When a client won’t commit to hiring you or doing something you recommend, when they can’t decide, stall, or tell you they “have to think about it,” one of the simplest and most effective strategies you can use to get them to change their mind (and say yes) is to agree with them.
If you’ve given them the whys and wherefores, made it plain that they need what you offer, instead of pushing them or warning them, let it go. Tell them they don’t have to.
Because they don’t. Or at least they believe they don’t have to, which is why they have resisted.
When you say “you don’t have to,” however, or something akin to that, e.g., “You can wait” or “It’s up to you,” you’re giving back to them control of their fate.
When you do that, the decision, and the consequences thereof, is back in their hands. Sure, it always was in their hands, but seeing you “give up” and give them “permission” to do what they (they) think they want to do, often leads them to reject that option and decide to do what you previously urged them to do.
Because it’s their idea now, not yours.
It’s called a “take away” and it’s an effective way to get people to see what they’re saying and change their mind.
When you take away the idea of signing up with you, they want to. Because people want what they can’t have.
They had something (the benefits of what you told them you would do for them), you took it away by agreeing that they don’t have to do it, and now, when it’s their choice, their “fear of loss” kicks in and they want it.
There’s a similar effect when clients see a lot of other clients in your waiting room, attesting that you have something valuable to offer and if they don’t sign up, they may not get it.
This works especially well with a client who is resisting in part because they don’t like being sold. They resist because they think you just want to “get the sale”. When you don’t push,, their resistance lessons, they see that you really want to help them and they wake up.
