THE BUYING PROCESS
Stage 2: Strategic Intervention
Why do most salespeople get into this situation? Because they want the sale more than the friend!
While your prospects may be in autohypnosis, they still do have radars, and those radars will pick up on key phrases and words‐‐just like Google search!
You've got to keep below the manipulation radar!
This doesn't mean you're about to attack them. It means every time "you share with them", you listen to their answers, you hang on to every word, you show interest in them, you focus on them. (Yes, sharing includes lots and lots of listening!) This will encourage them to share with you more because you have built more trust. This will inspire them to give you more attention!
Stage 2: Strategic Intervention
Strategic Intervention Facilitates Attention.
What do I mean? Let me share a little story from the movies to help you understand better. I know you may not be a big fan of Star Trek, but I am, so here goes!
In the film, Star Trek: Generations, while trying to repair his damaged starship, the Enterprise, Captain Kirk is caught into an energy ribbon called the "Nexus". This ribbon of energy is
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basically another dimension, in which anything you want or dream about actually comes true. You actually get to live your dream life there.
Fast forward 75 years, and the captain of the new Enterprise starship is Captain Jean Luc Picard. To make a long, breathtaking story short, while pursuing an insane villain, Captain Picard also gets sucked into the "Nexus"!
Suddenly Picard finds himself in a Christmas day dinner with a ready‐made family which he has only dreamt about all these years. All his friends who had died are all there to share in the fun.
This is his perfect, ideal life, the one which he has dreamt about again and again, and suddenly he has it!
Number one: He is HYPNOPOMPIC.
Number two: He has been given supreme INTERVENTION which has fulfilled his every want and need.
Number three: It all appears REAL. He can feel and touch it.
Number four: He can see the BENEFITS. He is experiencing them.
Number five: He starts to believe it, and he begins to enjoy his new environment. He is happy but, ...
Number six: His LOGIC starts to question his surroundings. He starts asking questions.
He's confused!
Number seven: An old friend appears in front of him, a friend to answer his questions. This friend explains to him that he is in the "Nexus" and anything he dreams, anything he wants will be a reality. He can literally have anything without any effort whatsoever.
Number eight: A‐HA, he suddenly realizes, "This is not real," and he becomes fully aware!
He realizes his mortality has been lost. There is no purpose anymore, no meaning, no connection, no uncertainty. And he doesn't want it!
Number nine: He starts ASKING more questions, like how he can get back and save his starship and those lives taken by the insane villain. His old friend reveals that Captain Kirk is also inside the "Nexus" and may be able to help him!
Picard is shocked, but in another ah‐ha moment, he decides to take action and locate Kirk.
He soon finds Kirk, who's also living his dream life in a log cabin by the countryside. But no matter what Picard says to Kirk about helping him save numerous innocent lives, Kirk does not want
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to know! He's having every need, every want fulfilled all the time‐‐why would he want to leave that kind of a world?
Picard shouts, he pleads, he forces, but Kirk would not budge. He's so happy in his autohypnotic state.
Picard then realizes he has to change his approach.
So how does Picard eventually persuade Kirk to join him? Well, Picard starts to SHARE in Kirk's world. He starts cooking with him, riding horses with him, and all kinds of outdoor activities with him.
Picard dives into Kirk's hypnotized state and starts to see Kirk's viewpoint to understand him.
And guess what happens? Kirk starts to like him! He sees a kindred spirit in Picard. He realizes they shared something very special‐‐they have both captained the Enterprise, they have both been the heroes, they have both saved lives when called upon‐‐they have fulfilled their highest calling!
Kirk suddenly realizes he can't be a hero anymore, because the life he's living now is not real.
There's no more adventure. Through this process Picard starts to intervene and in small ways shares with Kirk what it's really like to captain the Enterprise, how many lives are at stake, that they are the only ones who can save everyone, etc.
And at the right moment Kirk is called to action.
You can only call people to action, i.e. get them to buy from you, when you are fulfilling their need, not yours, and they can see that clearly. You will be a resource to them because you are facilitating a life improvement. That's when you have become the MESSENGER, not the salesperson.
People love messengers in every form, only if they bring good news!
Stage 3: Attention
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This word means "taking notice". If we really break it down, if someone is taking notice of you, they are literally "interested" in what you're saying. To me, attention is a better word to describe how people buy from you. Without it, you will never generate interest because they are not
Here's something I've believed for a very long time, which was recently confirmed by another coach and lecturer, Rick Shrefner. It is now believed that nearly 75 per cent of people suffer from ADD‐‐not just children who are hyperactive, but everyday people like you and me. That's most people!
Here's a little secret about me: I get bored very easily. If I don't find something useful or meaningful to occupy my time, I'll get bored quickly. Then I'll turn on the TV, phone a friend, listen to some music, go out, or whatever. I will do almost anything, just so that I don't get bored!
Now that I've said this, you'll probably become aware of other people who are like this. Have you noticed how most people respond to beeps, clicks and ringtones, like they have been programmed by their own mobile phone or PDA? Their mind and body is hypnotized to those sounds! If not, why would people read and react to text messages while they were talking to you?
Why else would they laugh, frown, or stare and stare at those messages, and then excuse themselves to absorb what those messages were saying and then reply them while they are sitting love getting messages! Getting a message actually lifts a person's self‐esteem. It somehow makes people feel wanted. And you are going to have to deal with many ADD prospects and clients! So you'll have to find a way to keep or retain their attention.
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They just have not "seen" the benefit yet of listening or paying attention to you!
So, you have to allow them to see the benefits very quickly in the buying cycle, not all of the benefits, just a few. If you do a really good job of this, they will literally tell you, "You know what, I'm just going to make this last call and turn off my phone. I need to listen to this!"
Yes, that's right, they will actually say that. And when it happens be very thankful, because that means a hell of a lot! In fact, in this day and age, it means so much that it's nearly as good as closing the deal! It's very close to that achievement! So yes, if they want to turn off their mobile phones, they are paying attention.
If you want to, you could ask them to turn off their phones before making your presentation.
But a lot of people don't like this as it may appear to them that you are trying to take control of them‐‐and it could backfire!
There has to be a very logical reason why they should turn off their phone and pay attention to you.
Indeed a mobile phone these days is an extra limb‐‐without one most people feel completely helpless! It's a massive part of their lives because it keeps them connected to their support system which has a massive influence on their lives and their decision making.
So to keep their attention‐‐and I'll be talking a lot more on this in the "Psychoponics" section of this book, you need to FLASH some of the benefits in front of them for them to keep taking notice!
You have to reveal something that will get their attention, and they have to see it.
Another analogy for you: I'm sure most of you reading this book have been to the cinema before because you wanted to watch a certain movie. But what got you there?
Well, here's an answer. Whenever you watch a movie, they will always put the start time about twenty minutes before the actual feature film. They do this as a strategy to make you watch trailers or PREVIEWS of upcoming NEW movies. This is so they can sell you to keep coming back and watching more movies!
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And these previews are never boring. They are jam‐packed with all the best possible bits in the film, and they edit it in such a way that you want to know how it turns out! If it's an action movie, they'll show the best explosions, car chases, thrills and spills‐‐everything to get you excited enough to go and see it! If it's a comedy, they'll show you the really funny clips to get your attention and eventually peak your interest.
These trailers will also leave you feeling confused, and that is exactly what they are supposed to do. Confusion leads to frustration, and people usually want to fill that "hole" with what you are selling to them. But for now, here are two of the more common ones if they are paying attention. They would sound something like these: "So, how does that work then?" and "Would it be
Now, what you're asking your customer is a CLOSING QUESTION, but know that I would never ask a closing question until I knew when the best time was, and the best time to ask a closing question is when you have their attention and they’re interest. This is absolutely crucial in winning your customer.
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Knowing when to close the deal can make you suddenly rich,
because more customers will buy from you when you know when to ask the right questions!
And please note:
You can only close a customer when you have opened them!