Sales Tactics: What to do after a client says ‘I will think about it’

When it comes to building a successful business, mastering the right sales tactics is of immense importance. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that you are not the Wolf of Wall Street – it’s a fantastic movie, yes, but not the sales Bible you should swear by. While you can learn a thing or two about how to close a deal from Jordan Belfort, we advise you to stick to the legal side of sales tactics.

In this article, we’ll tackle the issue of closing a deal when a client says they want to think about your offer. There are five ways to approach this kind of situation, all of which contradict each other to some extent. What does this mean? Every client is a different story and not all sales tips will work with them. You should trust your intuition and past experience when deciding which way to go with them.

Understand the reason

“The most important thing is to prove you can be useful and add value to their business or role. I send relevant articles and tips and show them what competitors are doing. I’m also upfront and ask directly what it is they’re waiting for and the address this. For example, if they’re waiting for their boss to sign off costs I give them case study data.” – Charli Hunt Proof Content.

Charli has a good point here: you need to dive deeper in their objection. Ask the right questions to get to the source of the hesitation and then work on removing it by offering the solution they need. You need to make them feel comfortable with their decision to move forward.

For instance, Justin Bryan from Winning Ways uses humour to remove the tension: “I’m direct in a comedic way – ‘The only people that come back are Terminator and Jesus you don’t look like either so let me ask you, where did I lose you?’

There’s an underlying objection you need to pull out of them.”

By the same token, you can also respond like this:

– Great! You should definitely think this over. Tell me though, on a scale of 1-10 where do you lie? 1 being ‘not for me at all’ and 10 being you wanna get started today.
– They say 6.
– Great! Why didn’t you choose 5?
– They tell you the reason.
– Well what can I do to get you to a 10 today?

Sometimes the obstacle on the way of closing the deal is that you failed to articulate the value or guarantee. In this case you have to reframe the entire conversation and give them the value on a platter.

However, more often than not, it’s the cost that worries clients. In such situations you can most certainly close the deal by giving them a discount or multiple payment methods they can choose from.

Don’t be pushy

Remember that before becoming an entrepreneur yourself, you were a client too. In fact, you’re still a client to someone. Being pushy, aggravating or annoying will only lead to a dispute and you’ll likely lose the client forever. You don’t want to be a telemarketer, do you?

Don’t hurry it up for them. Let them know you support their decision to think or talk it through with their partners or superiors. By pressuring them you’ll only burn the bridge down. Not to say that they will probably tell about the bad experience they had with you to everyone they know, and that’s more bridges down.

A simple “Looking forward to hearing from you again” and “Have a wonderful day” will take you a lot further than an aggressive attitude. It shows that you respect them as a person and you’re not only interested in their money.

In addition, if during your conversation with them you realise your services or products are not for them, you should point them to the right direction even if that’s your competition. They will most certainly remember your selflessness and return to you at some point.

Follow up

Once you hear the notorious ‘I will think about it’ you can politely ask them how long will that take and when can you reach out to them again. Moreover, you should let them know they can contact you anytime if they have some questions.

This is what Laura Cutress from Laura Rose Creative teaches business owners to do:

“Something I work on frequently with business owners is helping them communicate the VALUE of their offering, not just the price. Something that is very useful after the initial ‘pitch’ is sending over a detailed proposal email/PDF with a little bit more about the offer, complete with testimonials, and product or service breakdown and 3 packages/offers at different price points. This is the perfect follow up opportunity to get them on board with your brand, let them select the right package at a price that works for them, and convert them from a ‘Maybe’ to a ‘HELL YES!’ “

Create urgency

This approach should be taken with a dose of precaution. Because it means you’re selling on price and not on quality.

Nonetheless, it has shown to be quite effective. People are usually inclined towards special deals. It makes them feel… special! Although you’re a salesperson, they want you to be their friend and treat them better than you treat the rest by offering them a good deal.

So, you can create an urgency with an offer that expires soon, a special discount they only get today, or something of the sort.

Move on

Salespeople often have a saying that says it’s always better to go for the early ‘No’. While it is something you don’t really want to hear, it will save you a lot of time, effort and heartache. The truth is, not everyone will or should accept your deal. Getting a ‘no’ is not the end of your business.

Experience shows that “I will think about it” is usually a code for “I’m not interested”. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but in the majority of situations it’s what it means.

You can ask them to choose between ‘yes’ or ‘no’ right away but it can sound too pushy, and you remember what we said about it. The safest option here is to presume it’s a ‘no’. Best case scenario – they might come back with a ‘yes’. Worst case scenario – you were right, you moved on and closed dozens of other deals in the meantime, instead of wasting time waiting on them.

Conclusion

Listen more than you talk, this way you’ll be able to hear their real needs and offer them exactly what you ask. Approach every client with respect and remember that they’re all different. What worked with one, might not work with another.