What to do when your buyer wants to ‘sleep on it’

Imagine you’re trying to close a sale with a buyer we’ll call Sophie. But Sophie says she needs to “sleep on it.”

“Of course,” you say. “We’ve been discussing this for months and it’s a big decision.” But you’re uncomfortable. Did Sophie just give you a classic stall that’s going to end in a no?

So you try to regain control by reminding Sophie how much she could save. You point out some features she might have overlooked. You promise to send a video testimonial.

A few days later Sophie delivers her verdict. “Sorry,” she says. “I’ve decided to stick with what we have.”

Less is more

Win some, lose some. But you wonder whether you missed something important. Something more you could have said to influence Sophie’s decision.

But the reality is that you might have won the sale if you’d said far less. Or nothing at all.

There are times when you shouldn’t let customers out of your sight long enough to change their mind. But in complex sales like the one we’re describing, nobody expects buyers to make an on-the-spot decision.  At some point, they’re going to go away and think about it.

While they’re thinking, it may seem like a good idea to shower prospects with information about why they should buy from you. But research suggests that calling attention to your product while the buyer is “mulling it over” could actually make it LESS likely you’ll get the sale.

Status quo’s shortcomings

In a series of experiments, researchers at a Dutch university and at Cornell asked students to choose between two articles for a reading assignment. The first was a well-known piece that the students had seen before. The other article was brand new.

When the students were asked to choose immediately, 72% picked the article they knew.

But when given the option to delay their decision — basically, to “sleep on it” — only 42% of students picked the familiar option. That’s a 30-point difference.

A similar experiment by the same researchers — this time, involving political incumbents — mirrored those results. When asked to choose immediately, 82% of respondents said they’d vote for the incumbent. But when people were given a chance to think over the decision, the incumbent got only 56% of the votes. That’s a change of 26 percentage points – a landslide in politics.

When the researchers interviewed the subjects in these experiments, they found that when people were “thinking it over,” the “it” they thought about was usually the familiar option. They didn’t think about the new option much at all. Instead, they started focusing on all the reasons why the status quo fell short.

Supporting their decision

And that leads us back to your interaction with Sophie.

You tried to keep your buyer focused on what was good about YOUR product. But that increased the likelihood that her doubts would attach to IT and not the product she was already using.

This research suggests that if you’d simply supported Sophie’s decision to mull it over, she’d have focused on the status quo. Her question was less likely to be “Do I feel comfortable about this new product?” and more likely to be “Why DON’T I feel comfortable with the product I’ve had all this time?”

So let’s rewind this sale and give you another chance.

This time, when Sophie says she “needs to think about it,” you say:

“Of course, Sophie. This is a big decision. All I would ask is that you give some thought to whether your current product will meet your needs going forward.”

That’s it. You simply plant the suggestion and lets it take root. You don’t bad-mouth the other product and you don’t keep pushing your own. Instead, you clam up and let Sophie take the time she needs to consider her options.

3 caveats

There are a few caveats to keep in mind when using this approach:

One: It should be reserved for when you’re selling against the status quo. In a competitive selling situation, you’ll probably want to take a more active approach.

Two: There will still be times when it’s best to seek an immediate decision. If you’re getting strong buying signals and the buyer just needs a little encouragement, by all means ask for a decision.

And three: If buyers are hesitating because they don’t truly understand your product or your value proposition, give them the information they need to make a good decision.

This blog entry is adapted from the Rapid Learning module “Closing: When the buyer wants to sleep on it.” If you’re a Rapid Learning customer, you can watch the video here. If you’re not, but would like to see this video (or any of our other programs), request a demo and we’ll get you access.

The blog post and Rapid Learning video module are based on the following research article: Van de Ven, N., et al. (2010). Delay, doubt, and decision: How delaying a choice reduces the appeal of (descriptively) normative options. Psychological Science, 21(4), 568-573.