"The Stall"......how do you deal with it?

[Jerry Tibbs]

Ever get a prospect, asked all the right question, provided all the right answers, established credibility,
value, fit and a solution that is perfect, asked for the sale....and then receive a vague response like, "I want to
think it over", "I'll get to back to you", "I'll give this some careful consideration", or "I'll contact you soon?"

What do you do in this situation?

I've heard one way to deal with this is to ask, "exactly what does (fill in the blank with lame stall) mean?" Or, "when you say (fill in the stall) , when exactly do you think that will be?"

What kind of Actions or Scripts has everyone been using to deal with this situation?

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

This is tough to answer since I generally can read my client very well - I know the difference between a true tire-kicker, someone's who gonna waste my time and never pull the trigger, and a genuinely interested prospect who needs a nudge.

My line is:

"I can take care of the application in minutes and it's one less thing you have to worry about."

If they come back at me again: "...I really need to just get back to you later this week" then I'm done.

I do not mess with prospects who have little to no interest: "Listen....it's John right? I'm real busy and need some time to look this over. You don't need to call me back, I have your number on my caller ID."

bye bye

 

[chp]

Healthagent is right, you should be able to see this coming in advance by reading your client. It takes time and practice, but I can see it coming.

One line I try is to ask "does this policy make sense to you, the premium is right, coverage is what you are looking for" - usually they say "yes."

I then say, "ok, all I can do is see if you qualify, do not cancel your current coverage, but I will start the process to make sure we can get you this coverage. Hopefully the policy will get issued, and then we can make a decision which is the best for you, ok?"

Either they say ok, and we start the app, or they throw out one more "I need to think about this"...in that case, I am gone.

 

[somarco]

Frankly, if after being led down the path (and it does happen to me sometimes) I just let them go. I could continue beating them up and dragging them across the finish line but for what?

You would be surprised at the number of folks who come back a few weeks or even months later because they appreciated the information and liked the fact you didn't beat them up.

Wrote 3 apps in the last 10 days or so from "oldies".

One was a lady I never talked to, but did put her on my list. First contact was in Feb. She contacted me last week and we actually got to talk on the phone. I went over her options. She bought a plan for $240/mo.

Another was a lady from last summer. We did talk initially, then she stopped returning calls. I kept her in my database and on my newsletter list. She bought a $560/mo premium.

The biggest surprise was a guy who also would not return my calls from last September. He called me out of the blue two weeks ago. We have an app in underwriting for $530/month.

There is something to be said for giving folks some space.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

The difference between marketing and the quick-buck hard-sell...

 

[bluemarlin08]

If they want to think about it, I let them think about it. However, I ask them if I can call them in a certain amount of time and if they agree ok, if they say they will call me when they are ready, no more calls. When I call back and they still aren't sure I ask them to be straight with me, not interested in wasting their or my time, I say there is a fine line between being persistant and being a nuiscance and I never want to be nuiscance, you would be amazed at how this puts them at ease and they tell you the truth, works for me.

 

[Delta76]

I personally ask for their decision making process ahead of presenting ideas and who else is to be involved:

"How do you typically go about making decisions such as this? Besides yourself, who else do you consult with when making decisions such as this?"

The first question is powerful, they will likely lay it out for you. The only way this works is if you're getting strong desire to change before this step, if not, probably isn't a prospect worth presenting to. I skipped over this step last week and now it put me in a bad situation this week of losing control of the situation.

 

[Krono]

Here's a previous thread dealing w/this issue:

"Well, I want to think it over..."

 

[somarco]

I always ask for a time frame from the get-go. But that doesn't mean they are shooting straight.

If they are squirrelly about getting nailed down I offer limited advice and suggestions, just enough to whet their appetite if they are serious, then let it go.

The only time I go full bore is when a lot of buying signals go up. However, like a lot of salesmen, I can be sold.

For all the ones who sell me I end up with 3 - 4 more who I gave up on that come back to me. Makes it easier to get over the ones who drained me then blew me off.

Drip marketing is not for everyone, but it works for me.

 

[djs]

"How do you typically go about making decisions such as this? Besides yourself, who else do you consult with when making decisions such as this?"

Never use this question on me. I know they teach everyone to do it, but I personally use the reply:

"I go about my decision making process in a deliberate, well thought out approach, which prevents me from making rash, impulse buy decisions. Basically, I try to get at least 3 opinions on topics like this, find out who I believe the most, and work with them. Is that fair?"

Many higher end clients will not allow you to remove the objections upfront.

For me, I've learned to have a discussion with them about what the pain point is with their current coverage, ask if we can leave everything else the same and solve that, will they switch?

This gets me a bit of a buy-in. You never do exactly this, but you can frequently come close, and sometimes do much better than they expected upfront.

Dan