Way of the Wolf: Straight Line Selling: Master the Art of Persuasion, Influence, and Success

 “John, let me just ask you a couple of quick questions, so I can best serve you.”

 “John, let me ask you just a couple of quick questions, so I can see exactly what your needs are.”

Any one of the above examples will set you up for a nonconfrontational intelligence-gathering session that promotes the building of rapport.

In addition, I want you to notice how I use the word “so” in the second half of each of the three examples. In this context, we refer to the word “so” as a justifier, because it justifies your need to ask the prospect questions, as opposed to doing it out of curiosity or nosiness.

In essence, in order to do your job correctly, there are certain things that you need to know in your capacity as an expert. By using a justifier, you can get that point across to your prospect loud and clear, and it paves the way for an even more productive intelligence-gathering session.

Rule #3: You must always use a script.

I’m only going to touch on this rule briefly, as the entire next chapter is dedicated to the creation of scripts and how they roll up into one cohesive presentation.

One of the key reasons why you want to always use a script for prospecting is that each industry has its own unique set of questions that need to be asked in a certain order.

If you try to wing it—as opposed to having all your questions mapped out in advance, in precisely the right order—then the chances of you remembering all the questions, or asking them all in the right order, is slim to none, and each mistake you make will have a negative impact on your ability to gather intelligence.

Another major benefit of using a prospecting script is that since you already know what words you’re going to say, your conscious mind is freed up to focus on applying the right tonality to your words, as well as on what your prospect is communicating back to you.

Are there any clues in their facial expression, or their tone of voice, or their general body language?

Again, I’m going to be digging into this in much greater detail in the following chapter, so let’s move on.

Rule #4: Go from less invasive questions to more invasive questions.

By asking non-invasive questions first, you give yourself the opportunity to start building rapport by actively listening to your prospect’s answers. It’s almost like peeling back the layers of an onion. Each non-invasive question that your prospect answers creates an even tighter state of rapport, which paves the way for you to ask successively more invasive questions.

Let me quickly show you how the wrong approach looks, using a stockbroker gathering intelligence from a wealthy prospect as an example.

After a brief introduction, during which the broker took control of the sale by establishing himself as an expert, he transitioned to the intelligence-gathering phase by asking for permission to ask questions, using the reasonable man tonality, to which the prospect replied, “Sure, go ahead,” which is how you can expect virtually every prospect to respond—provided that you’ve established yourself as an expert and asked for permission to ask questions using the correct tonality.

And now comes the broker’s first question, which is:

“So, tell me, John: how much money are you liquid for right now—including both your personal bank accounts and your different brokerage accounts around Wall Street? Oh, by the way, please include any mutual funds you have as well, as long as you can liquidate them within seven days.”

“Excuse me?” snaps the prospect, in a tone of incredulity. “I don’t even know you. Why on earth would I answer that?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” says the broker, in an apologetic tone. “Let me start with something else. What was your annual income last year, including any capital gains?”

No response.

“Just a ballpark,” the broker adds, trying to prod the prospect into answering. “You can round—”

Click!

“Hello?” says the broker to an empty telephone line. “Are you still there, John? Hello . . . hello?”

And, just like that, the sale is over before it even started.

With a huff and a puff, the prospect smashed the phone down in the broker’s ear, and had every justification to do it.

After all, the broker had simply not earned the right to ask him those types of invasive questions yet. Not only did he lack the required level of trust and rapport, but he also lacked the benefit of having an intangible aspect of human communication on his side—namely, the mitigating effect of desensitization.