I Want to Think About It

I Want to Think About It

This is the next part of objection handling, we’re just looking at one aspect “I want to think about it”. As we mentioned before (https://www.b2bsell.com/sales-objection-handling/), more often than not, an objection is a sign of interest and frequently it’s a ‘buying signal’ (see https://www.b2bsell.com/buying-signal/).
“I want to think about it”
Is not actually an objection, it’s a STALL! In fact, frequently but not always, it can be avoided. To increase your chances of avoiding I Want to Think About It, ask yourself the following questions;

1. Did I offer a value proposition that favoured the customer?
2. Did I answer enough questions to uncover their prime or hidden buying motive?
3. Did I establish the urgency of ‘the buy’?
4. Did I establish my differentiator?
5. Did I learn what the prospect’s outcome requirements were?

OK you’ve completed your presentation, you’ve answered all the questions and you’ve handled all the objections. The reason people ‘need to think about it’ is simple enough, they haven’t made up their minds yet. That may sound obvious but at this point most sales people say, “I’ll let you think about it”, then cross their fingers and wait.

 

Frequently but not always, people do indeed need to think about it. However, most sales people give up far too easily and blame the customer for been indecisive. Essentially at this point we need to find out what they need to think about but rather than hassling and annoying them for answers, try this;

1. “Naturally you need to think about it”
2. “What are your main concerns?”

If they say, “I don’t know, I need to think about it”, then try this;

1. “OK most people at this point need to consider, will I get the return on investment, or is the price right”
2. “While other people need to find out, is there a better option”

“Would these be the kind of areas you need to think about?”. Perhaps the reasons or deeper than this, they could be;

1. An unspoken fear

2. Some perceived risk

3. Don’t want to damage a good personal relationship by saying no

4. They are not the real decision maker

After all of this, if a prospect does indeed still say “I want to think about it”, just ask them how long they need to think about it and then make a firm appointment to get back to them just after that date See here YouTube for Jeffrey Gitomer’s excellent video on this.