What to say when a customer doesn't know what they want
When a customer doesn't know what they want, ask the one or two questions that decide the choice, then recommend one option, say why in their words, name the alternative, and give a next step. Sales QA, the practice of reviewing Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp conversations after they happen, is where the other reply turns up: the full menu, sent to the one person who just said they could not choose from it, and then silence.
The message arrives as "which one should I get?", "what's the difference between the two?", "I'm not sure what I need", or a problem with no product named. A buyer who sent one word is missing the question itself, covered in how to reply to a one-word DM from a buyer.
Why do a price list and five questions both stall an unsure buyer?
Because the price list hands back the one job the buyer just said they could not do, and five questions make them fill in a form before any help arrives. A composed example, names invented throughout: Ines Duarte messages a mobile car detailing business on Instagram.
Customer: Hi! What's the difference between the Express and the Full Detail? Which one should I get?
Detailer: Hi Ines! Express ($95): vacuum, wipe-down, inside windows, and spot-cleaning. Full Detail ($240): all of that plus seat shampoo, deep stain and odor treatment, and an exterior wash and wax. Let us know which one you'd like!
Customer: Ok thanks, I'll have a look.
Every price was right, and Ines left with the question she came in with, in a thread that still reads as handled.
| The reply | The menu | The interrogation | One deciding question |
|---|---|---|---|
| What Ines gets | Both packages, and "Let us know which one you'd like!" | Questions on make and model, the car's year, her last detail, how often she drives, and pets | One question about her back seat, and the promise of a pick |
| The work left to her | The comparison she asked you to make | Five answers before anything useful | One answer she already knows |
| When a pick arrives | Never, unless she asks again | After all five, if she answers | In the next message |
How do you help a customer choose between two options?
Ask the one or two questions whose answer changes which option you would recommend, then make the pick yourself. Before sending one, picture the likely answers: if every one leads to the same pick, the question can wait. Stop once you could recommend one option and defend it in a sentence. Composed examples:
| Business | The buyer asks | The question that decides it | A question that can wait |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car detailing | "Express or Full Detail?" | "Is it mostly dust and crumbs, or are the seats stained all over or full of pet hair?" | "What year is the car?" The package is the same either way |
| Bike shop | "Which bike should I get to ride to work?" | "How far is the ride, and is it paved the whole way?" | "How tall are you?" It sets the frame size, not the bike |
| Pilates studio | "My back gets stiff. Not sure what I need." | "An injury you're working around, or stiffness from sitting all day?" | "Which days work?" It sets the time, not the class |
Ask about their situation, not your products: "Would you like the Express or the Full Detail?" is the buyer's own question sent back. Say why you are asking, since "One question and I can tell you which" promises a pick, and skip any question their first message already answered. Ask about budget only when their situation cannot separate the options, as with a gift, and promise a pick with it: "Roughly what would you like to spend? I'll pick the one that suits them best in that range."
What should you say when a customer asks what you recommend?
One message, four parts: one pick, the reason in the buyer's words, the alternative and when it would be better, and a next step.
- One pick, named first. They asked you to choose, so show that you did.
- The reason, in their words. "Since it's mostly crumbs", not what the package includes.
- The alternative, and when it wins. So they can check your pick against anything you did not ask about, and switch if the other one fits better.
- A next step. Two times, a size to confirm, or a question toward the order.
Ines's thread, redone:
Detailer: Hi Ines! One question and I can tell you which: is it mostly dust and crumbs, or are the seats stained all over or full of pet hair?
Customer: Mostly crumbs, my kids eat in the back. And one juice stain.
Detailer: Then the Express, $95. Crumbs are exactly what it's for, and I'll spot-clean the juice stain as part of it. The Full Detail is worth the $240 when stains cover the seats, the car has a smell, or you're getting it ready to sell. I'm in your area Thursday morning or Saturday afternoon. Want one of those?
How do you recommend without sounding like an upsell?
Recommend the cheaper option whenever it fits, and say so plainly. Ines asked a business whose top package is $240 and was told $95 would do. The detailer earns less on this job, and the next time they say the bigger package is worth it, she has a reason to believe them.
When the pricier option is right, the reason has to come from the buyer. Composed: Theo Lambert asks a bike shop on Facebook what to get for a 9-mile commute with a stretch of gravel, which already answers the deciding question.
Bike shop: For 9 miles with that gravel stretch, I'd go with the Trail Hybrid at $890 over the City at $560: its wider tires make the gravel comfortable. If your route were paved the whole way, the City would do the job for less. Want to test-ride it on Saturday? Tell me your height and I'll have the right frame size ready.
The opposite dodge, "Both are great, it depends what you prefer!", avoids sounding pushy by handing the choice straight back.
What if you cannot tell which one they need without seeing it?
Ask for the one thing that would let you tell, such as a specific photo, or offer a short consult or the smallest starting option, and say what the buyer gets back for it. Composed: Rafael Mendes messages the same detailer on WhatsApp.
Customer: Not sure which package my car needs. I have a dog and the back seat is pretty bad.
Detailer: Could you send a daylight photo of the back seat? If the hair vacuums out and there's a stain or two, it's the Express, $95. If the hair is woven into the fabric or the stains cover the seat, it's the Full Detail, $240, and better to know that now than in your driveway. Thursday or Saturday works either way.
It names the exact photo and prices both outcomes before the photo arrives, so Rafael knows what he is sending it for. When a photo will not show it, offer a short consult and say what it settles: "15 minutes with an instructor, and you'll know whether group classes or private sessions suit your back." When only trying will tell, offer the smallest start, like one session before a class pack.
A photo or a short consult is for choosing between your options, not for solving the buyer's problem for free, the line drawn in how to stop giving free consulting in your DMs.
How do you find the threads where an unsure buyer got a list and went quiet?
Search last month's buyer messages for "which one", "difference between", "not sure", "recommend", and "should I get", then read the reply that followed and what came after. Where your inbox search finds only names, not words, skim each thread's first messages instead, and read any thread that opens with a problem and names no product.
| Your team's reply | What came next | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| The full menu or price list | "ok thanks", "I'll have a look", or silence | Ask the deciding question, then make one pick |
| A link to the website or catalog | Silence | Make one pick in the message, then link to that option, not the whole catalog |
| Several questions in one message | One answer, or none | Cut to the one or two that decide it |
| A pick with no reason, or "both are great" | "Why that one?", or silence | Give the reason in the buyer's words |
| A pick, a reason, and the alternative | A choice, or a question about the alternative | Nothing: share these threads with the team |
Then read each pick against what the buyer said. Picks that always land on the most expensive option have stopped being advice, whatever anyone intended. A buyer who went quiet may have booked on your website or walked in, so treat the pile as a habit to fix, not a list of lost sales.
What can a Sales QA review show about buyers who could not choose?
It can show conversations with likely buyers that stalled after your team's reply, but not whether the option your team recommended was the right one.
Reploom is AI Sales QA for social conversations. It reviews Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp messages, comments, and mentions after they happen, finds the leads a team lost, and reports process fixes with the original conversations as evidence. The Sales QA review itself sends nothing to your customers: it shows your team which replies to change.
Reploom does not connect to catalogs, price lists, booking systems, or payment providers. A buyer who asked "which one?" and went quiet is visible in the thread. Whether the Express suited Ines's back seat is not, and that call stays with your team. On WhatsApp, monitoring starts at connection, so earlier history is not guaranteed.
Find five threads from last month where a buyer asked which one to get, and count the replies that named one option, the reason, and the alternative. Book a Demo to see which buyers went quiet after your team answered.