“I WANT TO THINK about it.” They’re those six little words we’ve all heard and dread hearing again; they mean death to a sale. If we could get into the client’s head, what she really means is, “I’m not coming back,” or “I’ve talked myself out of it.” But don’t give up: All is not lost! There are all sorts of possibilities for why the client “wants to think about it.” Pause for a moment and analyze your presentation. You’ve probably left something important out. Some of the possibilities are:
- You didn’t close all the way through your presentation, which means the customer didn’t get enough reassurance that it’s OK to spend her money.
- You closed incorrectly by saying something like, “Can I wrap this up for you?” The customer needed you to be more direct, not leaving the question open so she could say no.
- Your answers to her objections were not handled to her satisfaction. She needed more information or you assumed something incorrectly.
- You didn’t romance one of these three enough: Value-added statements to drive up the perceived value; the beauty of the jewelry item; or the reason the customer came in. Be sure to romance all of these before you discuss the price. When you make the whole thing a bigger deal than she thought it was (the value of the item, its beauty, and the reason the customer wants it), then the price becomes insignificant.
- You didn’t ask enough selling-specific questions to find out what she really wanted.
- She thinks you are trying to sell her what YOU want her to buy instead of what she really wants, so now she thinks you’re pushy.
- You showed her something that cost more than she could spend — or, it wasn’t expensive enough. Either way, you lose. When you pre-judge her buying ability, you make your client feel cheap. (But never ask, “How much do you want to spend?” This puts her in a box.)
- You tried to close the sale too soon.
- If you’re selling to a man, you may not have sold company benefits enough.
- You got too technical or not technical enough. Never assume the client knows too much about the product — or that she wants to know. She’s coming in because she trusts you. Ask questions to find out how much technical information she wants before you volunteer it.
Never let a client leave on this note. Ask yourself, “Have I covered it all?” And ask your client, “What is it that you need to think about?”
Let’s say your client answers, “That was a little more than I wanted to spend.” You can give more information or use value-added statements to drive up the perceived value, or if that doesn’t work, you can ask, “Well, what did you have in mind?” Now you can show your client something in the price range she wanted and close the sale. But most of the time, it’s not price — it’s something that was left out of the presentation. Always remember: Clients need a lot of reassurance when they are spending money on a blind item. It’s your job to make sure they don’t want to leave to think about it… they just want to buy it.