How To Handle The I Need To Talk To My Wife Objection

Apr 12, 2021

One of the most common sales objections you’ll come across, is the I need to talk to my wife objection.

So how do you handle the I need to talk to my wife objection in a way that’s not pushy or in a way that lacks empathy?

In this article, we’ll explore how to handle the I need to talk to my wife objection, as well as how to proactively prevent it from coming up in the first place.

The I Need To Talk To My Wife Objection – Why It Comes Up

Generally, the I need to talk to my wife objection comes up for two distinct reasons.

Firstly – it comes up if a person is feeling potential pain for investing in your product or service, compared to the benefit they’ll receive from the investment.

People buy for two reasons – to move away from pain, and to move towards pleasure or a desired outcome.

If someone feels that they won’t get their desired outcome versus the investment they’ll have to make, they may use the I need to talk to my wife objection as an excuse not to move forward with buying.

The second reason the I need to talk to my wife objection may come up – is because the price or meaning of owning the product or service may be something that would also affect her in some way.

This is completely normal – and usually is the more valid reason this sales objection comes up.

How To Handle The I Need To Talk To My Wife Objection

In our sales training; we teach our Students two distinct ways to handle the I need to talk to my wife objection.

The first way which is the most effective, is to prevent it from coming up in the first place, and the second way is to handle it if it comes up anyway.

Prevention Is Better Than A Cure

It’s always better to prevent the I need to talk to my wife objection, then trying to handle it if it comes up later.

The best way to do this, is with the initial work you do at the beginning of your sales conversation.

This is by qualifying.

Qualifying Your Decision Makers

A key ingredient to preventing the I need to talk to my wife objection, is to find out who the decision makers are in the first place prior to going into your sales conversations.

What use would it be going into your deep diving sales questions with just the husband, if the husband isn’t the only decision maker?

Would there be any use in delivering a sales presentation to the husband, if the wife also needs to know the ins and outs of your product or service?

Many Sales Professionals and Business Owners make this mistake, and then hope that the husband will go and relay exactly what you’ve shown the husband.

This is a bad strategy, because you’re relying on someone else to sell on your behalf and relying on someone else to get you results.

It’s important to be qualifying your sales leads prior to your deep dive sales conversation, so that you can ensure who the decision makers are, and that they can in fact afford what you’re selling.

To learn more about qualifying and how to do it correctly, read the linked article directly below.

Further reading: Qualifying Sales Leads – A Step By Step Guide

Using An Intent Statement

Something we teach in our online sales training program called The 5% Sales Blueprint, is something called an intent statement – also known as a pre-frame.

An intent statement or pre-frame is something we use to set up expectations for the sales conversation – this handles objections early and positions you as a trusted adviser.

The pre-frame looks after three key things.

First – you let them know that you’ll be asking deep diving questions.

You need permission for this, as you’ll have to ask questions that uncover pain, so it’s always best to get permission prior so they don’t feel uncomfortable with your questions.

It also ascertains whether you can in fact help solve their needs or not.

The second thing is to find out who the decision makers are.

As mentioned, the best way to handle the I need to talk to my wife objection is to prevent it from coming up in the first place.

Simply ask “If they are happy with what they hear today; if you can in fact help them that is – is everyone available to say yes if they wanted too and proceed forward, or would they need to talk to someone else?”

If they respond with yes and say they’ll need to talk to their wife, then it’s absolutely important to schedule in a time where they’re both present prior to proceeding with your sales call.

So many Sales Professionals and Business Owners make the mistake of proceeding anyway; only to later comes across the I need to talk to my wife objection.

The key is to only go into sales conversations with decision makers at all times.

This way, you won’t waste your time with people who won’t buy, and you won’t come across in this case the I need to talk to my wife objection.

Handling The I Need To Talk To My Wife Objection If It Comes Up Anyway

Let’s say hypothetically you’ve used your intent statement or pre-frame, and they hit you with the I need to talk to my wife objection anyway.

The way to go about this, is to learn what they would like to talk to their wife about in particular.

So, if they give you the I need to talk to my wife objection, simply ask “No problem at all – what in particular did you want to talk to your wife about; is it the price?”

What we want to do here is uncover what other potential sales objections they may have, that they haven’t shared with you this far.

We don’t use sales scripts often as they can usually do more damage to your sales then benefit them, however we do have a staged approach to handle objections.

To learn this approach, click on the article directly below to learn how.

Further reading: Objection Handling – Your Step By Step Guide

Final Thoughts

The I need to talk to my wife objection is a common sales objection, however isn’t something that should be hard to deal with if you take care of it proactively.

Always have your sales conversations with all decision makers, to prevent the I need to speak to objection from coming up later.