Date: 01-08-2025
Reading time: 2 minutes
SHIFT #25
Behaviour science has a name for what’s happening now:
Agency Restoration– The act of reclaiming autonomy in a market designed to hurry you.
Post-pandemic, the shift is visible. Revenge buying has cooled. Inflation has stayed stubborn.
And a PwC study shows 63% of Indian consumers are cutting non-essential spend, while 74% are worried about their finances.
That means fewer impulse buys — and more deliberate, defended decisions.
The “Buy Now” hammer won’t work here.
But these five strategies will.
So, this month on SHIFT, we’re pulling back the curtain:
- Make waiting feel like progress – How to turn hesitation into momentum.
- Be the thinking partner, not the pushy seller – The decision-making guide your customers actually want.
- Swap time pressure for outcome urgency – Why results beat deadlines in the slow-yes economy.
- Build in safe exits – The counterintuitive way freedom speeds up decisions.
- Celebrate the slow burn – Turning drawn-out consideration into loyalty fuel.
5 Ways to Win in a Slow-Yes World
Behavioural strategies for turning hesitation into high-quality decisions.
1. Make waiting feel like progress
If someone’s holding off because they’re saving (like that 54% who delay big buys), the worst thing you can do is make them feel they’re “missing out.” Instead, position the pause as a step forward:
“Lock in your configuration today, finalise when you’re ready.”
This keeps you top-of-mind while respecting their pace — and it flips urgency into reassurance.
2. Be the thinking partner, not the pushy seller
When wallets tighten, people switch from snap judgments to deliberate analysis. Give them tools: comparison charts, “best-for-you” selectors, total cost calculators. You’re reducing cognitive load while respecting their autonomy. Think Sherpa, not salesman.
3. Swap time pressure for outcome urgency
“Hurry, offer ends tonight” makes sense only when money feels easy. Right now, urgency must be anchored in value:
“Order now to start seeing results in 30 days” hits harder than a ticking clock.
It works because of goal-gradient theory — people move faster when they’re closer to a result they care about, not just a deadline.
4. Build in safe exits
Fear of regret is a huge reason people delay. So, give them a soft landing: easy returns, cooling-off periods, flexible payment plans. It triggers a risk-reduction heuristic: knowing they can step back makes them step forward sooner.
5. Celebrate the slow burn
Don’t just reward quick buyers — engage the deliberate ones. Send them personalised offers for completing a needs quiz or unlock loyalty perks for taking a trial before committing. You turn the wait into anticipation, which is itself a powerful motivator.
SHIFT takeaway: Make the Pause Part of the Pitch
The fastest way to kill a sale in 2025 is to rush it.
Brands that cling to old urgency tactics will keep burning trust and losing relevance. But those that lean into deliberate decision-making — by reframing waiting as progress, building trust through optionality, and rewarding thoughtful engagement — will create a deeper bond that survives beyond a single transaction.
In other words: stop chasing the fast yes. Start designing for the right yes.
It’s slower to win, but harder to lose.
