Episode 174: When a Seller Says “Let Me Think About It,” Say THIS

Have you ever given a seller an incredible cash offer, only to be hit with the dreaded (Let me think about it or I need to talk to my spouse) stall tactic? Most untrained acquisitions reps will politely agree, hang up the phone, and then get completely ghosted. In this tactical solo episode, Josh High reveals why these common stall tactics are actually just a polite way of saying No, and exactly how you can cut through the smoke and mirrors to save the deal.

Josh breaks down the psychology of the seller’s protection mechanism and introduces the incredibly powerful (Go for No) reverse-psychology script. You will learn the four possible outcomes of calling out a seller's bluff, how to stop sounding like a desperate salesperson, and the exact four-step Boxing framework to uncover the true objection hiding beneath the surface.

Listen and enjoy the show!

You’ll Learn How To:

• Cut through polite stall tactics like "Let me think about it" and "I need to pray on it"
• Utilize the "Go for No" reverse-psychology script to uncover hidden objections
• Stop sounding desperate and establish the posture of a professional buyer
• Navigate the four specific outcomes that happen when you challenge a seller's excuse
• Box in a stubborn seller by pinpointing if their hesitation is based on you, the process, the price, or a competitor

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• (0:00) Beginning of today’s episode
• (1:05) The brutal truth behind the phrase - Let me think about it and why your sellers are ghosting you
• (2:00) The psychology behind the "Just looking around" protection mechanism
• (3:25) The exact (Go for No) script to use when a seller stall
• (4:48) Outcome #1 - The seller confirms it is a No (and why getting a No is a good thing)
• (5:45) Outcome #2 - The seller corrects you and reveals their actual hidden objection
• (6:30) Outcome #3 - How to stress-test a seller who says Yes but sounds hesitant
• (7:15) Outcome #4 - What to do when a seller refuses to budge from their excuse
• (7:35) The 4-Step Boxing Objections framework (Me, Process, Price, Options)

Who This Episode is For:

• Real estate investors and wholesalers tired of getting ghosted after making offers
• Acquisitions managers who struggle to close deals over the phone
• Sales professionals looking to upgrade their objection-handling frameworks

Why You Should Listen:

A seller telling you they (need to think about it) is almost always a death sentence for your deal if you don't know how to handle it. By listening to this episode, you will learn how to stop accepting polite rejections and start controlling the narrative. Josh provides the exact word-for-word scripts you need to confidently push back, uncover the real issue (which is usually the price), and keep the negotiation alive.

Connect with the Results Driven Community:

• Join the free community by visiting TheResultsDrivenPodcast.com

Follow Tiffany and Josh here:

• Tiffany Instagram: @tiffanyhighofficial
• Josh Instagram: @joshhighofficial
• Website: Results Driven REI
• Get Tiffany’s free resource: www.rdebook.com 26 Costly Mistakes I Made While Building My Seven-Figure Real Estate Business

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

Guys, getting to know is a good thing. It's not a bad thing. See, once we understand and wrap our head around the fact that most of the times, the maybes, the let me think about it's the talk to spouse, the pray on it's their answer is already made up. It's a no. And then when you get off the phone or you leave that in-person appointment, the chances of them picking up your next phone call are slim to none. And that's typically where ghosts come into play. Okay, want to sell their ghosts to you. They disengage.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Are you a driven real estate investor tired of inconsistent deal flow and ready to scale your business? I'm Tiffany High.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

And I'm Josh High.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

And this is the Results Driven Podcast, where we share proven strategies to build systems, master sales, grow your team, and create a self-sustaining business with predictable income. Whether you're a one-person operation or building a team, our mission is to give you the tools, support, and mindset shifts you need to succeed. Let's dive in.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Oftentimes I see deals die right there. And it's because people don't have the proper framework or techniques to cut through those and get to the real objection. So I'm sure you've probably found yourself on the phone with a seller. They're very motivated, you're very excited. This seems like a great opportunity, seems like it could be a great deal. And you make your offer and bam, you get hit with this. Yeah, can I think about this? Can I think it over? And then oftentimes what happens is as acquisition reps, we get all excited because if it's not a no, this is what we think. If it's not a no, then it could be a yes. But if it's a no, then I know that it's not a deal and the seller doesn't like my offer. Think of this. All right, let's understand the psychology here, the root cause. First and foremost, we have to understand that, well, from our own personal experiences, think about for a moment when you might have been going to buy a car or you were interacting with anyone who is perceived to be a salesperson. Great example is you walk into a retail store and someone, an associate, walks up to you and says, Hi, how can I help you today? What's everyone's canned response? Oh, I'm just looking around. I'm just looking around. That's a built-in protection mechanism. And the reason for that is because we as human beings, for the most part, when we've interacted with traditional salespeople, they always push for this outcome. They don't take no as an answer. They have all these rebuttals to your objections. You might even have felt in times that they don't understand your situation, that you might be getting ripped off or you're not getting the best deal, and you think that this person has their own self-interest in mind and not yours. And so that's why we react this way to anyone that we see as a salesperson. It's a protection mechanism. So oftentimes when someone says they want to think about it, someone says that they want to prey on it, if someone wants to go talk to their significant other, it's a soft way, it's a polite way of saying no because they don't want to tell you no. They don't think you'll take no for an answer. They also don't want to tell you no because they don't want you to be disappointed. And so a tool that we use to overcome this, to get to the real objection, is we call it go for no. In the dating world, okay, again, let's understand the psychology behind this tactic. In the dating world, if someone is playing hard to get, typically that makes you want them more. If someone's coming on too strong, they're like, you know, way too desperate. You're like, ew, whoa, hold on, wait a second. Give me some room to breathe here. It's no different in sales. Oftentimes those traditional salespeople push for that outcome. They are desperate. Like they want the sale more than you want to buy the thing. And so that makes you go, okay, yeah, this may not be for me. So instead, let's play hard to get in the sense of like, hey, I don't need to buy your house. I'd love to buy your house, but I don't need to. This is the posture that we want to take on. Okay. So whenever someone says, let me think about it, we just simply explain, hey, you know, Mr. Seller or Mrs. Seller, I can appreciate where you're coming from. I get this is a big decision. But with my experience in the industry, oftentimes when people say they want to think it over, it's really a polite way of saying no. Okay, so here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna insert whatever objection it is, right? So there we said they said, let me think about it. So we said most of the times whenever someone tells me that they want to insert objection, they want to think about it. It's really a polite way of saying no. Let's say someone says they want to pray about it, which by the way, like I support. I'm a Christian myself. If people want to pray on big decisions, I think it's a great idea. I do that myself. Um I can't just believe it because they're telling me that I need to at least stress test it. Okay, so let's go back. Someone says that they want to pray about it. Hey, you know, um, Mr. or Mrs. Seller, I can appreciate that you want to, you know, pray on this. I get that it's a huge decision. And to be honest with you, most of the time when people say that they want to pray it over, it's just a polite way of saying no. Okay, so that's how we would do that there. If someone says they want to speak to their significant other, same thing, you just insert. Most of the time when people say they want to talk to their wife, it's really just a polite way of saying no. That's the key behind this. We want to position this as a no because if we if we know that if we push for a yes, we're most likely going to push them towards a no. So we we want to use reverse psychology, push for a no. We want to stand on no and say, hey, most of the time when people say this, it's a no. And then they come fighting back. So there's four things that can happen when we do this. The first outcome is they confirm, you're right, Josh, it's a no. And oftentimes people are nervous about this. And guys, getting to know is a good thing. It's not a bad thing. See, once we understand and wrap our head around the fact that most of the times, the maybes, the let me think about it's the talk to spouse, the prey on it's their answer is already made up. It's a no. And then when you get off the phone or you leave that in-person appointment, the chances of them picking up your next phone call are slim to none. And that's typically where ghosts come into play. Okay, when a seller ghosts you, they disengage. So instead of that, let's find out if it is a no, why is it a no? If they confirm you're right, Josh, I don't like the offer, okay, cool. Is it strictly the offer? Are there terms? Can we even negotiate price here? I don't know. We can't even have that conversation if we let them get off the line with let me think about it, or any of those other objections. Okay, so so that's the first outcome. The second outcome is they'll correct you saying, no, no, no, no, Josh, I'm not saying it's a no. I just have to blank. Whatever that blank is, is the real objection. So now we have to identify do we have solutions for this objection or do we not? Do they need help finding a place? Well, we could help someone find a place. Do they need help moving their furniture? Well, we can help people move their furniture. There's things that we can do with those types of objections. But if it's going through probate, for example, and an attorney's like, you know, they're telling their client, you cannot sign anything until this title is transferred to your name. Okay, well, then in those scenarios, we're gonna have to let time take its course. Okay, we're gonna have to nurture that relationship. We're not gonna necessarily make an offer right then and there. Okay. We want to try to hold those offers close to our chest because that's our only leverage. It's the only reason why sellers are talking to us. So the third outcome is they correct you and say, no, that's not a no, I'm ready to go. You know, this could be at the beginning of a phone conversation, for example, where someone's a little reluctant to talk to you and you kind of hear some noise in the background and you say, hey, it sounds like now's a bad time. That's a version of going for no. And they come back and they correct you, say, no, no, no, sorry, the kids were fighting in the backseat, had to get them squared away. They're set now. We can continue the conversation. Or even right before you get off the phone for an offer call, or if you're offering in person and you kind of get this sense that someone's saying yes, but they're not 100% in, you can stress test it by going like this. Hey, Mr. Seller, I know you said you like the offer and everything. I kind of get the feeling you're still not 100% certain you want to do this. And they might come back in that scenario and say, no, no, no, no, it's it's not that. I want to move forward. I like the offer. I think it's a good offer. I just, you know, there's so much life that's gone into this property or whatever the excuse could be, right? Uh it's been in my family for three generations. I'm just a little emotional about it, but this is the right thing to do. It's time. I need to move forward. Now, the fourth outcome is that they hang their hat on that objection. Like, no, no, no, it's not a no. I really want to think about this. No, no, no, it's not a no. I just really want to pray about this. No, no, no, it's not a no. I just run everything by my wife. Now, what we're gonna transition into is what we call boxing objections. So once they hang their hat on that, we're now going to run through these four things. First, we're gonna ask, is it no, this is the transition, okay? I'll kind of do some scripting here. Okay, perfect, uh, Mr. Seller. I appreciate you being honest with me here. I just have a couple more questions here, if you don't mind. Is it what exactly is it that you have to insert objection? What exactly is it that you have to think about? What exactly is it that you have to pray about? What exactly is it that you need to talk to your wife about? Is it the idea of working with me? Did I do something wrong? Your tone there is important. You don't want to be like, dude, did I do something wrong? Like, what the hell? No, not that tone. A genuinely concerned tone of like, I'm worried I messed this thing up. Typically the sellers come back and say, No, no, no, no, it's not you. You've been great. So then we move to the second one, right? So we box, is it me? Second, is it the process? Do you have any questions about the process? Sometimes people have questions about the process. So we answer that, and then we go to the third one. Is it the price? Guys, nine times out of 10, the price is something they're just not happy with. So now we can start that negotiation. That's one of those scenarios that someone gets off the phone and they don't ever answer your phone call back. But now, because you can negotiate, maybe you can come up five, 10, 15 grand, depending upon what your offer and negotiation strategy is. If you let them off the hook there, you're not gonna be able to have that conversation. Now, the fourth one, the last one is are you considering other options? This is where we're trying to pull out is this a multiple offer scenario? Is there a realtor involved in the equation here that we just haven't been told yet? So we've got to make sure that we can identify if it's a multiple offer scenario and they could be shopping our offer. Then we're gonna initiate our multiple offer process. We have a specific framework that we follow. I'm not gonna be covering that here today, but I'll plan on doing another video here and sharing that with you guys. But now, at least at this point, if they've hung their hat on, whatever their objection is, and we've gone through all of those things, now we can sleep better at night because now there's a much better chance that they're genuinely processing whatever decision they're gonna be making. And it's not just some smoke screen, because majority of the time it's some smoke screen. And we want to make sure that we're able to close those opportunities. Guys, it's learning skills and tactics just like this that make all the difference in our conversion rates. If you want to learn other skills or other tactics that we use, other frameworks that we use in our real estate investing business with real sellers that has helped us have very high conversions over the last decade, I highly recommend that you jump into our free school community. Tiffany and myself, and some of our other team members, we go live every single week. There's a ton of content in there. So if you guys want to learn something new, learn from some uh some people that are doing uh doing this business at a very high level and sharing the tactics that work in today's real estate investing market, go ahead and join. I look forward to seeing you guys on some of the trains.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

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SPEAKER_01 11:29

We'll see you next time on the results driven podcast.