The expression “I want to think about it” or “I’ll get back to you” is a commonly used expression by customers who don’t want to buy a product. We all know that is what it means because we all say it. We all say that to get out of buying something, whether on the phone or in person. Almost every time, we mean no. So, is it worth a salesperson’s time to keep trying? My thoughts were no, and in class we concluded to say “is that a no” to that customer response.
With this in mind, I wondered if other salespeople view this customer response differently. That is when I stumbled upon the article called “The ultimate response to ‘I want to think about it.'” (Linked below) This article took on a very different approach which left me wondering if it would cause more bad than good. The article said that when a customer says that, a salesman should give them a list of questions and say “I’m an expert at what I do. You’re an expert at what you do. Let me share with you the questions you need to ask yourself, and ask of others, as you think about it.” The article then gave a list of example questions:
- How much is your data worth?
- Who is protecting your data daily?
- How much spam do you get? How much time do you spend dealing with it? What is your time worth?
- What happened the last time you lost data?
- What is a business heart attack to you?
- What’s the difference between 99% guaranteed up time and 100% guaranteed up time? 3.65 days of downtime. What is the extra 1% worth?
This approach left a bad taste in my mouth. It seems condescending which turns a customer’s no to a definite no. It is hard to say whether a salesperson should keep trying after that devastating phrase of “I’ll think about it,” but I believe that just straight up asking “is this a no” saves a lot of time and awkwardness. Also, the customer will not leave the meeting with a negative view of the salesman with our class approach, thus leaving the door open for future sales.
So, I disagree with the approach the article takes, but would like to see if that approach actually works or just wastes time.
http://www.eyesonsales.com/content/article/the_ultimate_response_to_i_want_to_think_about_it/
BoweryJE22
It would be interesting to see the results of that technique. I feel like the customer would walk away a little offended and annoyed after a conversation like that. They might also not give the conversation a second thought and tune the salesperson out.