The 5 Steps to get them to Believe
What we fail to do, more than anything, is to ask questions… We talk more than we listen and we are not willing to dig and dig to know what and who we’re trying to identify and lead to the close… One thing I’ve learned more than anything during my sales process with The Janitorial Agency and other businesses is balance in the process of leading someone to the close…
During my sales (interview) process I’ve learned to cast the vision in 20 mins. I ask the prospect (interviewee) questions for 20 mins and allow the interviewee to ask me questions for 20 minutes. Now it’s not a canned 20 min/20 min/20 min; it’s a process that needs to be applied, and if you lead through a step process like this, it will work more times then it doesn’t. The initial key of having an exchange is knowing how to start and build the trust in the relationship. Vision brings this contagious hunger for more information; you’re providing them with yourself, your product and themselves (those 3 elements are important). Getting to know the person you want to exchange with and leading them at the same time is key.
How do you accomplish this? Ask questions! The more information you receive, the more you know if that person has caught and believes in your vision, product, and themselves to be part of the vision. Why do you cast a vision to your customer during the beginning stages? Think about the first thing you do when you try to meet someone new: you try to “woo” them. You want them to like you, so you tell them all your great stories. Some people have an ice breaker; you can use “wow the weather is great today” but really that is just “blah blah” (kinda like the teacher on Charlie Brown). There isn’t any type of engaging, or wooing, or sense of purpose. The more fake it feels the less trust you build. Tell them stories of why the product is a solution based product, show them that you’re the expert, cast them the vision, and tell them why the product even exists (the history of the leaders/creators of the product).
These 5 steps are key to getting your customer to believe (by the way this is the only way to have a sale): you MUST get your prospect to BELIEVE in you, the product and themselves (again these 3 elements are key). These 5 steps are essential to accomplishing this task. Each step is part of the closing process, so here is the way I engage prospects…by the way I’m pretty darn good too…
Step 1 As you start your steps you usually already know the basic info on your prospect: name, company name, area they are from, etc… So, introduce yourself and your role and a little about your purpose just a teaser (like an appetizer). Set the tone of respect so they actually pay attention to you.
Ask a FEW questions to clarify your prospects’ intentions. Don’t ask too many questions, just enough to start a conversation. Remember, it’s like meeting someone new at a party. (“Are you from here? What do you do for a living?” you get the point)
Here is one of the first questions you can ask after the introduction about yourself and your role at the company. Remember, these are all open ended questions:
- Tell me a little about yourself (your business experience or any previous professional job experiences that you have had). Always assume they have had success, it shows them what you are looking for or expecting. This should help you get a feel for some possible weaknesses and/or strengths they may have.
Step 2 Now it’s time to get the prospects’ attention as to who you are and your purpose! Sell yourself (now the main course) and casting vision (casting vision is all about sharing purpose, passions, impacting and showing why we want to help without even talking about the money aspect of it).
Step 3 Now this goes back to asking a few more questions after you have them captured with the vision; helping them see themselves as part of it. I like to call this “temperature taking” questions. Sometimes you can catch this in the first few questions you asked, but if not then you go right to these:
- How much growth do you want for your business? – There is nothing wrong in helping them dream, and this helps them form their own vision for their business
- What would you say your purpose is? – This should tie right in with the first question
- What are your future goals for your business? – This should help you understand what they want to accomplish for now and lead you in the direction of what type of program/product to sell them
Step 4 You have them where you want them. You understand their mission, goals and see what program they qualify for! You have shared the vision of the company, now it’s time to present the model that they NEED and focus on the areas of desire (their hot button)
This step should lead you to the turn or to step 5
Step 5 Ready for the final close. You’ve infused them and they’re excited; they see the value and vision of your product and you gave the purpose (vision), passion (sold yourself) and presentation (value of the product)….now it’s time to close. The final Close is fun and you better be prepared to open up your arsenal of objection busters and stalls… I’d refer to Steve Conner the President of The Janitorial Agency and some of his closing techniques, when it comes to learning to beat these objections and stalls….
By Dan Carey CEO of The Janitorial Agency
Dan Carey is a outspoken leader and innovator His teachings are built around sound principals and based on FACTS and experiences. He’s the CEO of The Janitorial Agency which has launched The Janitorial Agency Franchise Systems product for Master Franchisors in over 120 exclusive territories in North America. Dan is also the Sr. Partner of the Carey & Conner Consulting Firm, LLC.













