{"id":15988,"date":"2022-04-20T23:08:24","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T23:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sandler.com\/?p=15988"},"modified":"2022-10-23T22:10:21","modified_gmt":"2022-10-23T22:10:21","slug":"when-is-no-decision-a-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/when-is-no-decision-a-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"When Is No Decision A Decision?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_79_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/when-is-no-decision-a-decision\/#Unless_someone_specifically_hands_you_a_%E2%80%9Cyes%E2%80%9D_decision_do_you_ever_really_have_a_sale\" >Unless someone specifically hands you a &#8220;yes&#8221; decision, do you ever really have a sale?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/when-is-no-decision-a-decision\/#The_coded_message_%E2%80%93_%E2%80%9CThink_it_over%E2%80%9D\" >The coded message &#8211; &#8220;Think it over&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/when-is-no-decision-a-decision\/#Get_the_%E2%80%9Cno%E2%80%9D_up_front\" >Get the &#8220;no&#8221; up front<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Unless_someone_specifically_hands_you_a_%E2%80%9Cyes%E2%80%9D_decision_do_you_ever_really_have_a_sale\"><\/span>Unless someone specifically hands you a &#8220;yes&#8221; decision, do you ever really have a sale?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Have you ever gone out shopping for something and run into a salesperson who was a little too eager to show you exactly what you were looking for?<\/p>\n<p>You know the kind of retail experience we mean. When you walked in the store, you did have an interest in the product, and you were considering buying . . . but the pressure you got from that salesperson wasn\u2019t helping you to feel warm and fuzzy about the buying experience. Truth be told, you\u2019re now wishing you hadn\u2019t walked into this store at all. You really feel like getting out of this situation, and out of the store, so you can see what is on offer elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>So what do you do? You extricate yourself from a potentially awkward situation with that salesperson by uttering the magic words: \u201cI just need a little time to think it over.\u201d It works.<br \/>\nYou\u2019re free!<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_coded_message_%E2%80%93_%E2%80%9CThink_it_over%E2%80%9D\"><\/span><strong>The coded message &#8211; &#8220;Think it over&#8221;<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We hear this all the time, as professional sellers, don\u2019t we? Surprise, surprise: It means the same thing when prospects say it to us as it does when we say it to other salespeople. Let\u2019s be brutally honest. \u201cI need to think it over\u201d is really a coded message from the prospect. When you take the time to decode it, here\u2019s what you\u2019re really hearing: \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a true story about the \u201cthink it over\u201d response. Jim, a salesperson, was proposing a fairly large project to a prospect, Dolores.<\/p>\n<p>Near the end of Jim\u2019s presentation, Dolores said things like, \u201cGee, it looks interesting.\u201d And: \u201cWe have a lot of interest in what you\u2019re offering.\u201d And: \u201cYou\u2019ve done a great job today.\u201d All of those remarks gave Jim a good feeling, a feeling that this sale was about to close.<\/p>\n<p>Then Dolores said: \u201cJim, let us get back to you next week. This looks really good, but we do need to think it over.\u201d She was very pleasant as she said that.<\/p>\n<p>When Jim made it back to the office, he told his boss that the presentation had gone great, and that he expected a \u201cyes\u201d answer in a week or so, when Dolores got back to him, as she had promised to do.<\/p>\n<p>But then Dolores didn\u2019t get back to him. Jim kept her on the active list for weeks, though, and kept projecting income from that deal. He spent a fair amount of time leaving voice mail and email messages for Dolores.<\/p>\n<p>He even spent time setting up and emailing a revised proposal \u2013 based on zero feedback from her. That proposal generated no response.<\/p>\n<p>Did Jim ever really have a sale? Your own experience should give you the answer. After all, you\u2019ve probably used \u201cI need to think it over\u201d often enough to know that the odds were not on Jim\u2019s side.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Get_the_%E2%80%9Cno%E2%80%9D_up_front\"><\/span><strong>Get the &#8220;no&#8221; up front<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Whenever we hear this \u201cthink it over\u201d response, we need to remind ourselves that, nine times out of ten, the answer is going to be \u201cNo\u201d \u2014 but just like the customer in the retail setting, the prospect doesn\u2019t want to say that word \u201cNo\u201d out loud. It\u2019s too awkward.<\/p>\n<p>As professional salespeople, we need to be OK with that awkwardness. If it\u2019s going to be a \u201cNo,\u201d we are much better off figuring that out right up front. Even though, on an emotional level, we may not actually enjoy hearing those words, from a rational standpoint, it\u2019s vitally important that we identify what is really happening in the relationship.<\/p>\n<p>So when you hear \u201cI need some time to think it over,\u201d consider a different approach than the one Jim took. Maybe try planting your feet, standing your ground, and being willing to say to the prospect what Jim should have said. \u201cWith all due respect, Dolores, that decision not to make a decision really is making a decision. That\u2019s a \u2018no\u2019 in my world. And it\u2019s OK to tell me that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He would have gotten a much clearer sense of where he actually stood \u2026 and he wouldn\u2019t have spent precious time, effort, and energy pursuing a sale that was never going to happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unless someone specifically hands you a &#8220;yes&#8221; decision, do you ever really have a sale? Have you ever gone out shopping for something and run into a salesperson who was a little too eager to show you exactly what you were looking for? You know the kind of retail experience we mean. When you walked&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":15989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1120],"tags":[1491],"class_list":["post-15988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-franchising"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When Is No Decision A Decision? - Sandler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;I need to think it over&quot; is a coded message for &quot;No Decision&quot;. 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