Here’s how to Avoid the “I need to think about it” stall when selling

Simple – don’t leave your prospects with the option in the first place.  Here is how I set up the appointment right up front, I use an intention statement!

The intention statement is critical to the entire sales process, it outlines what is to take place in the time you have both set aside so that the prospect is clear and it helps to reduce any anxiety that the prospect may have around sales or any fear of a pressure sales environment.   The intention statement is broken into four sections,

1. Ask permission to outline the session
2. Outline the session
3. Two options to reduce pressure
4. OK to proceed.

So here is the intention statement I use in my diagnostic process.

[Name], is it OK if I outline how we want to invest our time together today?  Great, first I would like to ask you a bunch of questions about your business to get to know in more detail the base that you are working from, we will cover any goals you might have, the direction you are heading, the team you have here  …  .  I will also get to some of the frustrations you may have in the business.

Once I have a much better understanding of these issues I will take you through a quick presentation of what it is we do, how we work with clients, the things we cover, the programs we offer and so on.

Now at the end of this presentation you will be left in one of two places.

Either this is a great idea and you want to get started straight away, and my advice would be that if you see something you like grab it and let’s get going… or this is not for you for what ever reason and I will let you know at this point that this program is not right for everyone so it is OK if it is not right for you.

So is it OK if we go through this morning like that.

By setting the picture up front, I don’t let them “think about it” as an option.

Are you letting people off the hook?