A short conversational coaching piece where Chris Collins coaches Adam on improving sales outcomes by identifying and engaging the true decision maker, improving pre-meeting discovery (questionnaire) and using a needs-analysis that elicits emotional responses. Covers practical tactics: ask who the decision maker is, probe previous vendor experience, use emotional questions to create urgency, and pre-suasion techniques to frame the meeting.
Chapters
You know, a lot of your leverage is saying no to deals that aren't stacked in your favor.
Right, sure.
And so I'm not going to go present to a bunch of people that can't make a decision at the end of the day that then are going to interpret it to the decision maker and with their context and their view. So one of the things I would add to your process is, okay, who are the decision makers? Who's going to be making this decision? Is it a committee decision or is it one person? And that's a common question to ask up front. You're not going to be insulting anybody.
Okay, so I guess I, you know, my take on that. Was it my. I haven't been as pushy as I should have in asking those questions. You know, you're saying that they're not, they're not going to take offense to that. I don't know.
I just try to accommodate to whatever they're trying to do, whoever, whoever's going to be on the meeting, that sort of thing. But, you know, like one, for example, I probably wasted hours between the proposal and the meetings and everything. And you're right, I never once met with the decision maker. He was always too busy doing something else. The owner of the company. And I was left presenting to his underlings, who, you're probably right. You know, they interpret it however they will and pass on the message to him and just turned into months of waiting and then it turns out they hired somebody else. Yeah, I need to do some better follow up, figuring out who that decision maker is.
Well, or better pre game, really. So it's pre game, the more information you have up front. So do you have a questionnaire that you ask up front?
Yeah. Yeah.
So what? Give me an example of what's on that questionnaire.
It's more so geared towards, like, what they want to do with their Internet marketing. What campaigns have they seen that maybe other competitors or other companies have done that, they really like that sort of thing.
How often they're going to update the website, what kind of functionality they're going to need, that sort of thing.
Okay. Are there questions on there about their previous website and their previous experiences and that sort of thing?
No.
So I would ask him, like, what don't you like about your current website and what, you know, when you had it built, what was your experience and what did you like and not like? Okay, because. And so there's two things here, and we might. We're getting a little off track to Adam and I'm sorry so tell me if I'm wasting your time, but I just feel some of this is good conversation for you is you're, you know, you're going to learn that they're as much the problem as you are. And them telling you these sort of things helps them confess and you're taking them down a path, sales path, you know, and so when they talk about the things that they didn't like before and what, why they want to redo it and what functionality they want and all that, you're. You're getting into their emotions and their feelings and that's what, you know, that's what you want. Like, I have somebody in a syndicate that I have that owns a gym, and he just sent me a text this morning that he's at a hundred percent closing ratio for new clients coming in off the ads he's doing into a trainer package. Because we did a needs analysis where we're talking about, okay, how much energy do you have? We have them take off their shirt, we take pictures, we have them touch their toes. How many pushups can you do? And by the end of this needs analysis, they're like, oh my God, I'm a fat slob and I need a trainer. What do I do? But most of the time you go in and people are like, so do you like working out? Well, no, I don't like working out. Well, do you feel healthy? I don't know. You know, you got to get into the feelings and have like a needs analysis up front that takes them on an emotional journey that they're like, wow, nobody asked us those questions. And like, here, let me give you an example. I heard this from Cialdini, who wrote Influence and Persuasion. Was, was in a meeting I was in and he told the story about this guy that got hired. He documented getting hired for jobs that he was not qualified for over people that were qualified and even I think is like a lawyer. And he didn't even have a law degree or something because the very first thing he did when they called him in to an interview is the two dudes interviewing him or the people interviewing him. He would go, the, the interview would start and go, hey, hold on. Right before we start, can I ask you a, you guys a question? And then be like, yeah, sure. And you go, can you tell me what about my resume made me stick out that you thought I was the right one for the job? And now they start selling him on why they called him in for an interview.
Yeah.
And that's pre suasion. Right. And so your game up front in selling this and what questions you ask and how you frame yourself is what's going to happen on the back end. So I would be really pissed at myself if I called and followed up and they said, well, it wasn't my decision. Like, you got to be talking to the person who's making a decision. So even in the room, after you've asked a bunch of really relevant questions to say, okay, now whose decision is this going to be? And then make a joke because you're in Vegas and say, okay, well, do I send the hookers to your room? Or what do you guys do in Vegas to. To kind of grease the clients a little bit. Is it hookers or Chippendales or what do you guys do?
No, no. I mean, okay, well, don't use my jokes, but pull one of my connections and get them in a show or some kind of event.
Yeah, but no hookers there. There you go. Like, there. Even that joke, right? Like, you can soften it. But now you know who. Who's.
