Common Objections - "I'll think about it"

So let's look at a very common objection. You're doing your presentation, you get to the point where you just tentatively try to close something and they go 'I'll think about it'

A lot of us just turn tail and run, but let me give you a couple of ideas about what you might do.

Firstly you've got to determine are they really going to think about it, or do they just not want to proceedFrom there you've got to be able to find a way to move things forward.

So let's handle that first bit first.

We use the cheeky question a lot when we're uncomfortable in proceeding. The cheeky question might well be

'Mr. Customer, would you mind if I just ask something quickly? Would you mind if I asked a cheeky question? Would you mind if I just address something?'

And a lot of that is about our own confidence in going forward and getting permission from them to do so, but having done that you might say something like,

'A lot of times when people say they'll think about it what they're really saying is this just isn't a fit , it's not going to go ahead with our company. Or they genuinely have some considerations they've got to work through to see if what we're offering will fit. May I ask which one is it in this case?'

And by doing this you give them the opportunity of saying, “No, I don't want to proceed'.

Which is fine. Get out of there and find someone that wants to buy from you.

A quick thought here did you notice that I put the outcome I wanted in second place?

‘Recency Is Currency’

If I say 'are there some real considerations or use simply not want to proceed' by putting the 'not want to proceed' second It'll happen more often. By switching it the other way around and saying do you not want to proceed or are there some real things to think about?

You'll be amazed how often the second option is the one people pick up so put what you want second.

Okay, so let's assume that they do want to proceed. They haven't said “look. I'm sorry this isn't a fit I don't think it's going to go any further” and as I said before pick up your gear, get out of there, find someone who wants to buy from you

If they say “well no, no there are some things that we do need to think through” Then step to the next stage.

You say well “Mr. Customer what I found is that when people have things to consider. It's normally one of three areas, It's either the partnership that we're about to create, It's the performance that we're about to achieve or maybe it's the pricing”.

“May I ask is there anything about the partnership anything about our organization that concerns you?  Are we a good fit for what you're looking to do?  Are you happy to work with us, or is there something in the background there that we need to work our way through?”

And most times they'll go “well no, no, no, the partnerships fine” But if they say ”well we heard a rumour about your company” , then work that through

If they go “no, no, the partnerships fine”, then move to the next bit

“Okay, is it the performance? Is there something about what we're offering you that doesn't quite fit that you think won't quite do what you'd like it to do? Is there an aspect of what you need that we haven't even covered something that we've missed?”

And again if they go well actually we wanted a faster one, bigger one, a red one then work that through

But you know what's going to happen most times those first two are,

“ Well, no, no, that's fine”

Because we know as often as not it's the third one.

“Well, then Mr. Customer if it's not either how we might partner together or how the offer is going to perform. Is it possibly about the pricing? Is there something about that we should discuss?”

And they might say “Actually it is more than we thought it was going to be”.

In which case you've uncovered the real objection and you can now work on that. By following that very, very simple procedure that will allow you to overcome many, many, times that age-old acorn of an objection 'I'd like to think about it'

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