What do you say when a prospect says - Look, I will give you a call back when I have time to speak?

This is an example of a typical “put-off” or “stall” and it may hide an actual “NO” or an objection if you can get to the truth. Ideally in these situations it is best to concentrate on opening relationships rather than purely closing sales. If you can develop a degree of trust and rapport you will be in a better place to dig behind the “put-off” ~ without the rapport and trust they are less likely to allow you to probe further.

Of course it could be your fault this has happened...

• Have you explained your value proposition – your USP – your blue water strategy or just opened with a low impact statement like: (I am just calling to follow up the brochure I sent you..)
• Have you sent in a proposal or a sales leaflet or not?
• Are they interested? Or is this just a put off?
• Do they want to talk with you but they do not have the time right now?

Whatever the cause for the stall, handling it isn't a science, it's an art.

The art is in helping the customer see that you truly accept and understand their hesitation and the normal advice is to

• Acknowledge that you heard them.
• Reassure them it is a valid response and you are OK with it.
• Ask questions, probe behind the stall, start a conversation, draw them out.
• Only once you have a real question or concern to handle can you make progress.
• Then BEFORE you answer the question or concern confirm there is nothing else preventing a sale.

In this - "I will call you back when I have time" example

Typically this is a stall or put-off and the best answer is to say something like

“Of course you can call me back when you have more time – the challenge will be the same as right now – there is no guarantee that I’ll be free when you call – so how about we pencil in a “telephone appointment” because that way we both know we will be free to talk.” – If they agree they are a serious prospect – if not they are merely trying to put you off and are unlikely to call you back. Which means you call them in ten days’ time – and this time use a strong attention grabbing opening statement based on their pain point.

 If you have other stalls or objections you'd like answers to - contact me - and let's work out an answer that works