Most people lose sales because they are too busy talking.
The Wrong Way to Answer “Convince Me”
Someone on Instagram once posted a challenge: “Convince me to buy your stuff.” The dumb answer sounds like a résumé. Since 2018, helped bring in three hundred thousand new customers, voted number one sales coach in the world, on and on.
That is the wrong answer. It is a speech, and speeches do not close.
The better response is a question. What are you looking to solve? Are you currently trying to fix a sales problem? Why are we even talking right now?
Posture Check: Asking questions makes you the better closer. Knowing everything about your product will never do as much for your close rate as knowing your prospect’s actual problem.
The Pen Test
In the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, a character is challenged: sell me this pen. The wrong answer describes the pen. Great grip, writes upside down, high quality materials.
The right answer is a question. What has you in the market for a pen? Don’t you already have one?
That is the entire skill in miniature. Selling the object never wins. Understanding why the object is even being considered wins every time.
What To Do When They Say “Let Me Think About It”
Almost everyone has heard this after a conversation that felt like it was going well. Before reacting, ask yourself one question first: do I fully understand the problem they are trying to solve?
Most of the time, the honest answer is no.
Posture Check: The person who says “I need to think about it” has not been positioned to weigh the cost of not solving their problem faster. That is on the conversation, not on them.
Never respond with “what’s there to think about?” It is a brick wall, not a question, and most prospects carry contrarian energy. Push them and they will push back by doing nothing.
Instead, try this. Hey, no problem, absolutely, take your time. This is a serious decision. I’m just curious though, what made you initially look into this? What are you hoping to solve if you did move forward?
That reopens the door to their real problem instead of closing the conversation down.
Expand the Problem, Then Position the Cost of Waiting
Once the real problem surfaces, more questions become available. Is this optional or something you need to handle? If you don’t do this, how will you accomplish it? Do you think this problem gets better or worse in five years if nothing changes?
Posture Check: The only pain most people know is the pain of paying you. Your job is to help them see there is also pain in not solving the problem, and in waiting.
Believe in What You Sell Before You Get Good at This
Learning to ask great questions and expand a prospect’s problem is powerful. It is also an ethical responsibility. If the product, service, or opportunity does not actually solve the problem, better questions just mean better manipulation. Believe in what you represent first, then get better at asking.
If you want a resource loaded with closing questions that fit in a pocket or a purse, the social media script book is available at higdongroup.com/scripts.
