More sales. Less time. 
With this ONE question.

As a solopreneur, online coach, or course creator, taking sales discovery calls comes with the territory.

But here’s the thing...

There is nothing more frustrating than jumping on a call with an unqualified prospect. 

You don’t have time to educate early stage prospects 1:1 on the phone unless you're doing market research.

The connection

These conversation openers allow you create a connection and quickly qualify your prospect BEFORE investing 45-minutes or an hour of your time.

What are you struggling with?
Why did this become a struggle?
What do you think needs to be fixed?

Why does it need to change now?

You need to know the answer to the question, “why does it need to change now?“ before investing one more minute of your time.

A qualified prospect will have urgency plus time, or urgency plus money, or time plus money.

A high ticket coach usually works with people who have more money than time plus they have an internal urgency.

If a prospect has time and money, judge whether you can coach them on urgency, e.g. the consequences of not fixing the problem today.

If the answer is that the prospect has no internal sense of urgency, it’s a waste of your time. (Sorry).

If a prospect has no time, no money, and it’s not urgent, direct them to other resources and get off the call. You just saved yourself an hour. ⌚

I repeat: you don’t have time to educate early stage prospects 1:1 on the phone.

If they pass the prequalification, I almost immediately share a story about someone similar to them or in their situation that I’ve worked with.

Not to brag or show credibility...

Share a story that gives your buyer permission to be in their position of needing help. I call it the “it’s not your fault” story.

If you've decided you want to work with this person, use these questions to close more business.

Discover the vision

The fastest way to kill this sale is to answer this question for them.

Instead ask:

"What do you want? What would fixing this allow you to achieve?" Because you’re looking for the outcome or transformation they really want.

Give them time to think aloud. I don’t even share examples at this point. Ask more questions to tease out emotions and feelings, but don’t create a picture for them.

Once they answer... replay what their vision in their words.

Share another short story of someone you’ve worked with who had the same vision.

Again, not to brag, but to affirm their vision is achievable.

Example. "I was working with Ashish, when we discovered he was selling to the wrong audience. He was selling to mid-level code developers. A more profitable audience were CTO's and CTO candidates. He shelved a $1K product with sales barely trickling in, to offer a $20K private coaching--with a waitlist of buyers."

The invitation

“Would you like to hear how this can change for you?

You’ve seeded curiosity with two stories now. You’re inviting them to learn more.

This is 99% a yes response, but in the event it’s a “no” I would ask “why” to uncover a powerful objection you need to know about.

The close

Lay out two options for your program or services. Keep it tight. Talk benefits versus features. What makes your process different or stand out?

Reinforce the outcome or transformation they shared with you earlier in the call.

Then ask:

Which option is right for you?

Which way do you want to be supported?

Then stop talking!

If they ask for more options, you can negotiate that. But it’s not your job to give them so many options they become paralyzed with choice. Give them the best two options to get the outcome they want.

And now, the cliffhanger...

Next week's newsletter: Overcoming objections and resistance without a hard sell. 

If you found this helpful, do me a favor and share it with a friend.

Mandy

P.S. I bet you already ask some of these questions in your application form. Ask them again. The next 45-minutes or hour of your time is so worth it.

Whenever you're ready, I can help you improve your online sales, have greater impact, and build a thriving business.

Book a free 20-minute strategy call directly with me to grow your online income.