Breaking Down The Walls Of Resistance!
The sales process is a tricky process. Today, host Sam Wakefield talks about breaking down the walls of resistance that will make sales less tricky. He teaches us how we can open our prospects’ mental understanding for them to listen to us and how we can obliterate those resistance walls when they come up in our appointments. Know more from Sam as he teaches us how to take control of any appointment and steer it to any direction that we want it to go.
We are talking about breaking down the walls of resistance. How do you obliterate those resistance walls when they come up in your appointments? When you’re in an appointment and every time you enter a new section of the visit, it seems like there’s this invisible force that pushes against you. There’s this wall of resistance that goes up. You see it. All of a sudden, somebody damps cold water down your back and there’s this visible stillness that comes over your client and they stove up. There’s this resistance. It’s not any fault of theirs. It’s not any fault of ours particularly. We can prevent it and that’s what we’re going to talk about in this episode.
Psychology Of Sales: Asking Questions
As a society, we’re so trained and ingrained to resist any sales conversation. Even in this process that we talk about making it much more conversational, making it a back-and-forth, keeping it from being weird. Every single time you turn a corner in the sales process, there is a new face. There’s a new obstacle to overcome. There’s a new objection door to close to go ahead towards the sale. If you felt that, give me a huge shout-out because I know that it happens. Did you know there is a simple way to take that wall down, to keep it down and every single time it starts to rise again to pull it back down and open them back up to hear the next phase of information? The next step of what you’re going to communicate to them or the next step in questioning the next layer of information and the next data point that you’re going to give them.
How do we do that? That is the big question. That’s exactly it that is through questions, but it’s not any question to do this. It’s very specific questions that have to do with the power of asking permission. Would you like to know how to ask permission? Did you know how smooth that was at the same time? I just did that. In this process of going through our appointment with the homeowners. In the process of our investigation. The process of exposing them to our products that we’re offering, our services, etc., there is a ton of psychology that we are constantly dealing with. We may not realize that there’s psychology involved, however, there’s all of the psychology of sales.
In fact, that’s a classic book if you’ve never read it. Brian Tracy, it was the very first sales book that I ever read. It completely changed my career and my life. I highly recommend Brian Tracy’s The Psychology of Sales. Pick it up, give it a read. The psychology of it is when you ask permission, what happens? People open up. In the next episode, we’re going to talk about the formula for any time you give a new data point. When you’re asked permission, it does a couple of things. One, it keeps your client interactive. It keeps them responding to what you’re saying. You involve them in the process anytime you ask questions. That’s why I’m such a believer and such a fan of asking questions. You have to ask them questions constantly. If you can say it in the form of a question instead of telling them, always ask it as a question. It doesn’t matter what part of the visit it is. It doesn’t matter what you’re talking about. If you can ask it in the form of a question, ask it as a question when that resistance comes up.
That’s why at the beginning, we start the very first of the appointment with questions. Our clients tell us it’s important to know about the company and the person they’re working with. We think that’s important too, “I’d like to tell you a little bit about me and my company. Would that be all right?” You’re asking them very upfront, “Would that be all right if I tell you a little bit about me and my company because our customers tell us it’s important?” Yes. Up until that point, that’s the first question in the visit. Up until that point, you shake hands, “How’s it going?” There’s an instant resistance. There’s the instant wall that is up before you do anything before you even smile. That’s the first question that starts to open them up. You’ll notice when you ask that question, would you mind if I tell you a little bit about me and my company because our customers tell us that’s important? They’ll say, “Sure, no problem.” Every single time you do that, you’re lowering their resistance wall a little bit more. They’ve given you permission to introduce yourself. They’ve also given you permission to introduce the company.
The Psychology of Selling: Increase your sales faster and easier than you ever thought possible.
At that point, without bragging or anything else, because they gave you permission, you can talk about the credentials of the company, the awards the company has won, or anything like that. When you go into your homeowner questionnaire, if you sign up on my email list, that is my free gift to you. If you don’t have one or even if you’d like to see what mine includes, sign up for my email list and I’ll send you a free copy. That’s something I’m offering as well. On the homeowner questionnaire, when you enter that phase, you’re like, “You’ve introduced yourself, you’ve introduced the company,” and they say, “I’ve got an agenda for our meeting to help you best and to be most efficient. I’d like to go over that with you.” You’re asking for permission to go over the agenda for the meeting. It’s like, “Sure.” It’s just normal conversation. They’ve given you permission to take control of the appointment at that point and to steer it in any direction that you want it to go.
You’re like, “First of all, we’re going to go over some questions about your house and you get to tell me what you’re experiencing. What are your concerns? What are your thoughts as you live in the house? What do you want me to know?” Once I’ve asked you those questions, then we’re going to go through and measure. We’re going to look at all of the areas of the home, especially the areas that may be of concern and then what we’ll do is sit back down. Does that sound all right? “Yes, it sounds great.” Again, you’ve asked permission before and at the end of that. It’s so important because they’re like, “Yes, I’m asking for permission for each step of the way.” By doing that, every single time you do that, you’re lowering that wall of resistance.
Asking Permission
They’re saying, “Yes,” but not in a weird way. These are not like trial closes. How many times have you heard that old terminology of the ABC, the always be closing? Asking trial closes to condition them to say yes along the way just for that purpose. No, it’s not about that. It is about breaking down that wall of resistance, brick by brick, and obliterating it. By the time you do get to the end, there’s no more resistance left. That way if any comes up, you know how to handle it. Asking permission every step of the way is super important. The way that you can open them up to hear about anything you want to offer them is once you’ve gone through the questionnaire, then ask, “As I’m checking your house out or as I’m looking around, if I see anything else that relates to energy savings, to health and safety and to building durability, if I see anything else besides what we talked about that relates to any of those items, would you like me to bring it to your attention?”
They’re always going to say, “Yes, please do.” Now, what happened? They said, “If you see anything else that you can offer me, please present it to me. I give you permission.” This is accomplishing something else too. Not only have we broken down the barrier of resisting the sales process, resisting the questions that we’re breaking down along the way. Every single time you ask this question, you feel that the resistance wall goes back down. They gave you permission to offer every single thing that you could sell. You don’t have to sell it all. It’s not like you’re twisting their arm but they gave you permission to offer it if it fits their situation. Use some wisdom here. Use some common sense. Use some integrity. We’re not out to sell things that clients don’t need. We sell what people need and want. People write checks for what they want, not what they need.
If something doesn’t fit, you’re not going to sell insulation upsell to a client who has all the insulation they need. That’s ridiculous. What they did was open up by saying, “Yes, I would love to hear about if you see anything else.” They opened up your entire book of all of the additional options, and accessories and said, “Yes, if you come across anything, I would like to see it.” Which is amazing because then you can circle back towards the end and say, “Remember when I asked you if I saw anything else related to health and safety to bring it to your attention?” “Yes, I do.”
“While I was in the crawlspace, while I was in the basement, while I was in the attic, while I was outside,” wherever you were, whatever you saw and you took a picture. You’re showing it to them. “I saw this and here’s what’s going on and here’s what it needs. Here’s how we can fix that. I’m going to recommend to include it in your package because this will take care of that problem. Can you see how this will solve that problem?” “Yes, let’s put it in there.” See how simple that is? You’re looping back. You asked and you show them, “Remember when I asked you that question?” You’ve got to get them to see how it’s a problem and we’re fixing, especially things that are serious. It’s pretty easy thing to add to the project. “Can you see how this is a problem?” “Yes.” “Here’s how we fixed that. Can you see how this is going to solve that problem?” “Yes.” “I’m going to recommend that we have this into the projects because you agree this is a big problem.” It’s simple. It’s all it takes to loop back in, but it all starts with asking the questions to start with.
They’re not manipulating questions or anything like that. You’re checking to see if they’re open to hearing more. You’re only checking to see if they’re open to hearing about what you have to offer. Once they open their minds, they open their mental understanding to be available to listen. That’s all we’re asking for upfront. Once we show them through being a master at your game, through being great at what you do, through being doing your due diligence and finding the issues and showing them what their concerns are. You’ve got to do a great job of going through the homeowner questionnaire and exposing their concerns.
What are they concerned about? What are their hot buttons? What do they want to fix? What do they want to change? Once you’ve done that, the rest is simple because then you circle back and say, “Remember when I asked you about this? Here’s what I found that’s causing that. Can you see how this is the problem? Here’s what we do to fix that. Can you see how this is the solution for that?” When they have a clear understanding, the rest is, “We’ll put that in the package.” It’s so simple. Once that happens, when you’re having this conversation with your client, can you see how this is going to change what happens at the close?
No longer is it, “XYZ Company, ABC Company, and LMNOP Company offered me this same thing but they’re $1,000 cheaper. Why are you this much more?” That’s not the conversation anymore. The conversation is, “You found these concerns of mine and we’re talking about a different type of project than any of these other companies have even mentioned than any of those guys.” You’re like, “Yes because I’m concerned about solving your problems.” It’s about that. “That’s the reason we’re here. It’s not about how many duct runs or ductwork are and all these other things. It’s about solving the problems that you have that you are concerned about.”
Breaking Down Resistance: Selling is not about all about the sales process but the complete package, which includes being there for your clients down the road too.
When you tie it together like that and you’ve asked permission, you’ve lowered that resistance through the whole process, the rest is gravy. The rest is about getting the signature on the dotted line. It’s about going home with knowing that you served that client to the best of your ability, that you solved the problems that they have. You solve the problems they were concerned about and most importantly, they’re going to be so thrilled with the project. They’re going to recommend you to somebody else and you created a lifelong client.
Not The Sales But The Complete Package
It’s not about making the sell and run. It’s about creating and doing things in such integrity that when you see them in the grocery store, you see those two, three, five years later, they still remember your name and tell you, “Thank you.” They’ve never had a better experience in their home. They’ve never had cheaper bills and it’s never been more comfortable. That happens to me all the time and it happens to my team all the time. I want it to happen to you as well if it’s not already. When you make these promises, you’ve got to show up and deliver. It’s not all about the sales process. It’s all about the complete package. You got to be there for them down the road too. That’s part of this whole thing. It starts with asking the right questions.
It starts with that psychology of when you feel that resistance go up, ask a permission question. The permission question will always bring that resistance wall down. In my process, I’ve got these permission questions seated all the way through the process. Even if you’re not at that stage of the visit. Every now and then, something will happen, the phone will ring and things will change. I feel that the resistance wall starts to go up or I might be mid-presentation on maybe the types of equipment or something. Recognize that you’ve got to get good and almost ninja trick style at recognizing when that wall starts to rise. What I’ll do and a great example is, say the resistance wall goes up when you’re going through the types of equipment.
The types of equipment, as we all know, they get more complicated as you go. Usually, it happens as soon as we’re crossing into or past the two-stage equipment. That’s when the wall starts to go up because if somebody is price-resistant, they’re going to make a comment like, “I bet these got expensive, didn’t they?” As you’re going through the different types of equipment and everything, “That just got expensive, isn’t it? Do you know what my answer usually is? “What do you mean?” I’ll ask that question or I’ll ask, “Compared to what?” They don’t know how to answer that.
Then we all get a laugh when I’m like, “It’s expensive compared to, what are you thinking?” I wanted to find out. Do they have other quotes? Do they have some weird preconceived idea of what things should cost based on what the Google search said? Where’s their mindset? The one I use the most is, “Compared to what?” Once we’ve laughed and if they tell me an answer or even if they know that I’ll say, “I’m here to serve you. Is it okay if I go ahead and go through all of the rest of these so you can see everything it’s available? It’s up to you to choose what the best fit is. Would you mind if we go through that process?”
That way you can have a good clear understanding of everything we’re looking at and then you ask permission again, “Would it be okay if we go through the rest of this process that way you’re clear on what we’re talking about.” Sometimes if there’s still a little bit resistant, I’ll add like, “I don’t want any of my clients ever to come back to me and say I didn’t know about this or you didn’t offer it to me.” I always try to show everything to everybody because it’s up to you to decide what’s best for you. “I’m not here to choose for you. I’m here to help you pick what your best solution is.” There’s a lot of psychology with that too because people don’t want to be forced into buying anything. People don’t want it to be sold. They want to buy. They have a problem where they wouldn’t have called you to start with.
You’re there to solve their issue. That moment of resistance is, “Would you mind if we go ahead and finish this section or go through the rest of this or would you mind if I show you the rest of the options? That way you have a good understanding of everything that’s available to you.” It’s a great way to do that because there is a wrong answer. The wrong is, “No.” No is not even a no, it’s not right now usually. The right answer is anything making the sale. We all know at the end of the day, the basic thirteen or fourteen SEER system is still getting cool and they want it to cool. It’s going to heat when they want it to heat. It’s better than what they have or they wouldn’t be calling you to start with.
That is a powerful principle to take them through it all. You have to show them all of their options and then use that verbiage of, “I want you to be able to make a good educated decision on all of your options so you can choose what’s best for you.” I’ve never had anyone say, “No, I don’t want to see the rest of these. I’m not interested.” About every single person says, “Let’s go ahead and see what’s out there.” Even if they still end up choosing one of their very basic systems, it’s fine because they now know what they’re saying no to, which is important. If you never offer it, you don’t even give the chance for people to say yes. It all goes back to asking permission for each stage of the appointment.
When you feel that resistance wall goes up, come up with a permission question and that will instantly pull that wall right back down so you can go on with the process and plant those seeds. Time your permission questions out of every section. Every section, “Would you like to see all of the options that are available?” “Yes.” “Would you like to see how we can solve that temperature issue in the corner of the house? Would you like to see how we can solve that humidity issue?” It’s asking permission questions along the way to keep the resistance down and to open up their minds to hear the solution. Hearing the solution, it opens up their mind to your pricing. It opens up their minds to all the different things.
I love this topic because The Psychology of Sales is what intrigues me of the most. We all know the steps along the way. Anyone, a monkey can learn, “Step one, say hi. Step two, put on shoe covers.” That is not have anything to do with sales. That is the steps on a checklist. The psychology that we’re talking about here is what makes a great next-level salesperson. You talk to any top performer in any industry. They will all tell you some of these same things. They may or may not realize they’re doing that, but it’s what they’ve intuitively learned over time.
Anytime I’ve ever had this conversation with a top performer when I bring one of these psychological principles up, most of the time they’re like, “I never thought about that but I do that every time. That’s something I always do. That’s exactly what I do.” I always have that response from them because it truly is. This is next-level sales right here. This is the piece that is missing in most sales training that I’ve ever come across. That I’ve ever taken is these principles in these philosophies. That is why I want to let you know on my website, CloseItNow.com. There are two sections. Sign up for my email and I will send you your free copy of my homeowner questionnaire.
Also, check out the coaching tab. I’ve got two different types of coaching programs that I offer. Read about those and then set up for a free call. We’ll spend 30, 45 minutes or an hour on the phone or on a video call and we’ll dive in. We can see what your friction points are is and if coaching with me may be a good fit for you. We can see if we can double or triple your income. Let’s go ahead and double that close rate or double your average sale. I see my clients had those kinds of numbers all the time. One of my coaching clients, he’s had his company for about three years.
He never sold anything above a single-stage piece of equipment and within a week of coaching with me, he sold his first communicating variable speed systems. That is a huge testimony for Mark. He did the work too. You can’t just hear but you have to implement. It’s up to you as well. We’re a co-team here. I can coach but you’ve got to do the work. That’s what I love about you guys because you are out there in the field every single day and you are crushing it. Check out the site. I will see you guys again soon in the next episode.
