A while ago, I wrote about how to handle the “let me think about it” objection.

Right after it was published, one of my clients asked me if there was a way to avoid getting all the way to the point where it’s time to obtain a commitment and ending up at that point where you get this response.

 “Yes,” I advised her.  “Ask more and better questions before you get there.”

 If your communication with the prospective clients has revealed a need, and the services you provide are a good way to satisfy that need, what do they want to think about?  While sometimes it’s the cost or they’re shopping around, and sometimes they’re not certain you’re the right person or have the right solution, there’s also uncertainty about whether the problem or issue is important enough to them to make a commitment right now, as well as the possibility they don’t have the authority or willingness to make the commitment on their own.  These issues will come out if you’re asking about them.

 Here are some sample questions you could incorporate into your conversations:

 ~ Before I go into some of my ideas with you, I want to get a sense of whether you see this as an important enough problem to take care of immediately.

 ~If this turns out to be something that you want to get started right away, who else needs to be involved in the final decision?

 ~Is this something you want to move on right away?

 ~Have you been looking at the potential solutions?  Where else have you looked?  How much effort have you already put in?  Is there a reason you haven’t moved on it already?

 Often, answers to questions like these will tell you whether it makes sense to move ahead and get into the details of your proposal or not.

 There’s no guarantee that even if you ask more and better questions about their readiness to commit you won’t hear “let me think about it” anyway, but you might prevent arriving at Let Me Think About It Junction in many cases simply by understanding their situation better before you get to the point of asking for a commitment.  

If you want to double your practice quickly, contact me now to learn how I might help you–or do you need to think about it? If you do, then in the meantime, keep REACHING…