You know, as
salespeople, we hear this put-off so many times that you’d
think we’d be masters at dealing with it, and yet that’s
rarely the case. Most of us, including me, still stammer around
and then say something like, “Well, why don’t I
give you a call next week?” When
we get back to the office, we tell our manager that everything looks
good but the prospect just wants to think about it before making
a decision. When our manager asks what they want to think about,
we either stand there like a dummy and say, “I’m not
sure,” or our creative juices begin to flow and we make up
a Pulitzer prize-winning story.

Auto-Response

There is a better way to deal with this put-off. We need to develop
an auto-response that kicks into gear the minute we hear the dreaded,
“I want to think about it.”

What’s
an auto-response? It’s the words that automatically come out
of your mouth in response to a stimulus from another person. For
example, whenever a retail clerk says, “Hi. Can I help
you?” your auto-response is, “No thanks. Just
looking.” See what I mean?

Before we develop a couple of auto-responses, let’s look at
where the I-want-to-think-about-it put-off comes from. There are
five primary sources:

1. For some
   reason, the prospect truly needs to think about it.


2. The prospect
   is concerned about the price and/or unsure about the value.


3. The prospect
   is a procrastinator and never makes a fast decision.


4. The prospect
   has no intention of buying and wants you to disappear.


5. Someone else’s
   approval is needed before moving ahead.

You should have
uncovered reason five during the qualifying process (“Who
else, besides yourself, will be involved in making the final decision?”),
and there is little you can do about reason four except take the
hint and disappear.

All you can
do for reason three is find out how much time they need and let
them have it. If you push too hard at this point, reason four may
come into play.

So that leaves
us with reasons one and two as candidates for developing an auto-response
for.

The underlying
methodology for dealing with this put-off is to get the prospect
to tell you what they want to think about. While this sounds simple,
you can’t just blurt out, “Waddaya want to think
about?” and expect to get to the real answer. Remember,
you want to get them talking about their concerns.

Developing Your
Auto-Response

As with handling an objection, the first thing out of your mouth
should be a neutral acknowledgment of the prospect’s concern.
I’ve trained myself to use the phrase, “I understand
how you feel.” I usually embellish it a bit to show empathy
for the prospect so it comes out as, “I understand how
you feel. If I was in your shoes, I’d probably want to think
about it as well.”

That’s
the first part of the auto-response. The second part depends upon
what I think the concerns might be. If I think the stumbling block
is reason two (price/value) I might ask, “Tell me, are
you concerned about the cost?” or “Is it the
cost that’s holding you back?”

If the prospect
says, “Frankly, yes,” then I know I’m
dealing with a price objection and I’d better give them additional
benefits or it’s a no-sale. Another approach is to do the
Ben Franklin or Weighing Close where we review all the ideas opposed
to buying and weigh them against the reasons for going ahead.



If the prospect’s reason for wanting to think about it stems
from some hidden concern (reason one), the best thing you can do
is get the concern into the open where you may be able to do something
about it. That means you have to get them talking about it. The
same rules apply.

The first thing
out of your mouth is a neutral acknowledgment followed by something
like:

“May
I ask what concerns you still have?” or

“May I ask what’s causing you to hesitate?”
or

“May I ask what questions I’ve left unanswered?”
or

“May I ask what your final decision will be based on?”

So the auto-response
sounds something like this: “I understand how you feel.
If I was in your shoes, I’d probably want to think about it
as well. (brief pause) May I ask what concerns you still have?”

It Looks Good
But…

Sometimes you get the sense the prospect has positive feelings about
your offering but something is stopping them from buying now. You
can help them rebuild a sense of urgency and rekindle their desire
for the product/service by having them restate the benefits to you.
I call this the Reaffirm/Rebuild method.

After you acknowledge
the concern, say something like this:

“Which
parts of the proposal do you like best?” (Then ask, “Why?”)
or

“How do you see yourself benefiting from our product/service?”
or

“Which benefits do you feel are most important to you?”


You get the idea.

Be Prepared

There is absolutely no doubt that you’re going to hear “I
want to think about it” many times during your sales career
so you might as well prepare for it now. Write out your response
on a three-by-five card and carry it around in your pocket until
you memorize it and it becomes your auto-response to one of the
world’s most popular put-offs.

Permission
to reprint this article is granted as long as the following attribution
is included.

Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 SalesForce Training &
Consulting Inc.

About
Brian Jeffrey and SalesForce Training: Brian Jeffrey, CSP
(a.k.a. The Sales Wizard) president of SalesForce Training &
Consulting Inc. is a sales trainer, sales management consultant,
columnist, author, and is publisher of Targets, a newsletter for
professional salespeople. For more info visit www.SalesForceTraining.com.

Established
in 1984, SalesForce Training & Consulting Inc. specializes in
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