Is Your Lead Saying, “Let me think about it?” This article is for you.

Here’s the scenario: you’ve been social selling for the past 3 months utilizing your business’ marketing material. Now, that lead you’ve been nurturing is finally responding to you. You’ve just done the run through of your offerings with your lead, you’re asking if they’d be interested in moving forward and they respond with, “Let me think about it.”

OUCH. okay, breathe…

Maybe you respond with: “Absolutely. I understand if you need to think about it. Would it be alright if I send you some additional information and then follow-up?

WRONG. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Within 24 hours, most people forget 75% of what you just said.

Unfortunately, the small amount of information you’ve discussed with them is misinformation that they incorrectly remembered. So, after all that time you spent with the lead, they’ll maybe only remember 5% of what you said correctly by the time you follow-up.

So how can you respond?

Victor Antonio is a renowned Sales Trainer and creator of the Sales Influence Podcast. His clients include Verizon, Toyota, and Fifth Third Bank (to name a few). He created the perfect tiered response to this hard-to-handle objection. Here’s how he would break this down:

“Let me think about it.”

“Mr. Lead, when someone says they need to think about it, it usually means one of two things… 1. they’re not interested or 2. they’re interested, but not sure. Which is it?” Antonio recommends trying to come off in a less abrasive way, so make sure your delivery is sound.

This question will potentially illicit the response you’ll need to save your sale.

If they say they’re not interested, the deal was never yours in the first place. If they say they are interested, but not sure, the door is still open.

“Alright. So, most people who are interested but not sure, are that way for one of three reasons: either it’s not a fit, the functionality isn’t there, or it’s financial.”

See how your lead responds.

Here are potential responses based on the feedback given by the lead:

Fit.

Is our product/service a fit for you? Do you feel it meets your needs? (Yes or No)

Functionality.

Does our product/service have all the features or offerings you were looking for? Is there anything missing that you’re looking for? (Yes or No)

Financial.

Is this more than you expected to pay? Do you see value in the product/service? (Yes or No)

If you narrow their objection to these three options, you should be able to find the sore spot. If it doesn’t meet their needs, why? If it does, but there are some features that are missing, what features? Can you get around that? If it’s financial, can you do a payment plan or discount (consider what the client could mean to you in the long-term?

The main idea is to not follow-up. You’re closing the door all over again. If it was a struggle to get that first meeting/touch-point (which usually it is), can you imagine how hard it’ll be to schedule that second one?

The key to sales is to be an asset to your customer. If you dig and listen, you should be able to help them. Do not be afraid of objections – they are just opportunities to better connect. This world is no longer aligning with a traditional sales model and traditional sales approaches are slowly becoming a thing of the past. You need to be an advocate for your potential customer, whether they go with you or not. If you provide someone with honest value, they’ll remember you.

Are you in Sales? We’d like to hear from you to see if you’ve tried this response system before. Has it helped save potentially lost deals? Do you have any other suggestions?

The information from this article is derived from Victor Antonio’s Sales Influence Podcast.