Acknowledge the Anxiety
Everyone gets it.
Whether you are on line (an actual line, not the internet) at Best Buy with a $120 printer in your hand, or you are ready to sign the deal to put a new roof on your house, you get it. We all do - it's called "purchase anxiety."
That feeling in your stomach, that buzz, that uncomfortable feeling swimming around that pops up when we are about to part with our money. That feeling we all get at the register as the cashier is ringing up our printer, and ink, and paper, and the phone charger you needed, and the all-important impulse buy of the hand sanitize lotion, and you are waiting for the final total, squeezing that credit card till your fingertips turn white.
You get it. We all get it.
And YOUR CUSTOMERS most certainly get it.
The question is, what do you do about it, as the salesperson trying to sell them your product or service?
First, understanding that purchase anxiety is a normal, human reaction that everyone feels - except perhaps Buddhist monks - is critical. You have to understand and expect that it will happen. But the most important thing you can do as the salesperson?
Acknowledge the anxiety.
Let the customer know that what they are feeling, or what they are about to feel, is normal, and that everyone feels it when buying anything. The important thing, you tell them, is that it's okay to feel anxious about making this buying decision, but if you can, take a deep breath and don't let the anxiety make the decision for you.
What that means is this - when a customer says the famous sentence of, "I need to think about it," that happens for two reasons.
They are not comfortable with you as a salesperson because you said or did something that made them lose trust in you, and therefore, they don't want to buy. That is a different anxiety...the anxiety of wanting you to leave.
They have purchase anxiety, and the only way to feel better is to make it go away, and so they say "I have to think about it," without really knowing why they said it. You have to understand they said it to make the anxiety go away.
So it's okay to say to the customer, "So before I get to the final cost here, I know you are probable feeling anxious, right?" They will almost always chuckle and nod their heads.
"I just want you to know that it's okay to feel that, it's totally normal, as everyone when they are about to buy something, gets that anxious feeling. But what I would suggest is that you don't let that anxiety take over your decision on what you want to do. Take a deep breath, remember everything you chose and all the things you agreed to that you wanted, and let those thoughts help guide your decision. You'll feel much better about it if you do, I promise."
This will relax your prospect, make them feel good about the things they chose, make them feel like you really listened to them and understand them, AND get them thinking about how they can afford your product or service, rather than spending money on your product or service.
The difference between the two is everything.