

That’s MORE effective than an artificial, external device used to create urgency.

Their internal motivation will create a LOT more urgency (and sales) if you key in on it the right way.

Something to think about :-)

Check out more tips and articles on my blog: https://thejimedwardsmethod.com/