Most of the time when people say, “I have to think about it” it’s because they’re having an internal disagreement. Their emotion might be saying, “Let’s go,” but their logic is saying, “I’m a business person. I need to make rational, calm, thoughtful decisions, and no rash decisions.” That’s mostly what’s happening. There’s always the outside chance that they are actually considering somebody else.
“I’ve got to think about it” has to do with something that’s external to you. Usually, it really is about the difference between head and heart. What you need to do is try to expose the issue. Sometimes it’s a fear of spending money. That happens a lot because they’re thinking, “If I spend this money, I’m never going to get it back, and what if I don’t get it back? If I don’t get it back, then my kids don’t have shoes. If they don’t have shoes, people think poorly of me as a parent, and then child protective services shows up.”
Often, they feel like they want to go forward, but they’ve got to do some internal, mental gymnastics in order to convince themselves that it’s the right decision. Most people have already made a decision, and then they spend some time chewing it over to validate that it is, in fact, the correct decision.
Most of the time, “I’ve got to think about it” isn’t really a “no.” It’s, “I want to say yes, but I’m not ready.” As someone who wants to serve the prospect, it is incumbent on you to make sure that you are asking about those things that they need to think about, so that you can clarify anything that they might misunderstand. If you get them to say those things out loud, then it becomes apparent to them that those things are probably not as big as they think they are. That’s how you deal with the dreaded, “I have to think about it,” I’ll get back to you,” or “I have to go talk to my partner.”
