How Do You Overcome The I Want To Think it Over" Buying Decision Online?

Offer something for free right up front to get there name on a list. That way if they look at your sales page, and have the thought "I will have to think it over", you will be sending them some more good follow up information in the near future to help them continue to "think" about your offer.

In reality if you're getting this repsonse then your marketing isn't working as well as it should. Hard to say what the problem is, even harder to know when they're thinking this, but if your marketing can fix a red hot desire in the prospect's mind, if it's sexy and exciting and they must own it NOW, this overcomes price objections and gets them to buy now. People don't believe in the protection of a guarantee as much these days, for a ton of reasons. (Which I can go into if asked nicely (and I get around to checking this post again hehe)) Get your copywriting strategy right and this will stay a minor problem only.

Ensure that the product has been adequately explained, that the product information is true and complete. Translate the information to benefits and make it clear to the customer what key benefits the product brings to them, such as guarantees, warranties, and after sales service.

Know what your competitors are doing and find ways to outsell their ideas like added features, special warranties, or better price.

Simple, add value to your offer by offering something for free... Or just make an extremelly crazy marketing product and put a timeframe on when is going to be over, that way people feel pressure and purchase it right away.
Allan

Understand a very old and important principle of the selling profession...

Everything but yes, means no.

Sure... there are some folks who can't make a decision
regardless of how clearly and completely you describe the
product but the fact is that most people who say "I want to
think about it" just don't have the nerve to say no to your
face. "I want to think about it" is nothing more than a side
door out of the room.

A skillful salesperson can bring them back around if there is
any spark of interest but it's not likely that you'll be able to
overcome that on a website.

In short... don't over analyze... this isn't something worth your
time to worry about it.

Tsnyder

While I tend to agree with the ideas put forth above, there is something that has always eaten at me.

As I'm sure you know, many people will use the illusion of scarcity, the illusion of missing out on something, to help overcome this. But I think there's an option you can use that is a little different, although it requires a slightly more hands on approach than most people want to do.

Most of us have seen the "this offer expires at midnight 'tonight' (i.e. insert tonights date). This is usually based on a simple javascript to insert tonight's date/time and maybe a countdown.

AS slightly more sophisticated version uses a cookie to set the 'offer expiration' but this can be beaten by clearing cookies before returning, which more people are getting used to doing.

If you have a small handful of bonuses, you can do this in an automated or non-automated fashion.

First you set your offer with bonus A which expires at X hour on Y day. (expiration is every Thursday for example at midnight Pacific Time).

At Midnight, Pacific Time on Thursday, your offer literally DOES expire. Doesn't matter if the user was there for the first time 5 minutes ago, or 6 days ago. Whether they clear their cookies or whatever. Why? because your server is giving a different page AFTER the expiration than it does before the expiration.

With a little bit of PHP this can be automated, I don't have the code in front of me at the moment, but it's very simple overall.

Someone coming to your site between Midnight Pacific Time Thursday night/Friday Morning, and say, Saturday at noon Pacific, is going to see the special offer is GONE

After noon on Saturday you place a different special on your site until the following Thursday at midnight, Pacific time.

This can be the same offer, or ideally it should be a different (but comparable value) offer.

It gets a little more complicated with multiple offers, but it is still very effective.

Basically if they don't take you up on this offer by Thursday night, they lose this offer. Cookies have nothing to do with it. When they visit for the first time has nothing to do with it.

Set up is a little harder, because you MIGHT need different autoresponder setups or something similar. But with the right PHP script your site can automatically rotate as many different offers as you want, all based on which day/week/month of the year it is.

Coupled with using cookies, you effectively set that if the visitor does NOT have this cookie, set it now. If they have a cookie that is older than X they can't get a bonus. if they have no cookie, or a cookie under X age, they get the current offer only.

That's getting more complicated than I usually work with, but it adds validity to your offer being for a limited time (even if the same offer will be made to first time visitors/non-cookie visitors in 6 weeks)

To get THIS offer, they mus respond in THIS window of time (or wait THAT amount of time and return without a cookie)

[Aww man, I just realized this was my 500th post, and it's just my interpretations and observations, not something earthshattering!]

When I ran call centers, I always had people ask: "Well, do you like the idea?" It would almost always smoke out the real objection. 19 times out of 20 the response would be "Yeah, I do but.....(insert real objection here)

"Let me know think about it" isn't really an objection. It's just a smoke screen...if you believe they really have to think about it, you've just fallen into their trap.

Easy and simple questions to ask, and will save you money.

- "is buying this product going to help with what I am marketing / doing right now online"

if the answer is yes.... probably good time to buy.

If not, get your ass back to work, you are just cutting out precious productive work hours out of the day.

simple really.

Trying to sell the idea of scarcity is on the way out, and the FTC is looking at that already. Same with it's 50% off for a limited time, etc. Those tactics will be difficult to monitor, but affiliates need to be aware of the new laws coming forward.
My best answer is to offer something for free in exchange for an email submit, then gently coax them towards what you would like them to do. I seldom buy on the first pitch, but a good third or forth pitch may get me!

Sell a product they really, really need

Like anti itch cream or acne products

When selling one on one, face to face, it becomes easier to determine what objection is preventing the sale. It is done with questions to determine the objections and work to counter them.

When selling by Website (or by snail-mail letter or email), we have no clue as to what a potential customer's real objections might be. We can't just ask them.

This is where the quality of copywriting comes into play. It must be written as if you have a direct link to the customer's mind, you understand their problems, their dreams, their hopes, and their worries.

The copy needs to meet their objections, and promise to give customers what they want - eventhough they may not know what they want because they don't know what is possible or know what is available to "solve" their problem(s).

:-Don

I do these 3 things:

1 - Give a legitimate or worthwhile guarantee - Some people don't want their money back, but what they do obviously want is the result, otherwise people wouldn't be buying in the first place.

2 - FAQ - Very similar to what others are saying about overcoming objections however if you make a section marked out "FAQ" many will read it because odds are their objections will be directly answered or at least should be answered in the FAQ

3 - Scarcity - Things like dime sales as they do here in the WSO's work really well - or the usual 'limited spots' tactic - theres clearly a bunch more you can try but theres some examples for you

By adding these 3 elements you are more or less covering your ass.

some will think about it because they are fence sitters and don't like making decisions unless there is urgency to do so (scarcity). Others may visit your site with objections or questions of their own which, if not answered will just go away (faq). And finally some just think your full of **** so by having a legit guarantee that's relevant it should help those out too.

Of course you can go the tesimonial route as well but unless they are using real photos and real names, or even better, are actual videos, they aren't worth a cent.

If your doing your sales entirely through the written word then you need to use a special offer.

Increase the price of your product so that you can offer a limited time offer at a reduced rate or find other reason why they have to buy today.

I used to work in sales a few years ago and I must say that I learned very quickly that "I'll think about it" is a big no... (I do not remember following anybody up and receiving a positive response, actually)

In my opinion, when a prospect reaches such decision, there is very little you can do and any efforts to get a "yes" may come across as "pushy" or "desperate" from the prospects point of view.

The best course of action is to just let go and focus on producing more leads and hava a sales page/presentation that covers most objections, but also we must provide a product that represents good value.

My two cents!

As with offline selling - making a sale is down to a combination of Marketing and Salesmanship.

Make it an offer they cannot refuse.

Lots of great replies here and I'd like to ad my 2 cents worth. Having been in face 2 face sales for over 20 years I have learned a thing or two. = )

I'll just kind of go through what the conversation would be for those of you who do in person sales and how I overcome this statement and draw out the objection.

Mr. Business owner: I'll have to think about this.

Me: I can understand that, ...Perhaps I haven't done my job well and I'd like to better myself in order to better serve my clients in the future. Share with me what it is about our service that you feel you need to think about? Did I not explain something clear enough or are you confused about something?

At that point shut up and listen, they will tell you exactly how to close them.

As you progress in face 2 face sales you should be paying attention to all the standard objections and then identifying the solutions.

Alter your presentation/pitch to address these "BEFORE" they become objections in the prospects minds. Its the same thing in sales copy but of course its a lot harder to identify the objections when you can't pull them out by being in the presence of the prospect.

Don't offer ANYTHING for free as this only covers up the objection and you'll never learn to overcome it, which will better your skills when you do so.

Yes its really that simple. We make it hard based on our own perceptions.

Wow! this is really interesting to read all the recommendations...
I just wanted to throw out that not all people have the same buying and decision making process. I am one of those people. Even when I know what I want and I find it I need a little moment to make sure everything is "right" for me. To assume that ALL people process information the same way is missing the mark.
I agree that there are people out there that use this statement to side step having to make a decision but there are those of us that make decisions in this way.
If your copy is good and you have me considering the buy, I will come back to your site, or your store. If you start to pressure sell me I find it sleazy and I will go out and find the same product or service where I enjoy the sale.

Someone made the suggestion of getting them on your mailing list so you can send out information to stay on someones mind, this is great advice. Because while I may not have thought I needed something at the time, 6 month down the line I realized I was now ready for the product and I have read other stuff you have sent out and like your style. You will be the first place I go for the product.

I don't know if this is an introvert/extrovert issue or what but people do have different strategies for what they do. Assuming that everyone's reason for what they do and can be handled with aggressive selling is going to lose those people who really might actually buy and are not just using the "i need to think about it line" as an excuse.

My other general question is...Is the customer who is sold in a pressure situation ultimately a good customer? This might be a question and debate for an entirely different thread but I am wondering.