No doubt you’ve heard of the “proven 7 figure” sales framework that digs into pain, bridges the gap and leaves your prospect with no option but to say YES to your offer.
It usually goes something like:
1. What’s your situation?
2. What’s your goal?
3. Why haven’t you hit it yet (the idea is to get them to say they can’t do it alone)?
4. What will your life look like if you don’t hit this goal (shitty, of course. This is the PAIN part where you really DIG IN. So, let’s count all the ways your life will suck – your kids will think you’re a loser, your wife will leave you and you’ll be homeless)?
5. What will your life look like if you do hit this goal (amazing, obviously)?
The problem with these questions is that they have a goal of selling someone – not a goal of helping someone with a solution to their problem.
And your prospect can feel the difference when your questions are designed to just “uncover their pain” and back them into a corner with their own words.
I recently heard someone say that his goal in every call is to get someone to cry because that’s how he knows they’re going to buy – this REALLY bothered me to hear.
In my experience, there’s a few reasons this doesn’t win as much business – or if it does, the client can feel resentful, regretful and even potentially, wanting a refund:
- Many personalities (introverts in particular) don’t feel comfortable or confident in delivering this strategy. When you feel awkward implementing the strategy, your prospect does too.
2. A lot of prospects are savvy enough know exactly what you’re doing and are repelled. But even if they don’t know what you’re doing they can still feel something is “off.” Let’s say it’s an offer about getting rid of your migraines – it strikes them as odd that you didn’t ask them anything about their actual situation. Like symptoms or a history of migraines. It just feels like something is missing even if they can’t put their finger on it.
3. When you get to the end of the conversation with your solution and price and haven’t asked anything about their symptoms or history of migraines – how can they trust you can actually help them without knowing any of that information?
The part of your sales call when you ask questions (people call it “discovery”) is an opportunity to show your expertise AND determine if someone is actually a good fit for you.
In fact, you can “sell” someone in this discovery section of a call alone and skip the pitch altogether if done a certain way.
Let’s continue on with the example of someone selling an offer that helps with migraines.
If you have migraines and someone starts asking you questions like – have you noticed any foods triggering your migraines? Any activities? Times of day? Situations, etc?
That lets you know this person is an expert.
They’re asking you questions you hadn’t even thought to ask yourself.
As a salesperson, it uncovers information you can use to actually discuss the solution in a way that’s custom to them.
For example, you could say “it sounds like food might be a big source of your migraines, something we see with a lot of people we work with and we have a solution that targets that cause directly. It’s XYZ”
- You don’t need to know what their life looks like if they do or don’t reach that goal because you already know the answer.
- We all know the answer.
- It’s not a necessary question to ask.
- It’s transparently manipulative.
If your questions are designed so that when you get to the end of the conversation you feel like you truly understand this person is a fit for you and you can without doubt help them – then they usually feel the same way.
When you position questions correctly, you should get at least twice as many people saying “yes” to your offer (it has for all my clients).
Crafting questions that sell without pitching is something I cover in depth in my new 6 month Matchmaker Sales™ Mentorship where I help solopreneurs selling something that is $3k+ to 2x-10x the number of people saying “yes” to their offers (the bigger your lead source – the bigger your ROI).
- In the program, we’ll design questions that make sense for your offer and audience and I show you how to custom weave their answers into your “pitch” on the spot or even skip the “pitch” altogether.
- In addition to the above, I’ll show you how to clearly (and concisely) communicate the result you provide and how you provide it in a compelling and retainable way that results in 50-80% of people saying “yes”. Not to mention, my proprietary strategy (that you can’t find anywhere else) to overcome objections without ever feeling defensive.
The end result is significantly more sales and a custom-to-you sales strategy that you don’t dread – you actually enjoy it AND can pass it off to someone else to get the same predictable results.
If this sounds like it could be more effective/comfortable than what you’re doing now, please book a call and we can discuss the details to make sure it’s a fit for you 🙂