I’m going to share with you how to create a system that helps you get clients, improve your close rates and save time.
LOSE-LOSE
There’s nothing worse than losing a deal and not be able to close a prospect. Your client isn’t getting the help they need, and you still have that coaching spot you need to fill. It ends up being a lose-lose.
LESSONS OF LOST DEALS
You’re left wondering what you could have done better to close the deal. Hopefully what remains are the lessons you learned. It can be frustrating when your prospect isn’t seeing the transformation and value you’re providing through your services. In the end, it can feel like a waste of time.
WASTED MY TIME
There are very few sales conversations where the prospect wouldn’t benefit from what I have to offer. To me, each conversation is a Divine Appointment, and I don’t believe I was put on the call to hear some bullshit excuse. If someone gets close enough to take my 1:1 time, I’m ready to get to work.
I know how terrible it feels when you can see the value your work would bring to the person on the other end of the call, but you can’t help them.
It’s very disappointing when this happens. In the end, you must take complete responsibility for the outcome. In doing so, you stand in the power of your potential.
SYSTEMS & STORIES
One of the first automated application systems I built was for a client in the financial industry. This was back in the late nineties when I was a software developer and consultant. It was very similar to a credit card application that you would expect from applying for a new credit card or a mortgage.
The web application fed into the three credit scoring agencies (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion) and then went into the CRM database and assigned it to a sale rep based on some scoring rules. This was cutting edge for small business at the time. In those days, I learned how to create systems that were followed the psychology of a sales process.
I have built a number of application systems over the course of my business career. Today, you’re lucky because creating the system with web apps like typeform.com make it simple to build in minutes. The hardest part is coming up with the type of questions you should be asking.
THE APPLICATION ANSWER
The purpose of using an application to help facilitate sales is to accomplish these seven goals:
- ANTICIPATION
- SCARCITY
- INDOCTRINATION
- POWER
- AUTHORITY
- RECIPROCITY
- INVESTMENT
Let’s take a deep dive into each of these goals.
ANTICIPATION
Anticipation is key to attracting clients. Too many coaches are eager to work with people, but in order to attract clients, they must be eager to work with you. It’s just how it works.
When you make your coaching calendar open for all, nobody wants it; there’s nothing to anticipate or work toward. It will be perceived that “It’s always there.” You must lead them into putting effort into working with you with a degree of anticipation.
I wish it wasn’t like this, but it’s human nature. When you know this, you can be a fucking magnet that will attract more clients that will beg you to work with them.
Some people will give access to their calendar after the application, which is OK. I personally send them to my assistant with clear instructions on how to follow-up.
I don’t need them, and I’m often a flake because they want to work with me and need me more than I need them. This might sound terrible, but I spent too many years chasing people who needed help. They now chase me.
SCARCITY
Your time and energy are finite, and you don’t have to give it away from free. In order to create some boundaries, you need to introduce scarcity using time constraints. There is a giving and receiving to reciprocity, and unless you honor this universal rule, you will end up giving and giving more than you need to.
You can only work with so many people and you must honor this, even if you don’t have any clients. Whatever you do, don’t use free calls.
This includes:
- Clarity Calls
- Discovery Calls
- Strategy Sessions
- Or, whatever you want to call them…
I’ve tried it both ways, so trust me on this.
INDOCTRINATION
It’s an industry practice to include some indoctrination content that a prospect must watch or read prior to filling out the application. I typically will use a combination of text and video testimonials to help the prospect to understand the value, results, and ROI of my life-changing work.
This is very similar to how the credit card companies will send a fake credit card in their direct mail pieces. They do this because it resonates on the subconscious level, using sight and touch of being able to spend money with a new card.
In both cases, they’re able to visualize and experience what it would be to work with me. Even better is that I’m not doing any selling here, my current clients are doing the convincing for me.
POWER
When you follow the natural laws of reciprocity, you’re more able to stay in the flow of giving and receiving. If you do not lead with the constraint of this law, you will have your energy drained and time wasted. The problem is that too many coaches give away their power, authority, and too much of themselves as they chase clients.
The prospect knows this in their subconscious, so they’ll either take more than they give or the right people will be turned off by your free offers. No matter how you look at it, it’s the wrong way to start the relationship.
Honor this rule — lead with your power and stop giving it away. People pay you for your presence and power — everything else is just fluff.
AUTHORITY
During your application, you need to ask the authoritative questions to see if they are the RIGHT FIT FOR YOU. You want them to think, “I hope I’m good enough to work with them.” If you give your power and authority away, you won’t be able to create the change you want to create in people’s lives.
I need clients, but my clients need me more than I need them. They need me because I know their PAINS & PROBLEM and their DREAMS & DESIRES better than I know myself. And, I know how to help them close the gap so they get what they want.
You’ll look like the authority when you get on the phone with them because you already know the gap between their PAINS & PROBLEM and their DREAMS & DESIRES. You’re not wasting your time trying to figure these things out on the phone. Instead, you can powerfully show up with an authoritative solution.
It’s as simple as “This is where you’re at. This is what you want. This is how I can help. This is how much I charge. Yes or No?” It’s that simple.
RECIPROCITY
When you attract a new prospect into your field, usually through some sort of content, you have already provided some value. You need to lead the conversation to the next step by making it easy for your prospect to reciprocate the value you provide.
Since you just provided some sort of value, it’s not your job to give more value, but to ask them to provide something in return while you are leading them. This can be an email, watching a testimonial video, reading some content or applying to work with you. The important thing to remember is that it’s all about leading while understanding the context.
INVESTMENT
When you provide something of value, people tend to want to give back and reciprocate the value you provided. In the context of creating a system that’ll attract new prospects into your business, give them a clear path to reciprocation.
When you can guide them in how to work with you, you can direct them into investing their time to filling out your coaching application. You can also use techniques to ensure your prospects are investing their time to ensure you are getting only the right people on the phone.
Some of these techniques include:
- Reading or watching testimonials
- Case Studies
- Videos Sales Letter
- Funnel Sequence
Whatever you do, don’t give people direct access to your coaching calendar. I tried and it didn’t work.
QUESTIONS
Now that you have properly aligned your energy to attract the right clients, you must ensure you’ll resonate with your potential client. This will also help weed out the ones who aren’t the right fit. The best way to do this is through your line of questioning.
The general format you want to follow will take them on a journey of transmission that is very similar to the sales process you will use to close your prospects and turn them into clients.
The areas you must identify through your questioning are the following:
- THE BASICS
- THE PAINS
- THE DESIRES
- THE GAP
- THE EXCUSE
- THE CLOSE
- THE FUCK YES OR NO
Are you ready to get started?
You’ll have to tailor these question to the specific PAINS & PROBLEMS and DREAMS & DESIRES that you specialize in for the work you offer. It’s important to follow the key areas and line of questioning outlines. You are taking your prospect on a journey to realizing the specific outcomes and results they desire.
THE BASICS
You want to ease into your questioning by starting with the easiest questions first.
Here are some basic questions you can open with:
- Age
- Sex
- Contact
- Website
- Social Media
THE PAINS
I ask questions about the problems but also include inquiries about the feelings involved with the problem. This helps tap into the subconscious feeling and is where decisions are made from.
Ask them what they are struggling with:
- What problems are you dealing with today?
- What’s keeping you from what you really want?
- What keeps you up at night?
- What things cause you stress?
THE DESIRES
I ask questions about their DREAMS & DESIRES which are the results and outcomes they seek. These can be specific external results or they can be feelings associated with specific outcomes. For example, people don’t want a million dollars, they want the feeling. When you can understand the external results they seek (health, wealth or love) and how they feel about it, you can connect deeper and build a great deal of trust that makes for an easier close on the phone.
Ask them what result they are looking to fulfill by asking something like:
- If you woke up tomorrow with any kind of life, what would that look like?
- What’s the one thing you want in life that you don’t have now?
- If I could help you solve any problem, what would you get out of it?
- What’s your one unmet desire?
- How do you want to feel?
- How would you feel if you reached your goals?
- How much money would you like to earn in the next year?
THE GAP
This is where the questioning gets little tougher because I’m trying to illuminate the gap between their PAINS & PROBLEMS and their DREAMS & DESIRES. I want them to see their current reality and the distance from what they want.
Here are some examples of the questions I can ask:
- How have you tried to solve this problem in the past?
- Have you ever hired someone to help you solve this problem?
- What have you tried in the past that didn’t work?
If they clearly stated their PAINS & PROBLEMS and their DREAMS & DESIRES, they’ll naturally see the gap. I’ll then start to ask them if they are ready to solve their PAINS & PROBLEMS and reach their DREAMS & DESIRES.
- Are you done playing small?
- Are you committed to solving your problems?
- How committed are you to getting what you want?
- Are you committed to solving your problems and creating your dreams?
- What are you willing to do to move from where you’re at today to where you want to go in the future?
This is a great place to qualify your prospects further and inform them of the money and time investments. This can be tricky because on one hand you don’t want to give them sticker shock, but you also want to weed out people who just aren’t ready to play at your level.
- What is your current revenues/salary?
- How much money do you want to make this coming year?
- Could you make more money with the right support?
- Can you invest time and money to reach your goals?
- Are you ready to invest in yourself?
THE EXCUSE
This is a great area to probe for possible excuses not to work with you.
You can ask questions like:
- Have you ever had a bad experience with a coach?
- Did you ever hired someone to help that didn’t work out?
- Do you fully trust in yourself?
- Can you accomplish your outcomes alone?
- Do you think you could do more with help?
For more on how to handle the bullshit excuses people will give you, read How To Flip A Lame-Ass Excuse Into A “FUCK YES!!!
THE CLOSE
Now you want to end on a positive note of possibility. I usually will ask them something like:
“If Steve could help you with ONE thing, what would that be?”
I’m doing a couple things here: I am helping them paint the picture of them working with me, and I’m helping them either fix ONE problem or helping the create ONE thing.
I want them to leave in anticipation of me helping them make their life or business better. In my own style, I then ask the final question.
FUCK YES or NO
“Are you ready to take the next step and up-level your business forever?”
This is the most important question on the application. In a way, you’re training your prospect into saying, “Yes” to working with you. With them filling out the application and answering the questions you are collecting the implicit “Yes!” But, you want to drive home the “FUCK YES!!!” at this major step right before they hit the submit button.
In my FREE sales guide, I use a very similar process of coaching the prospect into several small “Yes’s” at each step before I ask for a final “FUCK YES!!!” to my high-ticket offers.
YOU’RE A CLOSER
A coaching application will help you frame your sales calls so the majority of the selling is done without you doing any work. Imagine having a system that reduced the amount of time you needed to attract the right clients and help you close more clients, quicker!
After your prospect fills out your application they’re giving you all the information you need to close them on your next call.
SYSTEM OF SUCCESS
Do you want a system that gets more clients to say “FUCK YES!!!” to your offer? After you get the call scheduled through your application process it’s time to take the information they gave you and close them.
I created the 7 Steps You Need To Close Clients And Make Massive Money so that you can be the powerful closer that will create your dreams.
IT’S TIME TO CLOSE
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