“I Need to Think About It”

Over the years, I’ve seen many suggestions on how to handle this common sales situation, and most of them miss the mark by a wide margin.

The usual advice is to first lower the customer’s resistance by not pushing back on their desire to take time to think. Then, follow up with probing questions to uncover any hidden objections.

When this approach is used, the customer will typically come up with logical concerns they’re unsure about, and the salesperson will respond with reassuring answers.

And yet, the customer will still want to take time to think about it.

Then, all too often, they will ghost you—because this was never about logic and reasoning. It was about emotions.

People make decisions emotionally and then justify them logically.

The reason customers say they need time to think isn’t usually because they plan to create a logical pros-and-cons list. More often, they want to see if the emotions they’re feeling about the decision persist over time, whether positive or negative.

If the feeling persists, the customer will decide it’s valid and justify it with whatever logic is necessary.

Our goal during the sales process is to spark the right emotional reactions in the customer and ensure those emotions last. To do this effectively, we must leverage the tools of deep persuasion.

Simply getting the customer excited in the moment isn’t enough. Superficial emotions fade quickly and won’t withstand the test of time.

To ensure emotions persist, we must sell to the non-verbal parts of the brain—the mammalian and reptilian brain—because these are the areas responsible for emotional decision-making. Then, we equip the neocortex with the logical justifications it needs to support the emotional decision that has already been made.

A skilled salesperson can quickly identify the emotional drivers and decision triggers unique to each customer. These are the validations their brain constantly seeks. When activated, they create lasting emotions because they operate at a much deeper level.

When done correctly, you can confidently let the customer leave to “think about it.” They’ll spend time throwing logical pros and cons at their emotions, but those emotions will persist. Eventually, they will want to move forward and will justify their decision logically however necessary.

That’s just how the brain works.

To master this approach, sales professionals must develop strong skills in non-verbal communication and personality profiling. We can help you learn these and much more—just reach out. We’re always here to help.