Techniques And Tactics Proven To Unlock Your Sales Potential | Sales Techniques

Summary

In 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

00:00

🗣️ 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.

05:00

🔍 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.

10:01

🚨 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.

15:01

🌟 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.

Keywords

💡Connective Question

A connective question is a type of inquiry designed to build rapport and understanding between the asker and the respondent. In the context of the video, these questions are used to delve deeper into the prospects' motivations and needs, such as understanding what prompted them to inquire about a product or service. For instance, the script mentions, 'What was it about the ad that prompted you to inquire?' This question aims to uncover the prospect's initial interest and engagement.

💡Lead

In sales, a 'lead' refers to a potential customer who has shown some form of interest in a product or service. The script discusses the freshness of leads, indicating that they are typically recent inquiries. This is crucial as the timeliness of a lead can significantly impact the success of sales outreach, as seen when the speaker mentions leads being 'a week old, two weeks old, day old'.

💡Sales Conversion Rate

The sales conversion rate is a metric that represents the percentage of leads that successfully convert into customers. The script alludes to improving this rate from '74% conversion rate' to a higher figure like '78 to 85'. This is a key performance indicator in sales, as increasing the conversion rate can significantly boost revenue.

💡Situation Question

A situation question is one that aims to understand the current circumstances or status of the prospect. These questions are vital for salespeople to tailor their pitch to the specific needs of the prospect. The script provides an example of such a question: 'What type of protection, if any, do you currently have in place for your family?' This helps the salesperson to understand the prospect's existing situation and identify potential gaps.

💡Problem Awareness

Problem awareness in a sales context refers to the realization by the prospect that they have a need or issue that requires a solution. The script discusses how to craft questions that make prospects realize the magnitude of their problems, such as asking, 'Do you want her to have to pay for all that if you didn't have to?' This question is designed to make the prospect consider the financial burden on their family if they do not take action.

💡Tone

Tone, in communication, refers to the attitude or emotion conveyed through one's choice of words, pitch, and manner of speaking. The script emphasizes the importance of tone in asking questions, suggesting that a concerned and empathetic tone can encourage prospects to open up more. For example, the speaker points out the effectiveness of saying, 'So do you... I mean do you...' with a concerned tone to show empathy and encourage deeper engagement.

💡Solution Awareness

Solution awareness involves making the prospect aware of how a problem can be resolved or what the outcome could be if they choose a particular solution. The script suggests asking questions that help prospects envision a future where their needs are met, such as 'What's prevented you from doing this in the past?' This question is intended to lead the prospect towards considering the benefits of the solution being offered.

💡Consequence Question

A consequence question is designed to highlight the potential negative outcomes if the prospect does not take action or make a purchase. In the script, an example is given: 'What would happen if you just decided not to do anything at all?' This type of question is used to create a sense of urgency and to emphasize the importance of addressing the identified problem.

💡Commitment Question

A commitment question is one that aims to secure a decision or action from the prospect. It is typically used after a solution has been presented and is meant to gauge the prospect's readiness to move forward. The script includes an example: 'Do you feel like this could be the answer for you?' This question is intended to confirm the prospect's interest and willingness to proceed with the purchase.

💡Self-Persuasion

Self-persuasion is a psychological phenomenon where individuals are more likely to be convinced by their own thoughts and reasoning than by external arguments. The script mentions this concept when discussing how asking the right questions can lead prospects to persuade themselves of the need for a product or service. For example, after asking a commitment question, the salesperson might ask, 'Why do you feel like this could be the answer for you?' This encourages the prospect to articulate their reasons, reinforcing their own decision-making process.

💡Sales Training

Sales training refers to the process of learning and developing the skills necessary to effectively sell products or services. The script discusses the importance of ongoing sales training, emphasizing that even experienced salespeople can benefit from learning new techniques to improve their performance. The speaker mentions training that has resulted in significant increases in income for participants, highlighting the value of investing in 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

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