Selling in a Crisis

43Disrupt Decision Deferment

This doesn't mean you won't get resistance and objections. You will. Asking for the sale will trigger buying commitment objections. Most crisis-based objections, though, will be benign decision deferment objections:

• “Give us a few days to consider your proposal.”
• “We'll need to think this over.”
• “I'd like to run this by my entire team before we make any commitment.”
• “My boss is going to need to see this first.”
• “I think we need to get our calculators out and do the math on this before we sign anything.”
• “We want to hold off for a month or two before doing anything just to see what's going to happen with the economy.”
• “We've decided to give our current vendor one more chance to redeem themselves.”
• “We've got to send this up to the finance team to take a closer look at the numbers.”
• “We're going to have to wait until next quarter to do anything.”
• “We don't want to make a long-term commitment.”
• “We want to take a look at a few other options before making a decision.”
• “We're just going to stick with what we are doing for now.”

Dealing with decision deferment and avoidance objections requires nuance, situational awareness, and patience. The following steps will help you guide your client through their avoidance so they can make a decision:

1. Relate.
2. Isolate.
3. Prioritize.
4. Clarify.
5. Minimize.
6. Ask.

Begin with empathy. Relate to your prospect as a person. This sounds like, “I get you, and it's OK to feel this way.”

Empathy, however, is not the same thing ...