What to say on a sales call when your lead says..."I need to think about it"

So when a potential client says, I need to think about this, you need to say this. Hi, I'm Michelle Terpstra, CRO@7 figure MSP, and I'm joined today with Cindy Phillips, our vice president of sales coaching. And we're going to talk about exactly how you overcome that type of objection. Hey, Cindy. How are you?

Hey. I'm doing pretty good. Thanks, Michelle.

So I think this is a really common one. Right. I need to think about it.

I think I need to think about it is probably the most common thing that people say after, honey, I love you.

Oh, my gosh. That's a really funny way to say it. So, you know, specifically to the MSP industry and our sales process. Right. When you get a. I think about it, I actually would hope that the way that we're going down the sales process and how perfected it's been and strategic it's been, I think that we reduce that greatly because there's not a lot to think about at the end. Right. But I would like to talk with you a little bit about when that commonly comes up for maybe some of our clients or newer clients, how you coach them around that to take the I need to think about it out of the equation.

Okay. So first of all, let's get some things straight. Just some basic things. Straight about objections.

Yep.

I believe that an objection is an invitation to a conversation.

I would agree with you.

So when somebody says, I need to think about it, that's wonderful. You need to think about it. What exactly are you gonna think when you think about it? Right. So, you know, naturally we're not gonna say that, because that sounds a little flip. Like, what are you gonna think? Right. When are you gonna think it? You know?

Yeah.

But let's be real. When people say, I want to think about it, do you really think they're gonna think about it, or do you think it's a dodge? Like, I can't ghost you because we're face to face.

Right.

I might really want to ghost you, but I. I can't because you're right in front of me. So instead of ghosting you, I'm gonna say, I need to think about it. So the first thing I like to do is let people know that they've been heard. I respect that. You need to think about it. I totally get that. I respect it. But let me ask. Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?

I love that. The way that you turned it.

Yep. Do you want the service. Mm.

And holding. The eye contact thing.

Is there Anything about how I've described the service that's unclear to you? Because before you go away to think about it, I want to make sure that you have everything you need when you go into your evaluation. So just to make sure I'm on the right page, what is it that's critically important to you? What's your number one thing as you go away to think about this? So if you notice what I'm doing here is I am just going to ask you to take me through your internal thought process only I'm going to ask you to vocalize it out loud.

Yes.

Right. So when you're going to go away and think about it, I really respect that you're going to do that. So what is the. Is there anything that's not clear? What's the number one most important thing to you? And as you go into your thought process, are you going to be comparing this to anything else?

It's a great question.

And so what I'm going to do when somebody tells me that they want to think about it, and this is sort of like the coaching moment, what we do is, first of all, we show respect. We understand that it's important that you think about it. But now I'm going to take you through a set of questions that help narrow the field of what you're considering.

Yes.

Okay. So if I leave the field wide open, I have no idea what you're going to be doing while you go off to think about it. So who's going to help you think about it? Is there anyone that you'd like to talk to that could help you as you evaluate your options? And what other options are you considering? Right. So let's talk about one more thing. And I don't know if this actually goes with your question. I think I might be getting a little too far.

No, I love it. I have a great follow up question I'm gonna do too.

But here's the thing. There's always three choices. Do nothing. Do something. Do something halfway. Right. Do something that's not all that great. So when somebody says they want to go off and think about it, I would really like to get some guidance from them. Are you thinking about not doing anything? Is that a valid choice? Or can we kick that off the table right away?

Yep.

And if we kick that one off the table, now we're down to do something. Are we gonna do something that's gonna make you happy? Are we gonna do something that's going to leave you feeling less than satisfied?

Very profound. So, Cindy, I Have a question. These are such eloquently crafted questions and the sales psychology behind them, the empathy, like, we mean, anybody listening to this is going to be hitting pause and listening to it again because it is a perfect set of questions. My question to you is, I'm sure on your open office hours and your sales coaching calls with our clients, this has come up and you've coached them on this. And I' I want to hear a success story of when you challenge someone to challenge the next time they heard that and what the outcome was, because I think those types of stories really inspire the people who listen to us. So would you mind sharing one of those, please?

Oh, my God, Michelle, I can't think of it. So here's what happens instead. Maybe I can just tell you what happens on sales open office hours.

Yes.

So people come in and we do this thing we call break it down, where they tell me, okay, I. I went out to see someone. They said, I have to think about it. And I say, okay, what did they say before? They said, I have to think about it. Tell me everything they said before. I have to think about it. So we can kind of see where the mind's going, where their line of thought is going. Right. And then what I tell them to do is I tell. Always tell them, pick up the phone and call them.

Yes.

And ask them what is their next step. So I don't know that I actually have a story from somebody like you just put it to me, because I just always get them focused back on what is your next step.

But I would assume the next step then helps them get to the client level in order to get the clients.

Yeah. So what happens is, okay, let's. Let's take, for example, you're out, you've made the call. They tell you they need to think about it. So then two days later, never more than two days later, you call them back and you say, okay, what's our next step? And they say to you, well, I haven't thought about it yet. And you say, well, that's great. Do you really need to.

Yes. I mean, that's really.

I mean, do you really need to. It seems to me like you have everything you need to know and let's go for it. So I can't give you an example of somebody actually doing that. We could go through the Facebook group and we could look at all the booms and find people who've done it. But. But I just don't have one that comes to mind because I really. What happens is people Go close the deal. And then they tell me they closed it. They don't break down all the. Here's how I closed it.

Got it. Yeah. No, totally, totally fair. I just get inspired by stories, so I love to hear the successes. But you're right, like our Facebook group, every time I open that up, it's like, boom sale, Boom sale. I mean, it's incredible to watch. And if you have the right tools to ask the right follow up questions like you just suggested right now. And what are the next steps? Like, that's super easy, it's non aggressive, but it directs you to an end result which is either a no or a yes. And that's what we need in sales.

And the funny thing about NOS is no's are a perfectly wonderful answer.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, a lot of people have aversion to the no, but when we embrace the no as being part of the journey, no's aren't always forever.

Yeah, they're not always forever. And it also accurately allows us to predict our sales and to manage our pipeline and to forecast. Because if you have a whole bunch of maybes just sitting out there, it's really difficult to be accurate. And for me, that's one of the reasons that I want to get to either yes or a no.

Right.

And that's another driver personally for me, so that I can see what's in the forecast, what's likely to close. And if you have a bunch of wishy washy in there, it's really difficult to do so.

So let's go back to the original topic, which was what do I do when they say they have to think about it?

Yep.

Okay, so here's the thing. When people say they have to think about it, it's really super important to ask who's going to be part of their thinking process. Because usually that secret code for I don't have the authority to make the decision I have to think about it means I have to go to talk to someone who either has to participate in the decision or approve the decision that I've never told you about that I don't ever plan to tell you about. Yeah, but you're not going to get a yes until I talk to that person without you. Now, one of the things about our sales process is we know that it's just like a game of telephone. If somebody takes part of your sales pitch and goes and talks to another person without you in the loop, all the messages get scrambled.

Yep.

And nobody moves forward. And so that's why it's so important. One of the things we do, we. When we do our sales presentation is we always do a very thorough agenda setting where we ask people, is there anyone who needs to participate in this decision or approve this decision that is not here right now? And when we consistently do that, we don't get as many. I have to go think about it. Because they get it at. Before we start the sales pro, they get that we say, okay, typically at the end of this call, we're going to make a decision about what our next step is. Okay, so you're telling me that your next step is. You have to go away and think about it. Great. What's your output? What's the output of? I have to go think about it.

And I love the way you're speaking to this because your sales process is what I would call objection prevention. So. And if you can do it that way, then you get less of it at the end.

I, you know, I don't know if it present, if it prevents objections as much as it helps. People want to make progress. Right. So if we go talk to somebody who really doesn't think they need cyber security, we're going to find it out really early, and then we're going to fish or cut bait. We're either going to say, okay, this is someone we need to dump into our nurture, or this is someone we need to dump into our. Our. Our friend bucket. And when they get hacked, they need to know that they have a smart friend they can call. Yep. Right. Because we know they're not going to move forward. That doesn't mean we're not going to eventually do business with them. Correct?

Yes. Oh, my gosh. I love it. All right, any closing thoughts before we wrap this up?

I just. I just really think of objections as a great way to exchange information. And so objections don't really bother me that much. If somebody cares enough to object, then I know I'm in a real conversation. I love that if I start sweating that somebody is objecting, then my brain goes to an unresourceful place. So if you can take your brain and reprogram it to think that an objection means that they care enough to argue with you. People don't argue or object when they don't care, and when they don't care, they don't buy.

I think I'm just gonna leave it at that. That was a perfect way to wrap it up. And if you would like to binge watch some of our best trainings that we've recorded and stored for you. Make sure that you jump into our school community and it's linked below.