A common theme in sales books and courses is for the prospect to convince themselves to buy your offer; and to do that you must “keep them in the pain”.   

Humans have a learned behavior to be polite. It’s a huge part of social conduct in school, and then in work. Being polite also hinders the sales funnel. 

Let’s say I fix widgets for a living. It’s a family entertainment contraption. A prospect calls and wants to know if I can take a look at their family widget to see if I can fix it. I take a look, say yes, and give my quote for the amount of work, time and tools involved. 

They say, ‘oh that’s more than I wanted to spend…’ and the deal’s off. Why? Because they were focused on one thing – the amount of money they will have to part with all to get this fixed. 

Clients Are Focused On The Wrong Thing

Let’s look at the same request, and include chipping away at the pain iceberg.

  • Me: so tell me, what do you use your widget for, mostly? 
  • Client: well my family and I use it on weekends for fun. 
  • Me: so I guess you can say this widget represents family bonding time, right? 
  • Client: yes, we’ve had a lot of laughs around this widget. 
  • Me: who else uses this widget? 
  • Client: well we’re the only ones in this neighborhood with one, so we have our friends over to enjoy it with us. 
  • Me: So this widget is pretty important for having fund with your family and your friends. What did you use to do before you got it? 
  • Client: ugh, we’d just watching tv or get lost in our individual gadgets. 
  • Me: sounds like it brought your family closer? 
  • Client: yes, there’s more together-time because of it. so can you fix it? 
  • Me: yes, here’s my price. 
  • Client: whoa. That’s more than what I wanted to spend. 
  • Me: I can appreciate that. What has your family done since it’s been broken? 
  • Client: we fell into old routines of separation. I hate it. I miss the family fun and laughs. Can you fix it next week? 

As you can see, we’re drilling down past the price and focusing on the true value of what your service means to the customer. It’s no longer about cost; it’s about bringing the family together.   

When you ask questions to help the client reveal the true importance and value, they have divulged their emotional desires and decided to move forward. 

Here’s What You Can Do 

  • Think of all the possible reasons your clients want, need, and value your service. 
  • Remember past conversations when clients have revealed the deeper layers of the iceberg.  
  • Make a list of non-intimidating questions to add to your consultative session.  
  • Never be satisfied with a quick view of the top, polite, layer of the iceberg.  
  • Practice and modify your list of questions as you go along. 

Chipping away until you see the deeper levels can be done with caring and grace. You want to give your client the best service and affect a transformation, so you need to be in on the full story. Understand that your questions are meant to provide them with the best possible service, as well as to help them realize they want your offer. 

If you’d like to discuss how this might work in your field, schedule a free consultation with me. If you have a true challenge and would like us to roll up our sleeves and work on it together, book a Strategy 360. It’s a comprehensive experience aimed at getting you moving in the right direction with confidence and clarity.