"Let me think about it" is the most common way a flooring sale ends without ending. The customer is polite, you are polite, they leave with a sample, and the follow-up text gets a thumbs-up and nothing else. Treat it as a real objection, because it is one. It just doesn't say what it is.
What "let me think about it" usually means
In flooring, it is almost always one of three things:
- Price. The total was more than they expected, or they want to compare it with someone else's number.
- The product. They like it but they can't picture it in the room, so they are not sure.
- The timing or the other decision-maker. A spouse who is not there, a renovation that is not scheduled, money that arrives next month.
Your job is to find out which one in a single question, without making the customer defend themselves.
The question
"Of course. Can I ask which part you want to think over: the floor itself, the price, or the timing? I'd rather help with that now than have you go home with a question I could have answered."
This works because it treats the objection as normal, offers three doors, and puts you on their side of the table. The answer is nearly always one of the three, and each has a next move.
If it is the price
Do not drop the price. Jerry Levinson of Profit Now 4 Flooring Dealers made the point to Floor Covering News in April 2023: "You don't have to come down to the other company's price, but you are giving your customer added justification to go with you" (FCNews, "5 tips to overcoming sales objections"). In the same piece he gives the practical version: "With financing, it's a lot easier to pay $450/month… rather than $5,400 out of pocket right now."
So the move is to rebuild the number, not to cut it. Walk the quote line by line: product, labor, removal, moldings, stairs. Show what is included that a cheaper quote may leave out (subfloor prep, disposal, furniture moving, the warranty on the labor). Then offer the monthly figure next to the total. If they still want to compare, give them a written quote with every line and ask when they will have the other number so you can call on that day.
If it is the product
This is the easy one and most salespeople miss it. "I like it, but I'm not sure" means they cannot see it in their house. Do not send them home to imagine. Show them.
Put the two finalists on the floor, full-size pieces, by a cabinet color close to theirs. Better, take a photo of their room on the iPad and show the floor installed in it, then the other one, and let them flip. Most of the time the hesitation ends in under a minute because the question "will it look right?" has been answered instead of argued.
If the doubt is about durability (pets, kids, water), answer with the spec and a story from a similar house, not with "it'll be fine".
If it is the timing or the spouse
Respect it and make it concrete. "Totally fair. When are you two going to talk about it? I'll send you the two room pictures and the written quote tonight so you have something to show, and I'll call Thursday at six to answer any questions." Then actually call Thursday at six.
If it is money next month, book the install for next month now with a small deposit and a clear cancellation policy. A date on the calendar beats a plan to call back.
What not to do
- Don't argue. "What is there to think about?" loses the customer and the referral.
- Don't let them leave with nothing. No quote, no pictures, no follow-up time means no sale.
- Don't send three samples. Send one, of the floor they leaned toward. Three samples is a homework assignment.
- Don't discount to end the conversation. It teaches every future customer to say "let me think" on purpose.
The 30-second version for the sales floor
- "Which part: the floor, the price, or the timing?"
- Price: rebuild the number line by line, show what's included, offer the monthly figure.
- Product: show it in their room, now.
- Timing: book the follow-up call with a day and hour, send pictures and the written quote tonight.
- Always: they leave with one sample, one quote and one appointment.
Robin Kemper of Sterling Carpet & Flooring told FCNews her reminder when a customer hesitates: "it's definitely a process." It is. Your part of the process is to make sure the thinking happens with you in the room, not a week later with a competitor's sample on the floor.