Now what do you call the white part of an egg?
Did you say yolk? Really?
What I just did was frame the question to get the answer I wanted. Are you asking questions in the right way to get to your prospect's criteria and values? Our prospects have absolutely no idea how much information they are giving us when they answer the right questions.
Asking better questions can give us better, deeper answers.
How do you think this would go over? Say I were to look at you as a brand new client, who has never bought anything from me before and let's say I'm there to help them with wealth planning throughout the generations and I say, "Would you just tell me the two or three things that you need to hear me say today to make you buy? Just tell me so that we can get this part out of the way. Go ahead. I'm listening."
Would this work? Nope. Most likely it would not. They might ask you to leave or they'd get up and walk out. And yet with criteria elicitation, it's magical how they gladly and freely give away the very same information. It's because the way we're asking is disguised.
Your prospects don't understand what they're giving you when you ask the 'what's important about. . .' way of criteria elicitation. It's very rare that you find someone who gives you resistance to this. Even if they did understand what they were giving you, it is socially correct to find out what they need prior to recommending a product or service. Doctors don't prescribe medicine prior to finding out about your medical history, finding out if you have allergies or without finding out why you're there to see them. Neither do consultants, lawyers, or sales people. We can't give people recommendations if we don't know what they want or need.
The thing to remember is that we are setting people's minds up so that we can enter them. Like: what's the white part of an egg called?
When I ask, 'what's important about X?' or 'if I were a magician and I had a magic wand and I could wave it and get you anything in business you want, what would it be?' I am listening very intently for where you have the strongest emotional reaction to one of the words that you're saying.
We're opening the people's minds. We're opening them to their own desires, to their own things.
Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to sell to affluent clients using persuasion strategies. He runs unique public and private seminars and offers home study courses, audio/visual learning tools, and coaching programs in persuasion techniques. Find more free articles at www.MAXpersuasion.com/blog. Be sure to sign up for his free report entitled "Yes! Persuasion."