If you are in sales you understand that in just about every situation that you have experienced, there comes a time where the customer says something like, “I need to think about it” or “I need to discuss it with my partners.” This is when you can really separate yourself from other salespeople by being able to utilize your sales closing strategies, and by identifying exactly why the customer is saying this, and how to turn this around so that they actually make the purchase.
The fact that the customer told you they want to think about it, is only a mask for an underlying concern they have. It could be that they cannot afford what you are selling, or that they aren’t the decision maker, they have a fear or even sense some risk in purchasing from you. The worst thing you can do is agree and simply tell them you will call back later in the week. You must understand it is just a stall tactic, and the good news is that you could have identified these concerns early on in your sales pitch and made the appropriate changes to your sales closing strategies before they ever have the chance to want to think about it. Your job as the salesperson was to identify that think-it-over syndrome and pick up on clues early on. You then still have the chance to change their minds.
Before you push the blame on the customer for their lack of decisiveness, you have to step back and ask yourself some really important questions. Were you able to instill a sense of urgency to the client? Did you establish a nice report with the client? Did you separate yourself from the competition? Did you uncover the prospect’s outcome by purchasing your products? You have to prepare yourself before you meet with any prospective client and identify the answers to those questions. If you are able to prepare yourself in advance by giving the client a real sense of urgency while having a nice conversation with them, you are on your way. You can prepare key points in your sales closing strategies that set you apart from your competition so when you hear the signals of insecurity, you can step up and give more reasons that they cannot live without your product and service. Being able to quickly identify the signals is half the battle, following up with clear and concise reasons to eliminate those fears will put you in the best possible light to close the deal.
If you can eliminate the causes for doubt in the client, you can increase the likelihood of closing the deal. Never use the old sales techniques like rushing or forcing the client to make the purchase because you will lose all credibility in the industry. If you can identify the real reason behind them wanting to think it over, you can work harder at your preparation to prevent it during the next sales call. They may simply want a lower price, and now that you understand the signals you can prepare next time. If you see those same signals during a sales presentation and you identify that the underlying reason is price, you will have the plan to give them all the reasons that this price will benefit them and that not utilizing the product or service will cost them more in the long run.