Techniques And Tactics Proven To Unlock Your Sales Potential | Sales Techniques
Summary
TLDRIn this sales training transcript, Dana shares her journey from a novice to a top-earning salesperson, highlighting the importance of asking connective, situational, and problem-awareness questions to build trust and uncover customer needs. She emphasizes the significance of tone and pacing in questioning, and how these techniques lead to better conversations and higher sales conversion rates. Dana also stresses the value of continuous learning and adapting to new sales strategies for success.
Takeaways
- 📝 Connective questions are crucial for understanding the source of leads and their recent interest in the product or service.
- 🗣️ Prospects usually respond better when questions are asked with a curious tone, which encourages them to provide more information.
- 🔍 It's important to ask about the lead's recent actions, such as responding to mailers, Facebook ads, or other marketing efforts to gauge their engagement.
- 🌐 Leads come from a variety of sources including mailers, internet, and TV, indicating a need for a multi-channel marketing approach.
- 💬 High-quality conversations build trust, which is essential for sales and closing deals.
- 🔑 Situation questions help both the salesperson and the prospect understand the prospect's real situation, which is often not well understood by the prospect themselves.
- 🚨 Problem awareness questions are vital for making prospects realize the extent of their issues, which can lead to a solution.
- 🏦 In the life insurance industry, asking about current protection or savings in place for funeral and final expenses is a key situation question.
- 🤔 Solution awareness questions prompt prospects to envision a future where their family is financially protected and there's no burden.
- 💼 Commitment questions, such as 'Do you feel like this could be the answer for you?' are effective in getting prospects to commit to the next step.
- 📈 For salespeople, being open to learning new techniques and unlearning bad habits is crucial for improving sales performance and increasing earnings.
Q & A
What is the average age of leads before they get a call in the sales industry?
-The script does not specify an exact average age of leads, but it does imply that many leads are recent, having just requested information through mailers, Facebook ads, or other means.
What is a connective question that salespeople are trained to ask?
-A connective question mentioned in the script is, 'What was it about the ad that prompted you to inquire?' This question is designed to slow down the conversation and elicit a thoughtful response from the prospect.
How does asking connective questions improve the quality of conversations in sales?
-Asking connective questions leads to more information being provided by the prospect, rather than the salesperson making assumptions. This results in better quality conversations that build trust and can lead to more sales.
What is a situation question that helps salespeople understand a prospect's real situation?
-An example of a situation question is, 'What type of protection, if any, do you currently have in place for your family?' This question helps the salesperson understand what the prospect currently has in place regarding insurance or savings.
Why are situation questions important in the sales process?
-Situation questions are crucial as they not only help the salesperson understand the prospect's current situation but also allow the prospect to realize their situation, which is essential for identifying gaps and making a sale.
What is a problem awareness question that can reveal more issues than the prospect initially thought?
-A problem awareness question from the script is, 'Do you want [family member] to have to pay for all that if you didn't have to?' This question helps the prospect consider the financial burden on their family in the event of their passing.
How do salespeople use the responses to problem awareness questions?
-Salespeople use the responses to problem awareness questions to empathize with the prospect and deepen the conversation, ultimately aiming to understand the prospect's concerns and financial situation better.
What is a solution awareness question that helps prospects envision a future with their problem solved?
-A solution awareness question could be, 'What's prevented you from doing this in the past?' This question helps the prospect consider what has stopped them from finding a solution and envision a future where the problem is resolved.
Why is it important to ask commitment questions in the sales process?
-Commitment questions, such as 'Do you feel like this could be the answer for you?' are important as they gauge the prospect's readiness to take the next step towards purchasing a policy or product.
What advice does the experienced salesperson give to new salespeople or veterans looking to improve their sales?
-The advice given is to be open to learning new methods, unlearn bad habits, and not be afraid of the investment in training because the return on investment can be almost immediate.
How does the script suggest salespeople can achieve higher earnings in their industry?
-The script suggests that by acquiring advanced sales skills, such as those taught in the training mentioned, salespeople can increase their earnings significantly, with some reaching well into the high five figures per month.
Outlines
🗣️ Effective Sales Questions
The script discusses the importance of connective and situational questions in sales. It emphasizes the need for understanding the source of leads, such as mailers, Facebook ads, or TV. The conversation focuses on how to engage with prospects effectively by asking about their initial interest in the product or service. It highlights the use of a curious tone to encourage more information from the prospect. The discussion also touches on how these questions can lead to better quality conversations, building trust and ultimately leading to sales. The script provides an example of a connective question and its impact on the sales process.
🔍 Identifying Prospects' Situations
This paragraph delves into the use of situation questions in sales to uncover the real needs of the prospect. It explains how these questions help prospects understand their own situations better. The script mentions that prospects often do not realize the full extent of their needs until prompted by situation questions. It provides examples of such questions, like inquiring about current protection or savings in place for family or final expenses. The conversation also points out the importance of the tone of voice when asking these questions, as it can significantly impact the prospect's willingness to open up and share information.
🚨 Raising Problem Awareness
The script continues with problem awareness questions, which are designed to make prospects realize the extent of their issues. It discusses how to guide the prospect through their current situation to reveal potential problems, such as lack of protection or savings. The conversation provides examples of questions that lead to the identification of these problems and how to follow up with probing questions to understand the prospect's concerns. The importance of tone and empathy in these discussions is highlighted, as it can encourage the prospect to share more personal and sensitive information.
🌟 Building a Vision for the Future
This section focuses on solution awareness questions, which help prospects envision a future where their problems are resolved. It discusses the strategy of first presenting the positive outcomes of taking action and then contrasting it with the negative consequences of inaction. The script provides examples of questions that lead to this realization and emphasizes the importance of the tone of voice in these discussions. The conversation also touches on commitment questions that can help secure the prospect's agreement to move forward with a purchase.
🏆 Advancing Sales Skills
The final paragraph is a wrap-up that celebrates the success of a salesperson named Dana, who has significantly improved her sales skills and income. It encourages new and experienced salespeople to embrace learning and unlearn bad habits to advance in their careers. The script also promotes further training opportunities for those interested in enhancing their sales skills and achieving higher earnings. The conversation ends with an invitation to join a sales training group and a预告 of an upcoming live training session.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Connective Question
💡Lead
💡Sales Conversion Rate
💡Situation Question
💡Problem Awareness
💡Tone
💡Solution Awareness
💡Consequence Question
💡Commitment Question
💡Self-Persuasion
💡Sales Training
Highlights
The importance of asking connective questions to understand the source of leads.
Leads are typically recent, responding to mailers, Facebook ads, or TV.
The significance of slowing down when asking questions to improve comprehension.
The use of a curious tone in questions to elicit more information from prospects.
How asking basic connective questions can lead to better quality conversations and trust.
The impact of better conversations on sales and closing gaps.
The necessity of asking important situation questions to understand the prospect's real situation.
An example of a situation question that helps uncover a prospect's current protection or savings.
The concept of 'inq lead in phrase' as a way to start situation questions.
The role of situation questions in helping prospects understand their real situation.
How problem awareness questions can reveal more problems than initially thought.
An example of a problem awareness question that prompts prospects to consider the burden on their family.
The importance of tone when asking questions to show empathy and build trust.
The value of solution awareness questions in getting prospects to envision a future with financial protection.
The use of consequence questions to highlight the impact of inaction.
An example of a commitment question to gauge a prospect's readiness to take the next step.
The advice for new salespeople to be open to learning new methods and unlearning bad habits.
The emphasis on the immediate ROI of sales training compared to other investments.
The continuous learning and improvement in sales skills over time.
Transcripts
let's give them some bombs here so
connective connective questions um now
the leads you call now are they
typically a week old two weeks old day
old what's your average
lead before you get off the phone I know
you're majority of them have just
recently requested the information so
they did they respond to a mailer or
more Facebook ads or where are they
coming from the combination of mailer
internet and TV okay so just all over
the place so what's one good connective
question that we train you just because
there's about three or four you need to
ask for your industry but what's one
example of one that you started using
and how did the prospects react to that
if they had said something like I was
just curious about the ad right then
then I'll one thing I didn't used to say
that I would say now would be um okay
well what was it about the ad that
prompted you to inquire yeah and did you
see how she slowed down there instead of
saying oh what was it about the ad that
prompted you to inquire that's too fast
it's going to go in one ear out the
other with the average Prospect she
slowed oh and what and see her curious
tone there that's a curious tone she
said that in oh and what I guess what
was it about the ad that cause you to uh
inquire just so I understand see it's
like you're it's a curious type of tone
that you're using there now when you
started using even that basic of a
question how did your prospect start
responding compared to before
well I mean they would just they would I
mean they would just tell me they would
just give me a lot more information
about where they were coming from rather
than me just making all these
assumptions yeah about what they were
seeing or what they thought they were
looking at yeah so we would just have
much better quality conversations yeah
right when you have much better quality
conversations it builds far more trust
yeah and where the sales made and I'm
closing so many gaps along the way
because I understand every you
understand the real situation will you
tell M I'm going to be five minutes
behind on the podcast okay now I want to
come back in so that's just one example
of one connecting question there are a
few others that you have to ask for your
space that are very important let's jump
we don't have time to go through all
that for everybody what's an important
situation question that you learn how to
ask from us that really helps you
because there's about three or four for
your space that you really need to ask
sometimes more I'm not talking about
like health questions and stuff like
that but like what's one good situation
question that you learned how to ask to
help them find out what their real
situation really
was um so don't be mad at me but I don't
know if this question that I'm about to
give you is an actual situation question
so um the one that I like to use to kind
of just get to know where they're at is
um so before today were you kind of out
there you know looking for a solution to
put something in place yeah and then
I'll ask them you know how long have
they been looking and what have they
found and there's a whole bunch of of
tree branches from there that get to I
get to know so much yeah that's a
solution awareness question you're just
asking in the wrong place that's okay
74% conversion rate still good but we
can always get 78 to 85 right
okay so typically situation questions
might be let me pull up one of your
sales structures from your space um it
could be like what are you doing now
what are you it could be um okay well
maybe walk me through like what do you I
guess what do you have in place as far
as maybe like you know coverage or you
know you know savings and
Investments what we say is um we say
um
so what exactly do we say um like what
type of protection if any do you
currently have in place for your family
um you know if something were to happen
to you yeah that's good I what type of
uh you know possible you know policies
you know savings different Investments
do you have to go towards paying for you
know like your your funeral and final
expenses for when you do pass away or
maybe walk me through something like can
you walk me through what you walk me
through is called an inq lead in phrase
it's a good way to start in your first
situation questions all right now
there's other situation questions you
need to ask and here's the thing I want
everybody understand situation questions
are not just for you the salesperson to
understand their situation more
importantly it's for your prospect
to understand their real situation
because I hate to tell all of you it
doesn't matter your industry in your
prospects do not for the most part
understand what the real situation is
when you first start talking to them
especially in your space the life
insurance final expense insurance it's
not like they set around on Sundays like
all right what do I have in place now
what are my expenses like if I pass away
next week with my utility bills and this
and if I it pass away in a year like
compared to 10 years how they're not
thinking that
no okay so we can't tell them that
because it goes in one ear out the other
we're the salesperson we're biased but
what Dana is suggesting is our questions
allow them to tell themselves what their
real situation is because if we can't
help them find out the real situation
it's impossible to build a gap on where
they want to be if they don't even know
where they're at there's no Gap there
there's no sale okay there's a lot more
to that uh problem awareness question
what's a good problem awareness question
you've learned how to ask that causes
them to start to see that they have many
more problems than maybe they originally
thought they
did um well I know that has to do with
when I ask them if they like something
not necessarily it could it could be a
little bit different like typically in
your space it's more of like so
typically and I'll give you an example
here like what do you find out usually
like once you take them through
situation questions and they give you a
little you know they kind of data dump a
a little bit what typically do you find
out most of the time I find out that
they don't have any protection they
don't have anything in savings they're
very confused in general with how life
insurance works and um I try to find out
if there's like a backup plan a plan B
yeah um and then I try to kind of make
them question yeah if that's what they
really want to do yeah you're putting a
scena so one good situation question you
ask for industry that leads into your
first problem where is okay so after
they say no I don't have any insurance I
don't have a policy maybe they say that
okay well maybe if I could ask it in a
different way like I guess what do you
have in place as far as maybe a a safety
net you know like savings Investments
you know those type of things that would
go towards you know paying for your
funeral um you know the the ceremonies
the coffins maybe a little leave a
little bit extra for your family for
when you do pass away oh I don't have
anything okay but who would be so if you
don't have anything like who in your
family or or people you know who would
be responsible for having to go in you
know meet the funeral director um have
to plan out the ceremony have to pay for
the funeral the the coffin the the
ceremony the whatever you guys say who
would be the one responsible to have to
pay all that it's important to say
responsible to pay for oh my daughter
she'd have to pay for all that and then
what that does is it sets up your first
problem awareness question and you lean
in oh your daughter um do you answer
this for you I mean do you do you want
her to have to pay for all of that if
you didn't have to that sets up the
first problem no if I didn't have to see
that you have to do that the right tone
what were you gonna say I was just gonna
say exactly what you said okay so you've
learned okay I knew I knew that but that
kind of sets up you have to get that
that situation question to set up that
first problem awareness because
typically in your space it's not do you
like it's more do you want after you
find out the problem because usually
situation questions in your industry a
lot of times you can already find out
the problem or at least one of the
problems right there I find it's even
more valuable though which I a lot of my
team skips uh after they ask that
question you really have to follow it up
with asking them why yeah everybody's
why is different and you can't assume
yeah so you so you lean in I'll just
I'll just do this right so do you I mean
do you want her to now I want to make
sure everybody understands watch how I
do this because if I say do you want her
to have to pay for all the expenses if
you didn't have to that's completely
different than if I lean and say so do
you I mean do you do you want her to
have to pay for all that if you if you
didn't have to notice that's a concern
tone a tone that shows empathy there
well no I mean if I didn't have to okay
so how many like how would I mean how
what do you ask after that tell me the
question you usually ask after that let
see I go right I go right for the kill
so when when they say they don't I say a
couple variations of it but um the first
one would be okay
but why though like a probing good or
I'll say so what's going on you know
with your kids that would make you think
that you wouldn't want them to have to
pay for it or they couldn't pay for it
like yeah why why why do you think they
would struggle with that and just kind
of just I need them to tell me more yeah
about their family situation so I can
kind of hold them accountable for that
at the
end so so her not having to pay all that
why so important to you see that tone so
her not having to pay all that why so
important to you see that tone it's a
concern tone it's a tone your Tone's
really good there and it's beautiful it
works if you do it the right way yeah I
mean it works every time so they open up
and what do they typically say to that
they'll tell me that their kids can't
afford it or that they're married with
their own kids and they don't want to be
a financial burden yeah um and you know
just allows me to I I understand yeah
you know and just have that more deeper
conversation what it does is it causes
them to open up and go deep into the
conversation and they start to relive
the pain of not wanting a family member
to be left with with this debt to be
left with that financial burden and as a
parent usually right nobody wants to
leave their kids with a financial burden
no but it's how she just asked that that
causes them to feel like they can open
up to Dana whereas if I ask that like in
a sarcastic mean way or too fast they
would feel like I'm just selling them
the tone is what matters there the
question matters too but the tone is 70%
of that 100% okay solution awareness
questions what's a good solution
awareness question you ask to get them
to think about what their future is
going to look like when it does happen
and now their family is financially
protected and there's no burden and it's
just
smooth well one of the things I like to
say you know is put them in the in the
mental in the mental state of like what
like what's prevented you from doing
this in the past yeah yep that's
and then having them picture like the
benefits of what solving this problem
will do for their kids so we do both
right we do the consequence question
what will happen if they don't do
anything at all and then helping them
picture what that looks like if it gets
resolved so um honestly I do think the
consequence question the way that I've
experimented with both is more powerful
yeah solution then into consequence
because the solution awareness question
gets them to see what it's going to be
like when they pass away fam's protected
everything's smooth and then you rip
that away with a consequence question
where you know what are the consequences
if they don't do anything give us an
example of a good consequence question
that you've learned I mean I say so have
you have you thought about what would
happen if you just decided not to do
anything at all what do they say and
well if they say Yes um you know I might
say something something like you know
does that cause you to be
concerned and and um and they'll say you
know if they say yes no then then I'll
just keep probing into that and say well
um I mean but I know you've been
thinking about this for a long time and
you know you really haven't done
anything yet so what is it what does it
look like really for your for your kids
if you keep going in this direction of
not putting something in place and
something actually does happen to you
and now your kids don't have that money
that you said you wanted for them so
they don't have to come out of pocket
and be a burden on their family I mean
what does that really look like for them
I like that what happens if you don't do
anything about this and you end up
passing away earlier than you thought
and now Carrie's responsible to have to
pay for
everything you even like tone it down
like little bit like that just tell
perfect
I like that we just we just got to trim
like the gingerbread we got to trim
little little stuff off little fluff I
like that all right so we're not going
to go into your presentation because we
don't have time but what's a good
commitment question you asked to get
them to commit to take the next step
purchase a policy and get where they
want solve their problem um probably an
easy one I use is um like do you feel
like this could could be the answer for
you that's beautiful and if they say yes
then I'd make them tell me why do you
feel like this could be
the answer for you that verbal pause is
important in that one that's really good
and most of the time typically you're
GNA get one of two responses oh yeah for
sure or I do but and then depends on the
price yeah I do but right right okay
yeah so you're gonna get one of those
things and typically you would ask the
commitment question after you go through
the presentation and bring up the price
you typically don't want to use that
before most of the time because what'll
happen if you if you say that before you
bring up the options and the prices a
lot of people say well it just depends
on the price so then it kind of stops it
so you typically want to ask it after
you bring up the presentation and the
priz typically most of the time for your
space okay all right any last because
typically once they say oh I do what do
you say
then uh then I what if they just say yes
I do then I
say well would you mind sharing with me
why you think it would help you in your
family why do you feel like it would
though yeah it's a good probing question
right and then they tell you what they
tell me why they want it yeah right see
self-persuasion see you know it's an
easy it's an easy probing question all
right Dana well done I gotta jump into
this podcast congratulations on your
success you got a big team now you're
even off the phone because you've sold
so much you're like Legend over there
making oodles and Google's I mean you
have to living in California I mean if
if you're not making at least half a
million a year or more like it's hard
you know it's definitely not cheap to
live here they take half your income
over there um all right any last words
of advice you would have for maybe a new
sales person getting into sales or maybe
even a vet that was you know making low
six figures you know six figures like
you were before you got in I think it's
even more important for the Vets to take
advantage of this because there's so
many bad habits that you probably have
that you need to erase and just start
fresh and you have to be open to that
right you have to be open to learning
how to do it a new way um and to not be
afraid of what the investment is because
SC it paid me back in two
weeks
done our client I mean I don't know how
many thousands of clients we have now
but I that's probably the thing we hear
the most is that oh my gosh it's Roi
like instantly compared to purchasing
other things that take months or years
this is like instant Roi sometimes it's
instant Roi the next sales call right or
the next day all right well done Dana
congratulations keep strolling and the
great thing is you're still learning
you're still advancing you know six
months from now you're gonna be even
better than you are right now that's the
goal that's the cool thing about this we
are always learning you know as my good
friend Brad says bradlee is training
something you did or is training
something that you
do if you want to be a top 1% earning
sales person and congratulations that's
where you're at in your indust thank you
for having me all right you're welcome
all right now if you guys want to learn
more advanced skills we just gave you
little nuggets little nibbles there you
want to start making your first 10 15
20,000 per month in Commissions in your
industry watching us right now you want
to start making your first 30 or 40 or
even 50 grand every single month because
I can assure you we are already training
people in your industry that are hitting
those numbers every single month right
now every industry on here watch me
right now okay so you want to acquire
those skills message me directly right
now if you're LinkedIn the Facebook
group my Facebook the Facebook business
page message me directly right now if
you're on YouTube you'll have to join
the Facebook group I'll have somebody on
our team post that here on our YouTube
channel uh I believe it's uh sales
revolution. proo sales Revolution dopro
and right when you join anybody
relationship banking yes we train people
in banking as well well actually it's
the only the industry we refuse to train
we're just going to leave you guys out
in the cold I'm joking all right so you
want to acquire those skills message me
directly right now we'll give you some
different training options for your
industry if you want to make a lot more
like Dana and all these other clients
Dana thanks so much enjoy that weather
in California I'll be out there in a
couple weeks I got a keynote in Carl's
bat I love Southern California nice nice
okay thank you thanks everybody hey we
will also be going live tomorrow at 6 PM
Eastern I will do a 30 minute subject
matter training I haven't picked out
what I'm going to train on but make sure
you show up in the Facebook group group
6 p.m. Eastern tomorrow I will do a 30
minute training um on a subject I just
haven't picked it out yet see you
tomorrow 6 pm. Eastern Dana thanks so
much we'll see you soon thanks
guys hey guys if you enjoy these here's
another you can watch right over here
right over here join our free sales
Revolution group click the link below
join us and we're going to help you
thanks for watching we'll see you real
soon
[Music]
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