These days, we live in a world where texters, emailers, and phone callers expect an instant response. It’s urgent, you know! As salespeople we too are seeking an urgent response, many of us expecting it within 90 minutes.
The problem with all of this instant communication, and the chaos it creates, is that we lose sight of when something is truly pressing and when it would be best set aside.
Take objections in the sales process, for example. We’re taught early on not to answer every objection as they come up but rather to politely reply with, “That’s a great question! I’m not sure, but I will get an answer for you before the end of the presentation.”
Why do we do this? It’s simple. One of the keys to successful selling is to positively change the emotional state of the customer: to move them from a state of fear to comfort and then excitement about us and our product. When customers rapidly fire objections at us, we tend to react – sometimes negatively. Moreover, emotions are contagious and the continual rebutting of challenges can put us in a downbeat state of mind.
Sometimes, in sales and in life, it’s best to defer decisions, answers and yes, even transactions, until a later time. This act of deferral not only reduces negativity in our customers but fills us with confidence and clarity as well.