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E-ssential
Message # 045:
Why little questions get bigger sales.
A common sales technique that I've seen taught in countless workshops and seminars is to ask the question, 'what's the biggest challenge you face in your business?'
But the response you often get back, (unless you have already established a relationship with the other person), is either a blank stare like a deer caught in your headlights, a defensive answer that doesn't give anything away, or the expected, generic stuff like more clients, increased productivity, etc, etc...
In the Essential Message, I help people build their businesses by taking the exact opposite approach, but I could never explain why it works until I picked up a copy of "The Kaizen Way" by Robert Maurer, Ph. D.
This is a great little book that teaches you how to unleash the 'potent force of kaizen, the Japanese way of achieving great and long-lasting success through small, steady steps.' Although I'm sure Dr. Maurer didn't intend it, he also provides wonderful validation for the Essential Message.
Click on the image to watch a 2 minute video that Bob Hooey (www.secretsellingtips.com) took of me explaining why little questions get bigger sales! |
In the second chapter, he explains that the brain loves questions: questions are simply excellent ways to engage the brain. No surprise there. (If you've taken a good stroll through the Essential Message website, you might be familiar with the article I wrote which is available for reprint, called, 'The Selling Power of the Provocative Question'.)
The next thing he says is that big questions actually choke any possibility of a thoughtful or creative response. Why? Because big questions shut down the cortex and trigger the fight-or-flight response in the amygdala.
Who knew?
So instead of asking the 'big, important and generic' questions, start thinking about little questions -- little questions with specifics that people can actually relate to, little questions that tiptoe past the amygdala and allow the cortex to give you something meaningful, and little questions that allow people to get truly engaged in the conversation!
And now that you know this, how might you use it in the next five minutes? (grin)
Happy New Year,
P.S. I want to start 2008 with a brand new 'In Conversation' series of teleclasses. Reserve your spot for the first one on January 23, with Jacques Werth, author of High Probability Selling!
Who is Michel Neray and What's The Essential Message?
The Essential Message is about discovering your true differentiation and then learning how to communicate it in the most compelling way. But higher sales, greater alignment of sales and marketing and a stronger brand position aren't the only reasons why so many independent professionals, entrepreneurs and emerging companies rave about The Essential Message.
Clients also say that one of the biggest advantages of the Essential Message approach is how it helps them gain the confidence, momentum and resilience that can only come from being absolutely clear about their strengths and unique difference – as companies and as individuals.
The Essential Message was created by Michel Neray based on 25 years as an award-winning copywriter, an entrepreneur, a tradeshow pitchman and a senior sales and marketing executive. (He also rides motorcycles, does whitewater canoeing, and has his 2nd degree black belt in karate.)
For information about our corporate facilitation, copywriting and consulting services, or booking Michel to speak at your conference, please call 416 534-4766 or link to www.EssentialMessage.com.
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