As you describe the benefits that your product or service offers, some of the people that you’re trying to serve will try to slow you down by saying one of the following:
“Let me think about it.”
“I want to sleep on it.”
“Let me mull it over.”
“I don’t like to jump into things.”
“Let me get back to you.”
“Come back next week, and I’ll let you know.”
But, if all you do is say okay and then leave, will they actually think about what you’ve shared with them? Will they really think it over?
Probably not. “Why?” you ask.
Because most people are busy. You see, as soon as you leave, new things will come up, and they’ll forget all about the opportunity you’ve presented them with. And as a result, all of the momentum that you’ve created will be lost.
So, if your prospect says, “I want to think about it,” or anything similar to this in order to avoid taking action, here’s how you can respond:
“Sure Rachel. Now, you wouldn’t take the time to think this over unless you were truly interested, would you?”
They’ll say, “Oh, yes. We are interested, and we will think it over.”
Then, you confirm the fact that they’ll think about it by saying, “Great. And since you are interested, is it fair to say that you’ll give this your careful consideration?”
Since it appears as though you’re leaving, they’ll likely say yes.
Next, you try to gain some more clarity by saying, “Then, just so I understand you better, what is it you wanted to think about is it the quality of service we’ll provide?”
Here, it’s very important not to pause between the words about and is. In other words, you don’t want to separate this question into two different sentences. More on this below.
And how will they respond to this question? Well, if you’ve delivered an effective presentation up to now, they should respond along these lines:
“No, we think that’s fine.”
Then, from here, you continue to ask them, one by one, about all the features and benefits that they want which you can provide.
“Is it our company’s reputation?”
“Is it our ability to complete your project in a timely manner?”
“Is it the guarantee we offer?”
“Is it the color?”
“Is it the size?”
Again, if you’ve given a solid presentation up to this point, they should respond to each of your questions along these lines:
“No, we think that’s okay as well.”
And every time they say no, what they’re really saying is yes to the suitability of your offer.
Now, the beautiful thing about this approach is that it lets you summarize the complete list of benefits that your prospect is getting, and to do it subtly and with finesse.
And once you summarize all of the benefits that they want, they’ll eventually pick one of the objections. Then, what you have is the final hurdle to overcome.
Now, if you’ve guided them all along through your questions, what will you usually come up with last?
The money issue.
So you ask, “Is it the investment that’s involved in owning this product?”
And what will they typically say? “Well, it’s just that we usually don’t spend that kind of money without doing a lot of thinking.”
Then, you reply with, “So, the concern really is the money, is that right?”
“Yeah, that’s it,” they’ll say.
At this point, you’ve eliminated the “I want to think it over” excuse and uncovered their real concern.
And from here, you can confirm that this is their final concern by saying, “In other words, if you were sure that the amount involved is more than fair, and that you’d receive value for every dollar invested, you’d go ahead with a yes decision today, correct?”
But wait. Let’s go back to the earlier point where you first ask, “What is it you wanted to think about is it the quality of service we’ll provide?” Here, it’s crucial that you don’t pause, or even raise your tone of voice to show that you’re asking a question after the word about.
“Why is this important?” you ask. Because if you pause, there’s a good chance they’ll say, “I want to think about the whole thing.”
Then, since this response is too vague, you’ve got nothing specific to work with.
Fortunately, now that you’ve confirmed that money is the real, final concern, you can go ahead and break through this barrier to earn the sale.
