How to handle the, "I want to think about it" objection

The biggest lesson I have learned from those lines after years of hearing it, Is often how screwed a novice sales person is when they hear those words, they often come in with some scripted Tom Hopkins type response and soon the less stronger sales people feel the only thing to do is drop the price.

My wife and I now save literally hundreds to thousands on major purchases by playing the game, we always play good cop bad cop, and we never agree on the price out of the bat and we will purposely, throw in a we will need to think about this, and even mutter words like no I'm not paying those dollars or for delivery etc.

Before our eyes we can see and read the sales person shrinking, we know they want to make the sale especially if they need to make quota, so we ride it out and before long we are saving a lot of money, and when we think its down to where we need things we will give in and give the sales person the victory of closing the sale.

I would do the same thing and as all my sales were in home I'd just tell them I was going outside to finish up the paperwork on their file and I'd be back in a few minutes, and if they had any further questions keeping them deciding to use me I'd be more then happy to answer them.

Worked almost every time. hehe

Thank you for that wonderful introduction, Claude.

Okay, so, you know, if you need to answer an objection with a mouthful of sentences, then the vibe you're sending is "I'm SELLING you..."

Back in the last century people weren't as bombarded as they are today with that stuff, and they were bombarded pretty bad back then.

But today we have whole generations brought up being bombarded from their first day on earth.

So now if you use this line:

"Now just for my own clarification and understanding, what part of this offer/proposal will you be thinking about the most? Is it the (insert feature such as “our industry-leading warranty and service?” / “delivery and installation?” / “our certifications?” / “our training and support?” (You ask questions you know they already love so you can finally ask…) “Mr. Prospect, since you’re comfortable with all of those components of our offering, is it safe to assume what you really need to think over is the price?”

As soon as you rattle off "what part of this offer/proposal will you be thinking about" the prospect is thinking, "Uh oh. He's trying to pressure me to buy. What can I say to get this guy off my back?"

And they'll come up with something because this puts sales pressure on them.

And sales pressure is what's causing all these objections in the first place.

It's the law of cause and effect. There can't be sales resistance if there isn't any sales pressure.

So how's this for a prospect's reply? "I'm not sure which part I'll be thinking over. That's exactly why I need to think this over."

(By the way, you ever notice no Apple salesperson says ,"Now, exactly what is it about the iPhone you need to think over? Is it its design? Is it its warranty? Is it me? Is it our store? Oh must be the price! What do I have to do to get you into an iPhone today?")

So continuing on... the salesperson bounces back with, "for whatever reason I haven't provided you with a clear path to follow because when I hear “I want to think about it,” what that means is that you are still unsure. On my website I have a list of not only the 10 FAQs but also 10 SAQs – Should Ask Questions. The SAQs are where the real decision is made. I have those 10 SAQs right here in this handout. May we spend a few minutes reviewing these SAQs to make sure we’ve covered all of the critical points to help you make a final decision once and or all?"

And the prospect says "That's okay, you don't have to. I'll read it later."

Stoopit. Stoopit. Stoopit objection rebuttals.

Consider this scenario.

Guy approaches a girl and after a while talking with her, asks for her phone number.

She says "What do you want my phone number for?"

Him: "So I can call you for a date."

Her: "I'm just over a bad breakup and I'm not ready to date anyone."

Him: "That's okay, we'll just chat."

Her: "I don't have time to chat, I'm studying for my finals."

Him: "Me too! We can study together."

Her: "I do better when I study alone."

All right let me cut it off there and simply say, if she were interested in seeing that guy again, she'd given him the phone number when he asked for it. I've had women jump to find a pen to give me their number. When a person wants something, they want it.

Just as the prospect wouldn't object but make the purchase.

I've found what really works when objections come up isn't some clever remarks designed to get the prospect to give up the ghost.

What does work is a time tested strategy. I've isolated one which works tremendously well, and I'm actually right now writing a little book on it.

Should be available soon.

You really want to be deep into your sales meeting when you see if your prospect appreciates the humor or not?

I very often say " I want to think about it" so that I can think the whole thing through on my terms so that I don't develop buyers remorse. It also affords me an opportunity to check out any details that were mentioned in the sales pitch that need to be verified by a dis-interested person. If I were on the other side of the equation, I would use the aforementioned comments by saying " I insist that you think about it because I know I would want to do the same when I am buying something. I respect your choice and therefore I will call you when to review the final details?

The Pre-amble (as you call it) I call positioning.

I've also done cold calls to business people. My closing percentage drops from 80% to about 50% with cold called appointments. And if I just presented to anyone who let me, it would drop below 30%.

The positioning can be done during the appointment, but it's a laborious process, and isn't nearly as effective as it is if you walk in with a reputation/image already.

The ways to position (before you call) are through branding, referrals, cold calling for immediate needs, leads from books, leads from speaking, advertising...and so on.

I think you are talking much more about the Chet Holmes idea of your Dream 100....where the people you need to see are very hard to get to, and require ingenuity, timing, and persistence to see in the first place. And that's easily far more profitable, ultimately.