How to Handle "We Need to Think About It" in Home Improvement Sales

It's gone nine at night. You've been at the kitchen table since half six, the cuppa she made you went cold an hour ago, and the costing's sat between you. She looks at him. He looks at her. Then he says it.

"Right. Well. We need to think about it."

Most salespeople nod, pick up the folder and say, "No problem, have a think, give me a ring." Then they drive home and put it on the list of maybes. I'll be honest with you, that list is where deals go to die.

"We need to think about it" is very rarely the real objection. It's the polite version of something else. Something is still bothering them and they haven't told you what. So when you hear it, don't argue and don't pack up. Agree with them, get specific about what they actually want to think about, and then be quiet and let them tell you.

Agree with them first

This is the bit everyone skips. I was role-playing it with a rep I coach not long ago, and the first thing he did was jump straight to his clever question. I stopped him. You've missed a step. Agree.

"I totally get that. It's a big decision, it's a lot of money, and you want to get it right."

The minute you push back, they dig in. Now it's you against them, and you're the one holding the paperwork, so guess who looks like the salesman. When you agree, their shoulders drop. They were braced for a fight and it never came.

Then narrow it down

"Think about it" is fog. You can't answer fog.

So I'll say something like: "I've had this conversation a thousand times, and I generally find it's one of two things. Either it's making the decision at all that worries people, or it's making it with the wrong company. Which is it for you?"

Usually they'll say the company. Nobody likes admitting they're scared of deciding. Good. Now you've got something real to talk about. How much have they looked into you? Have they read the reviews? Get them up on your phone and go through them together, sat side by side on the settee. Talk about the job you did three doors down. Then ask whether that settles it.

If there's two of them, get the answer from both. Don't take his yes and assume hers. Turn and ask her.

Once the worry's out, put a fence round it. "So other than that, is there anything else you're unsure about?" If the answer's no, you know exactly what's standing between you and the order. Deal with that one thing and you're there.

"What's missing from our conversation?"

If you still can't get to it, there's a question I love. "What's missing from our conversation that's stopping you going ahead?"

Then stop talking.

This is where most salespeople come unstuck, because silence feels horrible when you're sat in somebody's living room with the telly off. You'll want to fill it. Don't. The sale gets made in the silence. While you're talking, they're not thinking, they're listening to you. Go quiet and they've finally got room to work it out, and what comes out next is usually the truth.

Same goes for the whole appointment, really. You want to tell them you're family run, you've got a ten-year guarantee, you've been going twenty years. Fine. But you learn nothing while you're saying it. Turn it into a question. Whoever's asking the questions is in control of the conversation. If they're asking and you're answering, they're steering.

"We always take ages to decide"

You'll hear this one a lot. "We're the sort of people who take a long time making any decision."

Agree with it. "That makes total sense." Then hand it back, gently. "What do you think it is that stops you deciding?"

And remind them of what they told you an hour ago. The draught under the back door. The front room nobody uses from October to March. The windows they've been embarrassed about since the day they moved in. "If we leave it three months, it's winter. What changes if we don't do this?"

They'll nearly always say nothing. Which is right. If nothing changes, nothing changes. Kicking it down the road doesn't help them one bit, they've still got the same cold room and the same grey frames. People buy on emotion and back it up with logic. You found the emotion earlier in the appointment. This is just the logic catching up.

Most of it is won before the price

Look, if you're getting "think about it" a lot, the problem usually started well before the costing came out. Customers turn up with get out of jail cards in their pocket, and if you don't take them off them at the start, they'll play them at the end.

There are only five reasons people don't buy: no need, no desire, no money, no hurry, no trust. Every "think about it" is one of those you didn't deal with. So pre-close as you go. Once you've covered why they want it, "Have I got that right for you so far?" Same after the budget. Same after the timing. By the time you show the price there's not much left to think about.

And trust doesn't come from chatting about their dog or the koi carp in the pond. It comes from asking good questions and properly listening to the answers.

Give them permission to say no as well. "If this doesn't make sense for you, you're quite okay to tell me." It sounds backwards, but taking the pressure off is often what lets them say yes. It's also why the 7 Steps to Sales Mastery puts Frame and WHY first, and deals with Objections before you ever get to the Close.

One rep's numbers

A home improvement sales rep I coach closed 17 of 22 appointments in one stretch, 12 of them on the day, by listening properly and building the sale around what the customer told him mattered. That's one person's result, not a promise. But it shows what changes when you stop accepting "we'll think about it" and find out what's really behind it.

If you're hearing "we need to think about it" more than you'd like, take the free 2-minute Sales Leak Assessment and book a free 30-minute discovery call with me.