So if you've ever felt anxious or
stressed before sales call or worse the
thought of sales at all just completely
terrifies you or turns you off where you
think sales is this dirty sleazy Wall
Street businessman kind of world then
stay tuned for this video because I am
going to shatter that belief and teach
you an approach to sales that will allow
you to sell without being pushy or
aggressive and will almost eliminate all
those nerves you get before the cult as
well I read somewhere that the thing we
put off doing is usually the thing we
need to do the most and I think this
could not be more true for sales
especially for introverts and creative
personality types now I am not confusing
these two there are a lot of introverts
with zero creative ability and there are
a lot of extroverts with creative
ability but within these two groups I
find that there's a lot more
apprehension around sales because your
traditional approach to selling that you
see in the movies is this hard
aggressive extroverted hey ma'am
can I get you a new vacuum cleaner look
at that this new Hoover bubble bubble
does that kind of stuff right and that
is not appealing to someone who is more
empathetic to someone who's more
creative or to someone who's more
introverted but the good news is that
that approach to selling not only is
old-fashioned but it doesn't work and
that there's a much better way to sell
that is going to allow you to be more
relaxed enjoy the sales process help
your clients more and actually not be
terrified of doing it
this is consultative selling and it's
something that I have been teaching for
a couple years now and I want to
introduce you to by the end of this
video you're going to have enough tools
to actually start doing this in your
business and see the difference in your
sales meetings and then from there it's
a topic if you enjoy you can dive deeper
and deeper and become an absolute pro at
all right so what is consultative
selling first things first it does not
involve giving a consultation okay keep
that in mind you are giving no free
advice during this meeting but what
you're doing is you're flipping things
on the script see the traditional
approach is selling do you think about
it you imagine a salesperson doc talk
talk talk talk right the salesperson is
probably talking 80 90 percent of the
time this helpless client is sitting
there being
pitched out wondering what the heck is
going on and whether or not they're
going to fall for these tricks
consultative selling turns that around
and instead of you talking 80 or 90
percent of the time you should sit back
relax and talk for no more than 20% of
the time in fact the target is 10
percent or less of the meeting should be
you speaking so how do you feel this
time well if there's two people in the
meeting guess who does the talking
exactly it's your prospect so what you
want to do is ask really powerful
questions and don't worry I'm going to
share those questions with you in this
video you want to ask really powerful
questions and this will get the prospect
talking and as they get talking you're
able to listen find out more about them
and direct the conversation on a side
note one really cool thing about this is
that if you're talking 80 percent of the
time in the bad way of selling it's very
easy to get nervous right to get caught
up and think oh god I don't know what to
say next and then you keep going and
then it can get really awkward I don't
know if that's happened to you it has
definitely happened to me also on a lot
of dates but in this approach to selling
because you're asking the question
you're asking the questions you are in
charge is your able like if you get
nervous you can go and ask a question
and then sit back and yes listen but
also be thinking about what to do next
and analyzing what's happening so it
allows you to basically have like a big
timeout in the middle of the sales
meeting which is really handy right
another benefit to these questions is
that you're going to learn a lot more
about your client I had someone write in
to me asking me about unhappy clients
basically having too many revisions
where they kept going back and forth
back and forth and that is more than
likely because they weren't following
the sales approach when you follow this
approach to selling you learn so much
about your client that not only could
you marry one of your daughters to them
but you're able to deliver an amazing
project because you actually understand
what they need and what they want so
using this approach I had very very few
revisions in my copywriting business
because it works that well now let's get
into some of the questions you can ask
and I recommend writing these down and
keeping them as sort of a cheat sheet
during your meeting now there are
literally dozens of questions you can
ask
in my group coaching program I have like
a six page document all the different
questions and stages you can go through
but what I want to do here is just cover
the four most important to get you
started
then you can try them out in your next
meeting see if they work for you if they
work for you then maybe you've trust me
a little more and you'll listen to my
next video about this right I want to
keep it simple first because it's all
about practicing and getting started and
then you can keep advancing so the first
question to ask is what is the most
important thing you're trying to
accomplish with this project pause think
about it now you're not asking what the
project is you're not asking you know
what the actual outcome is in terms of
oh I want a website okay you know when
do you want the website done by when do
you want you know you want it on
WordPress or on Squarespace sort of
you're not asking that question you do
ask that at some point in the project as
well but what I mean is you're getting
to their end goal right so is the reason
for having a website to get more
customers is it to act as a customer
website for their existing customers is
it a credibility piece where they don't
even want a website but they think they
need one you're getting to the end goal
of that and that's going to help you
understand really what's important to
them not what you think is important
because you could have a client that
wants a project from you and you assume
it's for you know this reason but it's
actually for this reason and so you end
up either making it way too small or way
too large because you don't actually
understand their overall big picture
goals for it the second question you
should always be asking in your meetings
is what is your number one business goal
for the next six to twelve months this
is going to help you understand their
big picture right what they're actually
doing there's a few benefits to this
first you're going to start to be able
to think about how your project fits in
with all their other goals second you're
going to get to know them better and
show them that you are a big-picture
thinker you're not just there to sort of
do some graphics or do some writing but
you're a business person and you're
thinking about their goals as a whole
third and possibly most important is
you're going to see where you could
perhaps do more work for them right they
might have brought you into one small
project and then you find out about
everything else they're trying to do and
you realize okay I can help you on this
and then
and this and all this other stuff too so
suddenly your $3,000 project they come
to $12,000 project because there's so
much more going on with them one quick
point with it is if you're dealing with
a solopreneur like another freelancer or
consultant or small business anywhere
from you know two to thirty employees if
you're dealing with the owner there's a
very good chance their personal goals
overlap with the business goal so for
example they have a big sales push and
they want to increase their revenue by
20% that year but you find out the
reason really behind that is that her
son is going off to college and she
wants to be able to pay the tuition or
he's going through a divorce and needs
to cough up some more money so getting
to know the personal reasons behind the
business goals is also a good strategy
as well it helps deepen the bond with a
client and also just help you understand
who they are as a person because
ultimately business is relationships so
the third question you should always be
asking is how does this project relate
to your bigger business goals now
sometimes this will seem really obvious
and you might even feel stupid asking it
ignore that it's okay to look stupid
look at me I look like a moron at least
80% of the time of my videos here right
so the reason I say you should ask even
if it seems obvious is it may not always
be obvious and or what I mean is the
obvious thing is not actually what it is
so you might think there's reason X for
the project but it's actually reason why
and you might be proactive and how you
do the project and the different
software you use how you set it up
whatever it is because you made an
assumption and if that turns out to be
wrong a few months into the project that
can be a disaster in terms of revisions
and a disappointed client and all that
stuff so what I found is is always
better to risk looking a little stupid
to risk you know asking a question where
they think oh wait didn't you you know
shouldn't you know that just to
double-check and you can even say that
to them you can say you know I assume
the way this project works in with your
goals is this but I just want to
double-check that with you to make sure
I have everything together because yeah
it's just really important I've had
coaching clients where they went into a
project and they assumed a bunch of
things and then the
became a disaster and you know had to
work backwards and that was obviously
before we covered this question and the
importance of it now we're going to get
to the fourth question that I think you
should be asking in all your meetings
but before we do just think about how
much better a medium would go if you
took this approach if you were asking
these questions right you're sitting
back you're asking a question your
prospect is talking to you they're
sharing you're finding out more and more
about them that's not only of course
making your relationship better but it's
helping you understand what they want
for the project and so you can deliver a
much better project and how much more
relaxing is that if you're saying you
know 50 words 100 words no of course
you're commenting on what they say and
having a dialogue but primarily you're
asking these questions which is so much
better than memorizing some crazy sales
script right work so much better and
it's just a much more enjoyable meeting
again this is primarily a mindset so
these questions I'm giving you are my
golden material they are absolutely
worth writing down and using but the
bigger thing here is the mindset of
thinking how can I learn about my client
what do they really need how can I help
them coming at it from that point of
view rather than how can I sell them
rather than talking to them you ask and
you listen if you didn't have any
questions but you just supplied that
mindset of ask questions listen like a
detective and instead of solving a crime
you're trying to solve how you can most
help your client if you just do that
you're going to notice dramatically
different results in terms of your
business just to give you an
understanding of how effective this can
be when I was having sales meetings I
would have anywhere from 50% or more of
people I would meet with would end up
becoming a client with that as well a
lot of my projects had no revision work
and those that did it was usually one
set of revisions total with that as well
I was never not paid by a client unless
we came to some kind of mutual
understanding which happened I think
twice other than that I was always paid
in full by every client and I contribute
a lot of that to this sort of approach
to selling where it's just such a deeper
connection and understanding with your
client sounds like some kind of sexual
affair a deep heartfelt connection with
your clients
get to know them inside and out really
though that's what you want to be going
for it now let's get to the fourth
question the last question you want to
ask in the meeting and that is why did
you want to meet with me today sounds
obvious right it's not because they told
you what the project is they told you
why they want to do the project but why
they wanted to meet with you and yes
this is a bit of a tricky question here
and I mean tricky in terms of a little
psychological trick because what you're
doing here is you're making them
vocalize why they wanted to meet with
you so they might say you know I was
looking to hire someone and I went to
your website and I really liked you know
what you had to say like you seem like
you know what you're talking about
or they might say well you know my
friend Bob because my examples are
always Bob my friend Bob referred you
and he said that you did amazing work
for him and he got some great results so
I was wondering if you could do the same
with me what you do in this case you
they say this and you go into your sales
pitch right all right let me tell you
why I'm the best I got 10 testimonials
from clients all over the world no you
just say oh thank you well it would be
great to work together is it okay if I
send you a proposal tomorrow that's it
they've sold themselves they have
vocalized why they wanted to meet with
you specifically right so the other
questions are about why they like want
to do the project but not why they want
to do it with you this question gets
them to vocalize why they want to work
with you in particular
therefore they sell themselves on you
you eliminate all that awkward
back-and-forth about you know why they
should hire you like that's the worst
conversation you can ever have if
someone in a like a prospect ever says
to you why should I hire you that is a
bad conversation you can get out of it
alive but I hate those as brutal you're
supposed to sell yourself on the call
and that's not even really the right
strategy is to be selling yourself
anyhow you don't want to get to that and
this question helps you avoid that and
just has the prospect sell themselves so
work this in you can use it at the
beginning of the meeting in theory but I
think it's way more powerful to use at
the end if you use it at the beginning
it kind of just gets them talking about
the project right because they'll assume
that's what you're asking about use it
at the end of the meeting that
they'll get talking about you
specifically now I know there are so
many more moving parts to this in my
group training program we do like a
three-hour unit on it okay so there will
definitely be questions feel free to ask
them in the comments and I will make
follow-up videos there's tons of stuff
that can come up with this but take this
mindset this framework and these four
questions and just try it out and if
you're not yet in business for it with
yourself right you're just kind of
getting started or thinking about it or
you don't have a client to try it out
with try it out on a date try it out
with a friend a friend that you would
like to date even better but really try
this in any conversation and you will
see how dramatically different it is
when you start to ask people kind of
bigger questions right about their goals
what they want to achieve all that sort
of stuff and then just shut up and
listen and see what happens so try this
out in some aspect of your life and let
me know in the comments how it went I
make new videos every Monday Wednesday
and Friday that's a lie I don't make
them then but I post them then and
sometimes on Saturday or Sunday so be
sure to subscribe to the channel Lots
coming up over the next few months about
business marketing sales personal
development managing your moods getting
more done and just making your life as
awesome as it can be for you so
subscribe to the channel I will catch
you in another video soon and thanks for
watching