"Sochera bhanchu." I'll think about it.
That is the biggest lie a customer will ever tell you, and almost every seller in Nepal hears it every week.
If you are new at selling, you go quiet when it lands. You say "la, hunchha, sochera bhannus" and you let the person walk out. If you have been selling for years, you already know that person is never going to call - and you still say "la, hunchha, sochera bhannus." You know it is over, and you say it anyway.
This is about both of those situations, because the fix is the same.
Where I learned this
I worked as a personal trainer and I did my own selling - nobody sold PT for me. Three in every five people I pitched told me they would think about it. They never came back. Not some of them. Not most of them. None of them.
I heard it so many times that I went and actually studied it. Brian Tracy's The Art of Closing the Sale, and Alex Hormozi's Gym Launch Secrets. Every serious sales book teaches a way through this objection, because every seller runs into it.
Businesses hire me to fix their sales and marketing now, and I still hear it when I sell my own consulting. My clients hear it when they sell theirs. This is not a beginner's problem you grow out of. It is the default thing a human being says when they want out of a conversation.
First: understand what he is actually saying
"I'll think about it" means: bye bye. Good night. I am not buying your product.
That is the whole translation. It is a polite no.
Why doesn't he just say it? Because people cannot say no to your face. Nobody sits across from you and says "I don't want this, I'm leaving." People want to look good - that is human nature, not a character flaw. So he hides the real reason and hands you an excuse instead: "I'll let you know in a day."
Once you accept that, one thing follows: "I'll think about it" is not an objection at all. There is nothing in it to answer. It is a curtain in front of the actual objection. Your entire job is to get the curtain open.
Method one: agree, then ask one question
Do not tell him what he should or shouldn't be thinking about. That is arguing, and it does not work. Handle it properly instead.
Step one - agree with him, politely. "You're right. You should think about a purchase like this. I understand. A decision this important deserves some thought." Say it and mean it.
Step two - ask the question. "What exactly did you want to think about?"
That is the whole move. Because you agreed first, your prospect does not go defensive, and he tells you the reason he actually needs to think - which is the reason he was never going to say out loud.
He will say something. Maybe "honestly it's the price, it felt a bit expensive." Maybe "I don't know what my wife will say." Maybe "I'm not sure this is right for me." Something comes out.
Step three - isolate it. Say he named price. Then you ask:
"If price wasn't a problem for you - if you could afford this comfortably, if money was not the issue - would you have taken it?"
If he does not answer "yes, I would have taken it", ask again: "Then what is actually stopping you, sir?" Maybe now it is "I have to ask my wife." Fine - run the same question on that one. "If your wife had no problem with it, if she said okay, would you take it?"
Keep asking until he says yes, I would have. Not once. As many times as it takes. And ask it curiously - never pushy, never cornering him. The moment he feels trapped, you have lost him for a different reason.
When he finally gives you the real objection, you can actually work. Price - you can explain the value. His spouse - you can handle that. Too far away - you can address it. Not sure it works - you can explain your product. Every one of those is answerable. "I'll think about it" is not.
Method two: the rocking chair close
This is the second way, and I use it myself. I picked it up from Hormozi's Gym Launch Secrets.
When he says he will think about it, you say:
"You said you'll think about it. But are you going to go home, sit in your rocking chair, stare at the wall and think - should I buy this, should I not? Honestly, will you? I wouldn't."
Then you tell him what will actually happen, because he knows it is true.
He goes home and he gets busy. He has to pick up his child from school. He has to buy vegetables. He has his work to worry about. He has washing to do. A thousand things land in his head, and not one of them is your product. He never finds the time to think about it. That was never going to happen.
Then one day he looks in the mirror and sees his body. Or he puts on his clothes and something doesn't fit the way he wants, and the need he came to you with is suddenly back in front of him. And in that moment what he thinks is: the price was high, or I'm too busy right now, leave it. And he decides not to buy. Not because he thought it through. Because he never thought about it at all.
So: "Rather than waiting all that time - decide now. You are right here in front of me. I can answer any question you have, right now."
Do not read this as a gym technique. Whatever you sell, you attach it to that customer's own need and the move works the same way.
The three reasons anybody says no
There is a shortcut you can use here too. People refuse to buy anything for three reasons:
- They don't know whether it will actually benefit them.
- It feels too expensive.
- They don't like you.
So ask him straight: which of these three is it?
Both methods are doing the same job - dragging the objection out into the open where you can answer it, and making it clear that taking the decision now is the right move.
Better: prevent it at the consultation
The best handling happens before the objection exists.
In your first consultation, before you sell anything, ask: "Why do you want to do this now? Why are you starting now? Why are you looking to buy this now?"
Ask that early and you already know what is going on inside him. When "I'll think about it" turns up later, it is far easier to get through - you already have his reasons in your pocket.
And sometimes it is a real no
Some people have already decided against you. They mean no, and no amount of technique changes that. Some objections genuinely cannot be overcome. Recognise it and let them go.
Here is the part worth sitting with, though. When a person walks away, it is usually not because you failed to overcome "I'll think about it." It is because something went wrong earlier in your sales process.
You may not have built rapport. You may not have built a real relationship with the person sitting in front of you. You may not have made him like you. You may never have made him understand what your product or service is actually worth. Any of that happens before the objection, and by the time you hear "I'll think about it", it is already too late.
And some people, once they have made a decision, will not change it. They are stubborn, they carry a stiff mindset, and you will not move them. Sometimes the person in front of you simply cannot buy at all.
There are a lot of reasons a sale doesn't close. Don't take it personally and don't get sentimental about it.
Next time a client sits in front of you and says he'll think about it, use this. Then tell me in the comments what happened - I read every one. And if you have other questions, ask me. I'll answer them as best as I know how.