You’ll hear this often on sales calls:
“It sounds great, I just need to do a little research.”
“Do you have some testimonials I can check out?”
“Can I have some time to think on it? I’m not quite ready yet.”
“Yeah, this sounds great, but I’m not sure if it’ll work for me.”
They’re just not there yet. They’re non-committal. Maybe they believe your product works, but they don’t yet believe it’ll work for them.
In today’s podcast, we’ll be going over how to overcome that. But before we start…
Why Prospects Don’t Commit
If you’re faced with a non-committal diddle, it’s probably because they’re lacking some piece (or pieces) of information. And that’s preventing them from making a decision.
Your prospect doesn’t have the right beliefs. They may even have the wrong beliefs.
And it’s your job on the call to break down those wrong beliefs and build up the right ones. So that they can commit to the sale.
That Time I Bought A Luxury Timepiece
I recently bought a Breitling. It was a big investment. Several racks (a rack is $1,000, for those of you unfamiliar with hip hop slang.)
This is something I never would have done just a few years ago. I used to think anyone who spends money on an expensive watch is stupid.
I thought that it’s a waste, I don’t want material items, material items are stupid, and really, experiences are more valuable. And if you’re blowing your money on jewelry, you’re an idiot.
Those were my beliefs at one point in time. Now, my beliefs have shifted because I’ve been exposed to new information that subsequently destroyed those old beliefs and built new ones. So now I understand things differently.
(This is essentially what you have to do on a sales call.)
What I learned over time is that you can put money into jewelry and if you buy it properly, it can retain its value or even go up. If you buy it at the right price, you can get in and out and make money on the spread. If you hold it for long enough you can make even more.
If you look at from this perspective, luxury watches can be an excellent investment.
Examples of Industry Myths
Say you’re selling a real estate offer. What are some common myths people have about investing in real estate?
- Real estate is risky.
- You need to be rich to invest in real estate.
- You need to invest in your local area.
- It takes money to make money.
What about a marketing agency selling Facebook ads? It’s common for people to believe they need to have a large budget to run ads. And if this doesn’t come out during the call and you don’t fix it, it’ll kill the deal. ‘Cause your prospect will say something like,
”Yeah, this sounds amazing and I’d really love to work with you, but I need to get just a few more clients first so I can have the money for the ads.”
Pre-empting False Beliefs Before They Become Objections
If you wait until the end of the call to handle the objections that are based on these myths, sure, you might be able to put a few chinks in the armor. Maybe you’ll be able to overcome the objection successfully.
But it’s far more effective to preempt the objection by destroying the belief.
”Yeah, a lot of people believe you need like 5 grand to run ads. Which, you really don’t. Typically, what we’re trying to do is use organic strategies to get some cash in the door, and then allocate a percentage of that towards advertising. So that way we know, ok, this offer is validated, and you’re not coming out of pocket for the ads. It’s like pouring gas on a fire.”
You’ve broken down the wrong belief and built a new one in its place. And the way this is done is through metaphors, questions, and storytelling.
Metaphors: The Best Way To Build Beliefs That Buy
People always say “facts tell, stories sell,” and that you should use stories all the time. Stories work, don’t get me wrong, but they’re better as proof elements in my opinion.
To me, the best belief-building elements I’ve seen are metaphors and aphorisms. Any statement or quick saying that makes people go, “oh, that makes sense!” They let you reframe beliefs with ease.
For example, “a man who chases two rabbits catches none.” Sounds true, right?
But I read this book by an entrepreneur a while back, and he had 3 businesses running at the same time when he had his first big success. And he’s always had side hustles.
So the aphorism isn’t always true. It just sounds true because it’s worded in metaphor.
Another example, “who want to validate your offer organically, that’s the fire. And when you use paid traffic, it’s like pouring gas on it. That’s how you get your offer to blow up.”
This metaphor paints a potent picture that makes sense in the mind, and so that’s why it works.
But we all know that offers that work on organic don’t always work on paid traffic. Because warm traffic behaves differently than cold traffic.
So, the metaphor isn’t always true. But what really matters is that you validate your offer as well as you can, before starting paid traffic.
Conclusion
Prospects don’t commit on sales calls because they are missing pieces of information they need to make a decision. Usually, this shows up in the form of certain myths or false beliefs they have about your industry or offer.
To get them to commit to the sale, you have to break down their false beliefs and build the right ones in their mind. The best way to do this is with metaphors and aphorisms.
Thick of the most common myths or false beliefs that are present in your industry. Then, come up with metaphors that destroy those myths and replace them with the correct beliefs.
If you enjoyed this, consider watching our free case study where we describe our ATM system for attracting, training and managing million-dollar sales reps. Click on the link below to get access now.