3 Simple Steps To Close Any Sale

Summary

In this insightful video, the speaker emphasizes the art of closing sales by focusing on only three key communication strategies: asking questions, restating to show understanding, and telling short, impactful stories to illustrate the customer's future experience. The speaker advises against teaching or 'technobabbling' about the product, instead advocating for a coaching approach that leads the customer to their own conclusions, thereby increasing the likelihood of a successful sale.

Takeaways

• 🧐 The importance of understanding the difference between teaching and coaching in the sales process.
• 🤔 The emphasis on asking questions as the primary method to engage and understand the customer's needs and beliefs.
• 🗣️ The value of restatement in showing the customer that you are actively listening and understanding their concerns.
• 📚 The ineffectiveness of trying to 'teach' customers during a sales pitch, as they are unlikely to listen until they have bought.
• 📉 The potential downfall of salespeople using 'technobabble' or overly complex jargon that may not resonate with the customer.
• 📈 The strategy of using short stories or analogies to illustrate the customer's potential experience with your product or service.
• 🤝 The necessity of building trust with the customer by demonstrating that you understand their needs and can help solve their problems.
• 🚫 The warning against pitching the program until you are confident the customer is ready to say 'yes', similar to how a proposal is made with the expectation of acceptance.
• 🤷‍♂️ The recognition that customers will only take action and execute on advice if their beliefs are first broken and they trust in the solution provided.
• 🔄 The idea that sales scripts should mimic a natural conversation between someone who cares and someone they can help, rather than being rigid and scripted.
• 🤓 The insight that salespeople should not be ego-driven but rather focused on providing value and genuinely helping the customer, even if they don't make the sale.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video script about sales?

The video script focuses on the three essential aspects of closing or selling: asking questions, restating what the customer says, and using short stories to illustrate the benefits of the product or service.

Why is it important for a sales team to watch game tape footage?

Watching game tape footage allows the sales team to review their performance, identify what was done well, what could be improved, and understand the customer's perspective and needs better.

What is the difference between teaching and coaching in the context of sales?

Teaching involves imparting knowledge, which customers may not be receptive to until they buy. Coaching, on the other hand, is about guiding the customer to their own conclusions and understanding their needs, which is more effective in sales.

Why are questions the most common type of statement a salesperson should use?

Questions are crucial as they help gather information about the customer's needs, beliefs, and pain points, and they guide the customer to the conclusion that the salesperson's offering can solve their problem.

Can you explain the concept of a 'restatement' in sales?

A restatement is when a salesperson repeats what the customer has said, ensuring they have understood correctly and showing that they are actively listening, which builds trust and rapport.

What is the purpose of telling short stories in a sales pitch?

Short stories are used to illustrate the customer's potential experience with the product or service, making it relatable and showing them the benefits in a way that resonates with their situation.

Why is it a mistake for a salesperson to try to teach the customer during a sales pitch?

Teaching can be ineffective because the customer is unlikely to listen or take action until they have bought. It's more about breaking their beliefs and making them see the need for the product or service.

How can a salesperson know when it's the right time to pitch their program?

A salesperson should pitch their program when they believe the customer is ready to say 'yes', similar to how one wouldn't propose without knowing the answer in advance. This is determined by the flow of the conversation and the customer's responses.

What is the significance of asking hard or challenging questions during a sales call?

Asking hard questions can help challenge the customer's current paradigm and beliefs, potentially leading them to see the need for change and the value in the salesperson's offering.

How does the speaker suggest salespeople should approach their ego and closing percentages?

The speaker suggests that salespeople should detach their ego from closing percentages and focus on genuinely helping people, which will naturally lead to more sales as they provide value and break the customer's beliefs.

What is the key takeaway from the video script for salespeople?

The key takeaway is that salespeople should focus on understanding the customer's needs through questions and restatements, and only then use short stories to illustrate how their offering can help, rather than trying to teach or use complex jargon.

Outlines

00:00

🤝 The Art of Closing Sales: Coaching vs. Teaching

This paragraph discusses the importance of understanding the role of a salesperson as a coach rather than a teacher when closing deals. It emphasizes the need for high-level expertise in complex business sales and the pitfalls of trying to educate the customer before they are ready to buy. The speaker shares insights from coaching their sales team, highlighting the difference between teaching and coaching, and stresses the importance of asking leading questions to guide potential clients to the conclusion that they need the salesperson's services.

05:00

📚 Selling Through Storytelling: Beyond Technobabble

The speaker critiques the common sales approach of overloading the customer with technical details, or 'technobabble', and instead advocates for the use of storytelling to illustrate the customer's potential experience with the product or service. By using relatable stories and analogies, the salesperson can help the customer envision the benefits and outcomes of the product or service, making it more compelling than a complex explanation of features. The focus is on aligning the customer's beliefs with the need for the solution being offered.

10:02

🔍 The Power of Questions and Understanding in Sales

In this paragraph, the speaker underscores the significance of asking the right questions and truly understanding the customer's needs and beliefs as a foundational aspect of effective sales. They argue that a sales script should mimic a caring conversation, aiming to break the customer's existing beliefs and guide them towards the realization that the salesperson's solution is necessary. The speaker advises against pitching the program until there is a clear indication that the customer is ready to say 'yes', and instead recommends continuing to clarify and challenge the customer's perspective until the right moment to pitch arises.

Keywords

💡Closing

Closing refers to the process of finalizing a sale or deal. In the video's context, it's about the crucial moment when a salesperson attempts to persuade a potential customer to make a purchase. The speaker emphasizes the importance of not teaching but coaching during this phase, using questions and restatements to guide the customer to a conclusion that they should work with the salesperson.

💡Selling

Selling is the act of offering goods or services to customers for monetary gain. The video discusses the art of selling, particularly in a complex business environment where the salesperson must understand the customer's business deeply. It contrasts transactional sales with complex sales, highlighting the need for expertise and understanding in the latter.

💡Business Consultants

Business consultants are professionals who provide expert advice and guidance to businesses. In the script, the speaker refers to their sales team as 'business consultants' to emphasize their high level of understanding and the personalized service they offer to clients, which is essential for successful sales in complex business deals.

💡Transactional Sales

Transactional sales involve straightforward, often repetitive exchanges where the sales process is highly scripted with minimal variability. The video script contrasts this with complex business deals, where a deeper understanding of the client's needs is necessary, and the sales process is less about rote transactions and more about building a relationship and understanding.

💡Coaching

Coaching, in the context of the video, is the practice of guiding someone to find their own solutions or conclusions. The speaker differentiates coaching from teaching, stating that a salesperson should coach potential customers by asking leading questions and restatements, rather than simply providing information, to help them realize the need to work with the salesperson.

💡Leading Questions

Leading questions are those designed to guide the respondent towards a particular conclusion or to reveal specific information. The video emphasizes the importance of using such questions in sales to help the customer come to the realization that they need the salesperson's product or service, rather than being told what to do.

💡Restatement

Restatement involves repeating what someone has said in your own words to confirm understanding and show active listening. The script uses restatement as a tool for the salesperson to demonstrate empathy and engagement with the customer's concerns, which builds trust and rapport, crucial for closing a sale.

💡Declarative Statements

Declarative statements are used to express a fact or opinion definitively. The video advises against using declarative statements in sales, as they can come across as teaching or imposing beliefs, which can be off-putting to potential customers. Instead, the focus should be on questions and restatements to facilitate the customer's own realization of the need for the product or service.

💡Technobabble

Technobabble refers to the use of technical jargon or complex language that may be difficult for the listener to understand. The script warns against using technobabble in sales pitches, as it can alienate the customer and fail to convey the value of the product or service in a relatable way.

💡Belief Breaking

Belief breaking is the process of challenging and changing a person's existing beliefs or perceptions. In the video, the speaker discusses the importance of belief breaking in sales, where the customer must be guided to change their mindset and recognize the need for the salesperson's offering to solve their problem.

💡Analogies

Analogies are comparisons between two different things to explain a concept or make a point clearer. The video script uses the concept of analogies to suggest that salespeople should use simple, relatable stories to illustrate the benefits of their product or service, making it easier for the customer to understand and relate to the solution being offered.

💡Sustainable

Sustainable refers to something that can be maintained or continued over time without being exhausted or depleted. In the context of the video, the speaker uses the term to emphasize the importance of creating long-term solutions for customers, such as teaching them to 'fish' rather than just giving them a 'fish,' ensuring the customer's success is sustainable.

Highlights

The importance of understanding the difference between teaching and coaching in sales.

Three key types of statements to use when selling: questions, restatements, and short stories.

The necessity of asking leading questions to guide the customer to the conclusion that they should work with you.

Restatement as a tool for demonstrating understanding and active listening in sales conversations.

Avoiding the common mistake of trying to 'teach' the customer during the sales pitch.

The concept that customers will only take action when their beliefs are broken and they trust the seller.

Using short stories to illustrate the customer's potential experience with your product or service.

The analogy of 'teaching a man to fish' to explain the importance of changing beliefs for sustainable results.

The strategy of not pitching the program until you believe the customer will say 'yes'.

The idea that salespeople should aim to provide value regardless of whether the customer buys.

How to use questions to challenge the customer's current paradigm and shift their mindset.

The importance of recording sales calls to analyze engagement and identify areas for improvement.

The role of 'technobabble' in sales and why it can be detrimental to the sales process.

The analogy of a marriage proposal to illustrate the timing and confidence in pitching to a customer.

The concept of 'closers ask hard questions' to challenge and potentially shift the customer's stance.

The strategy of having pre-packaged stories and analogies ready to clarify and drive points home.

The emphasis on creating a sales script that focuses on questions and restatements rather than lengthy explanations.

The insight that most experienced salespeople can gauge the likelihood of closing a deal within the first five to ten minutes of a call.

The importance of not pitching the program until the customer is ready and asking for more information.

The strategy of using customer's permission to explain how the program works as a sign of readiness to move forward.

The final advice on detaching ego from closing percentages and focusing on genuinely helping people.

Transcripts

what's going on everyone i want to make

a quick video for you guys about the

only three things to say

when closing or selling and the reason

this came up was uh recently i was on

uh i was coaching our sales team uh on

just just going over game tape footage

which is like hey how's you know let's

let's watch the sale from yesterday

you know what we could what was done

well what was great what was bad what

could have been improved etc

and one of the the habits that some of

our team gets in because

our our sales team is really

knowledgeable we call them business

consultants because they really are

i mean they really are business

consultants you know what i mean and

that's why sometimes it's harder to find

good sales people because they have to

have um

a really high level of understanding if

you're going to like the higher the

level of the business that you're going

to be selling the higher level of

expertise the person talking them must

have

if they have no context that's why like

low level transactional sales like if

you're doing b2c

you know supplement sales over the phone

you really don't need to have an

exquisitely you know knowledgeable uh

a rep it's more about a very

transactional process that's going to be

very highly scripted minimum variability

right whereas if you're talking about a

complex business deal

right um then you need to have a very

good understanding of their business

where there's potential opportunities et

cetera right

and so sometimes it can be difficult

because you may want to switch

and this is especially true when it's uh

if you're the owner of the business or

you're

you know integrally involved in just a

couple of sales people you may get into

the mode of trying to teach which is one

of the biggest

um a mistakes but b um

one of the biggest hard things to not do

there's some good words um as a

salesperson right because if you're

trying to close a deal you want to

educate the person but the reality is

that's not they're not going to listen

to you until they buy and so there's no

actual point in quote teaching

but you do want to coach and that's

something that i was talking about with

my team

yesterday is the difference between

teaching and coaching and so

fundamentally there's only three types

of statements that should come out of

your mouth when you are selling

number one and most likely to be coming

out is questions

all right so if you don't know what

types of questions

um like for us i i prefer

question-based frameworks for more

complex sales um and the reason for that

is these are the types of questions that

we would need to know the answer to in

order to work with someone

it's also the only way you can get

someone to change their beliefs about

something

because ultimately the person especially

the more complex the higher level the

sale

the the more the person has to come to

the conclusion on their own that they

should work with you and less

feel forced or suggested hopefully that

makes sense

and so we should ask leading questions

that lead them to the conclusion

that they should work with you can solve

their problems the second

uh type of thing is a restatement which

means uh

after they say something you say it back

to them

which means that you understand and you

are listening all right

so it's like so what i'm hearing is this

is the primary issue that you've been

trying to solve this is what you've done

so far

and this is why it hasn't worked does

that sound about right so that would be

an example of restatement

notice none of these things

are our declarative statements of fact

i'm not teaching them anything

all right which is the same reason that

people get in trouble when they do

presentations to try and pitch

they try and teach the thing is is

person has to have their beliefs broken

in order to take action

and you're not providing value in a real

way because the reality is they're not

going to execute on anything you teach

them

they will only execute if they have

their beliefs broken and believe you can

help them and then that they can trust

what you are saying

this is like this was so hard for me to

learn because in the very beginning when

i started gym lunch i just wanted to go

in and get on the phone and jim's oh no

no

your pricing is all wrong you got to do

this you got to do this guy do this and

they were just like

take lots of notes and then end up

getting off the call not buying and then

be like well uh i don't even know who

this guy is i'm just going to ignore it

and so i didn't actually help them i

thought i was helping them

but i was not actually helping them and

i actually heard this from talking more

a good friend of mine

he said everyone gets benefits from

breaking beliefs only 10 of people get

benefits from tactics

and so you actually are providing more

value on the call

by questioning their beliefs because

you're actually servicing a hundred

percent

of the people providing value compared

to trying to give tactical advice

that only one out of ten people may or

may not use and likely the people who

will use it are not buying from you

so either way you're you're not

benefiting your business and you're also

not benefiting there's that was a huge

thing that i had to

break with my own beliefs and so then

you might be wondering well if i'm only

asking questions and restating things

how do i close the deal

great great question glad you asked all

right

and so what i like are short stories

and so the reason we do this is that

so we'd ask a question ask a serious

question hey why are you here

what are you struggling with where you

at right now where you trying to go what

have you tried so far how's that working

for you

um why is this important does it matter

like within the bigger context of

of your life and what you're trying to

do okay great this is what i'm hearing i

think this is why

uh you haven't been successful would you

agree with that does that make sense

fantastic do you want to hear how our

program works

right so at that point you'd enter quote

the pitch right which is where you're

gonna explain how the services work

this is where most guys and gals will

just blab

right they'll just talk and talk and

talk and talk and talk and try and teach

and about how they have this secret

system in the

and really uh i think russell brunson

calls it technobabble it's like

you talk about your periodization you

talk about your plan or you talk about

your programs you're talking about the

softwares or whatever

right the route is they don't care and

so all we have to do

realistically is tell a story that

illustrates

what they're going to experience as a

result all right and so

um if i were trying to sell uh

you know i'll just use gym launch as a

simple example so if i'm like listen

fundamentally until you learn how to

market your business

you're never going to be free and

earlier you said that the goal when we

asked for context is that you want to

you want to be free you want this

business to be able to run on its own

um does that sound about right yes okay

cool well then

then do you see a world in which you're

going to be able to

outsource the most important part of

your business which is acquisition

lead generation lead nursery and sales

do you feel like there's a world where

you can just

offload that responsibility and then

somehow have a reliable business because

what if that business goes out of

business

which is likely happens all the time

then what right you're never actually

going to be free until you learn this

which means you have to confront this

either today tomorrow or 10 years from

now but you're going to have to do it

does that sound fair does that make

sense

right and so here what i'm doing is i'm

trying to i'm telling i'm telling a

story to break a belief

i'm not saying let me show you how we're

going to teach you

how to market instead i'm saying we have

to at least come to an agreement that

you need to learn this skill

does that sound fair yes and then the

next kind of mini story and if i if they

didn't understand it then it would be

like well this is the difference between

giving a fish

and teaching a man to fish right now you

need to learn how to fish for yourself

right in order for this business to be

sustainable for you right right

and so these are little analogies that

you've already pre-packaged

if i was selling weight loss i would say

something like

all right well fundamentally you know

fitness nutrition accountability you

need these three things fitness-wise

you're gonna have to come and work out

here we agree that you need to work out

right

right why haven't you been working out

so far i don't know how

fair enough is it also because you're

not motivated to do it yes what if you

actually what do you what something that

you like doing

well i like doing i like watching tv

cool what if

what if working out was something that

you could look forward to as much as or

more than watching tv

if you liked working out more than

watching television which one would you

think you would do

why probably work out right so our goal

is not to get you to work out but learn

to like

working out more than watching

television if we can accomplish that

then we're going to solve this problem

for good does that make sense

yes notice i told them they're going to

have to work out

i did not talk about the the the new the

exercise selection we're going to do the

programming how we're going to ramp up

their volume

their undulating periodization the fancy

exercise like none of that stuff we

talked about

because it doesn't matter we have to

just come to an agreement that this is

what we're going to be doing to solve

the problem

does that make sense yes fantastic when

we move forward

right and so you'll have these

pre-packaged ideas and other examples if

i if i had somebody who wasn't

i'm giving you these examples to

hopefully drive the point home if

someone said uh you know

you're gonna have to change the way you

eat for example and i'd say okay well

you've probably tried stuff in the past

right i'm not gonna talk to him with a

[ __ ] meal plan

right it doesn't matter right it does

matter but not in this conversation it

does not matter

fundamentally you're going to change the

way you eat because what you got

like why you are here is because of

something you are currently doing does

that sound fair

right okay cool so again with this

example i'd be like well do you like

cake do you like cookies

yes okay so then the key do you think

you could not eat cookies for this your

life

do you think you cannot eat cake or not

eat ice cream thrust your life do you

think that's reasonable

no i don't think that's reasonable cool

so then we have to figure out a way for

you to eat the things that you enjoy

and still lose weight and do it in a way

so that you look forward to it because

at the end of the day if you like the

food

more than you're currently eating you

will stick with it does that sound fair

yes because do you think that you can

sustainably give yourself willpower for

the rest of your life

no okay well then can we agree that all

we have to do is just simply

figure out the foods that you will like

and that's an iterative process for us

and we'll walk through it but the end

goal is that you will like this more

than you're currently eating

and as a result of that will stick with

it which means that over the long haul

you'll get to where you want to go

does that sound fair yes notice again

this is an explanation this is a this is

a mini story this is an analogy

that we'll use and you should have

multiple of these so you can drive the

point home if you feel like the prospect

does not understand what you are saying

right and so this is where we are

we are coaching based on beliefs we are

not

explaining or tacticalizing or

technobabbling about our program

because fundamentally it does not matter

they don't care nor will they listen

they're not even paying whenever you

have a monotone you can see it in

gong recordings if you don't if you

don't record this you can see talk time

you can see

where engagement goes down and in

invariably it's when a

salesman gets to this part of the pitch

and then they talk for five minutes

straight

no one cares i'm sure like i'm sure that

when you've been if you've ever been

sold something

you feel like the person isn't listening

to you right

and so what i can say is the best way

to sell is to have the person feel like

you understand them

and the best way for someone to feel

understood is for you to actually give a

[ __ ]

if you actually give a [ __ ] you will

know what questions to ask in what order

because those are the questions that you

would naturally ask

the reason scripts were even invented is

to mimic or structure

a conversation between somebody who

cares and someone that they can help

that is what a sale is is we're we're

breaking their beliefs we're coaching

them to the conclusion that they have

not been able to make up for this point

which is that they need to work with us

in order to solve their problem and

we should be okay with the fact that i

would like to provide value to this

person so that i can break their beliefs

around this whether they work with me or

not

this is still the type of solution that

they're going to need and if you can

approach it like that you stop having

your ego tied up in your closing

percentages in your numbers

and instead you start helping people on

the phone and by extension you will sell

more deals

all right and it's not by proving your

expertise

and and ego ego babbling about how smart

you are

right instead it's asking them questions

making sure they understand that you're

that you're tracking what they're saying

asking more leading questions restating

what they said and then when they ask

you about how they could potentially

work for you then and only then

you give them the stories to explain how

it works

that's the deal and one of the big rules

that i was hitting on with our sales

team

yesterday is you do not pitch the

program

until you believe the person will say

yes

lawyers do not ask questions they do not

already already know the answers to

no guy most guys don't propose to

someone without already know the

person's gonna say yes the the take rate

on proposals is very high

right let's be real most you know girls

say yes to a proposal

most right i'm not saying all but most

do and sales should be the same way

if you feel like you don't think you're

going to close this person

do not pitch them continue to stay in

this circle

where you are asking questions and

reinstating and clarifying

until you can eventually find that that

piece that thread

that was unexposed that you need to pull

to then get them to say that aha

that's the issue right and so from this

the three things that you should be

using when you're closing is you should

be asking questions you should be

restating what they said

and then once you've exhausted these

pieces where it becomes obvious that

they you need to move on the sale

only at that point they'll say well how

do i how do i work with you how does the

program work

they should be asking you or you can at

the very least say would you like to

know the programmers i think it might be

a good fit for you

at that point they can give you

permission to say yes

now if someone says yeah hey hey tell me

how the program works it's like no i

don't think we're ready for that right

now

i need to understand more about your

business otherwise it's not gonna it's

not gonna make any sense

i don't have enough context right and

again when you do that you can retake

the frame in the conversation if

someone's commanding you around you're

not going to close the deal

right and so a lot of times usually

within the first five to 10 minutes you

can tell

whether you're not going to close the

deal most people most experienced sales

people know

by how the first five to ten minutes go

whether this person's

really even five minutes um you can tell

whether you're gonna be able to close

this person or not

and if you don't feel like you're gonna

be able to close this person it means

you need a state shift you need to

shift the frame and the only way to do

that is to ask questions

that are challenging one of the things i

have my team say is closers ask hard

questions

right is ask questions that are going to

challenge their current paradigm

if they're in a current paradigm that

they're getting on the phone because

they want to prove to themselves that

nothing's going to work for them

then you need to say it sounds like it

sounds like you're out a lot

sounds like your business is kind of

there's no way for you to succeed

does that sound about right and then

they're gonna sell you on why you're

wrong but by selling you and why they're

wrong they're taking a contrarian stance

which then

proves to you that there is a way rather

than saying no i think you can be

successful they're like no i can't be

successful right

and so understanding that before you get

into your pitch the person must already

be sold on working with you

is one of the biggest things i can give

you right now so if your script has too

many paragraphs and too much explanation

and all of that stuff

then it's off it just needs to be

questions and restating for

clarification that you are hearing what

they're saying

and asking the next natural question

that will lead logically to them working

with you and asking the question at the

end which is well how do i do this that

sounds amazing that's exactly what i

want like how do i move forward with the

details etc

and then at that point you say cool this

is how it works ready to rock and roll

all right

fair enough hope that makes sense keep

being awesome lots of love and

i'll see you guys on flip side bye