I know that I have given you some ways
in which to handle this objection that is
STRAIGHT FROM THE PROSPECT /
CUSTOMER PLAYBOOK.
However, I always want you to have more tools in the toolbox.
You need to remember,
I NEED TO THINK ABOUT IT, is NOT AN OBJECTION,
it is a smokescreen.
It is your duty, not only to yourself, but also to your customer, to know how to keep the sale moving. I state this with sincerity, especially if you know that your product is the best available.
You need to remember, that if your prospect starts throwing out this phrase, you also need to have phrases "at the ready" to diffuse the situation, and keep the sale moving forward.
If you allow this smokescreen to dictate the direction your presentation is headed, you're finished, before you get started. Am I making sense here?
Since this phrase is used with regularity;
you have probably used it yourself,
you need to attack it.
When I say attack it, I do not mean like a "bull in a China closet." What I mean is to recognize it, then handle it with calmness and sincerity. You need to diffuse it, handle it and keep the sale moving.
So how do you do it?
Here is one way that I use with regularity and with great success.
Customer:
"I need to think about this,
I am not sure if this is what I want to do."
Salesman:
"Well of course you need to think about it, with the information that I have given you so far, I would expect nothing less."
WTH!!!! did you just say?
This is not the old way of :
"What do you need to think about."
"I've given you all the information
you need to make a decision."
In today's sales environment, the old standards of
GETTING IN SOMEONE'S FACE are long gone.
The whole idea here is just to push the sale forward. If you become acrimonious in any way, your potential sale is dead,
this I can assure you.
In today's environment, it is far too easy for someone to leave a negative posting about you or your company. Do not ever allow your emotions to get "out of control." Always, keep your cool.
It doesn't matter what kind of sales genre that you are in, this works in Furniture sales, Home Improvement sales, Auto Sales, Stocks etc...
Use your head and apply it for what kind of sale you are in.
You need to take several more steps
with your potential sale, to keep it moving.
Salesperson:
Would you mind if I took a few minutes to go over some numbers with you? This way, you'll know exactly what you are looking at here. Would that be alright with you?
Customer:
About how long is this going to take?
Salesperson:
Shouldn't be any longer than 5 minutes or so.
Now, here is where you need
to become Sherlock Holmes.
While you are coming up with your numbers, you need to investigate the options of how you are going to facilitate closing the sale with your customer.
Before I go any further on this, I want you to use your head and remember you are about to get valuable information.
Meaning this:
the customer IS INTERESTED
in what you have to sell,
or you would have already
seen the elbows and heels of your prospect.
You need to be in control here, for you are now in the position of an educator and consultant.
You are also maintaining control, the information that you are obtaining is to keep the engagement with your prospect.
If you lose this engagement, you can wave a whole hearty
bye bye to your potential sale.
If you are in Home Improvement, you need to make the customer feel comfortable.
You need to sit at their coffee table, or the best place,
the kitchen table. This is the area of the house, that most people feel good and have good memories.
If you sell cars, you need to have them inside at your desk, and you must be cordial and offer a beverage, cookie or whatever else you have available.
If you sell Insurance, most certainly you need to be at the kitchen table.
As I just said, this is a happy place.
In short, you need to DE-STRESS the situation.
You need to get your customer calm.
You need to get them ready to answer the questions you are about to ask.
Remember,
YOU NEED TO BE IN CONTROL OF THE SITUATION,
NOT THE CUSTOMER.
If you lose control at this point,
your potential sale just got up and walked out the door.
So to keep it moving, here are some questions you can ask,
to keep the sale headed in the right direction.
If you are in Home Improvement
Salesperson:
Mr. & Mrs. Customer, are you looking to get the work taken care of by using our easy financing options, or by using cash. It doesn't matter to me how you guys want to take care of it, whichever is easier for you,
I will be happy to process it either way.
Let the customer answer
or
Salesperson:
Mr. & Mrs. Customer, when we take care of the work for you, we will need to have a dumpster to take care of the debris, is there an area of the driveway or the yard you would prefer us to have it placed for you?
Let the customer answer
or
Salesperson:
What days of the week would be best to have the work started? From what I can tell by the work that needs to be taken care of, it should be about a 3 or 4 day job. We like to get projects like this started earlier in the week. We could start the work on a Tuesday, or would a Wednesday work better for you?
Let the customer answer
You should be getting responses like, what kind of financing options are available, what are the terms? Earlier in the week to get the job started etc.. If you are not getting responses like this, you have work left to do.
If you are in Auto Sales:
Salesperson:
Mr. & Mrs. Customer, there are some amazing financing options available right now. Were you looking to get this car financed, or were you looking to pay straight out for the car in cash?
Let the customer answer
OR
Salesperson:
Will you be having the title placed in both of your names?
Let the customer answer
OR
Salesperson:
Will you be trading in your car?
Let the customer answer
OR
We always want to make sure that we are giving you the highest value for trade-ins. Let me get the keys and I will get it appraised, should only take a few minutes. You guys want something to drink?
Again, the kind of sale you are in doesn't matter here.
These are just a couple of examples.
USE YOUR HEAD HERE.
Figure out what would make sense to you,
if the shoe was on the other foot, then use it.
People will respond to someone who is respectful and who makes sense. You are an educator and an advisor. So in order to get paid the money you want to make, don't take shortcuts.
Do your job.
In today's environment, people buy with
THEIR HEAD
THEIR HEART
AND THEIR POCKETBOOK
It is your job to make sense to them with all 3 of these.
Remember, what you are doing is moving the sale forward.
If you just give up when you hear the this age old smokescreen, you need to remember one thing.
"I need to think about it,"
IS NOT AN OBJECTION.
It is only a put off line.
You, as the pro, must do your job if you expect to earn the money YOU KNOW YOU ARE WORTH.
This is the difference of what a PRO will do as opposed to someone who is just an order taker.
I was always taught something early on in my sales career
YOU CANNOT CLOSE A SALE, UNTIL YOU OPEN IT.
You need to constantly move the sale in the direction it needs to head, TOWARD THE CLOSE.
If you give up and throw in the towel when someone tells you, "that they need to think about it," you just gave up on yourself.
You just did customer, your family, and above all else yourself, a colossal disservice. This is not who you are. You are a pro, who is determined to provide your customers with the best product and service available, and you will get paid handsomely for it.
So FREAKIN EARN IT.
The old saying of
"WINNERS NEVER QUIT, AND QUITTERS NEVER WIN,"
is so true in the sales world, that it needs to be tattooed on every salesperson's forehead.
Keep the sale moving forward and you will have an amazing transformation in your overall compensation.
I am proud of you...
Da Bear