I know: You’re awesomely excited about what you do.
And when you talk to people in person at networking or live events, you’re also a little bit nervous. Add to the mix someone who looks like your ideal client and the stage is set for disaster.
Because at the first opportunity, your mouth is off to the races, drowning your prospect with a deluge of details that overwhelms them and drives them away.
Death by over-talking … again. Ugh!
Here’s a better plan: What if you could entice interest naturally, tempting them with just enough details to make them want to know more? Instead of a tidal wave of yakety-yak?
You can, when you master ‘The Art of the Tease’: Strategies that ignite waves of curiosity and yearning, instead of confusion.
While there are a lot of ways to do this, here are four I’ve found extremely effective in quickly escalating the interest factor talking to prospects who don’t know you.
The Art of the Ask
Questions raise possibilities.
When you’re talking with a prospect, it works a lot better to ask them what they want. Instead of pummeling them with details on what you do.
- Questions create engagement.
- Questions move them from being fixated on the problem, to being open to a solution.
- Questions put the person you’re talking to center stage, and make them feel heard.
- Questions let them know you’re more interested in where they’re coming from, than where you want to take them.
But more important: Questions ensure that when you make an offer or an invitation, it’s a RESPONSE to what they want most. An escape from what’s troubling them. And a bridge to where THEY SAID they want to go.
To enroll clients fast, you have to offer what they want. To offer what they want, you have to KNOW what they want.
And questions are the fastest way to get you there.
Don’t step in it
Most coaches, consultants and business owners screw things up from the start by stepping on the “I’m a … “ Land Mine.
As in:
- “I’m a life coach.”
- “I’m a business consultant.”
- “I’m a Facebook ads expert.”
- “I’m a social media manager.”
Because the moment the first words out of your mouth are “I’m a … “ the immediate response in their mind is, “Uh-oh, one of those!”
HOT TIP: Prospects are always looking for a way to know you’re not the one. And starting a discussion with “I’m a …” is the fastest way to drown a possibility.
Outside they may be smiling. But inside they’re looking for a tactful exit because they’ve already pegged who they believe you are and what you do.
Instead, come up with a solution-based response that focuses on the outcome you deliver, framed in such a way that almost always elicits a follow-up question.
“I help entrepreneurs double their conversion rate while cutting their Ad Costs.”
“I guide mid-level managers to boost their income and authority landing their Next Level Dream Job in six months or less.”
It doesn’t matter ‘what you do’ if you have what they want.
When the first thing out of my mouth is irresistable, solves their biggest issue, creates insatiable curiosiity (or preferably all three), the next thing out of their mouth is intense inteterest in if I can make it happen for them.
“What would it be like if … “
Too many of us dive right into long explanations of how what we do works.
The problem is:
Our prospects don’t care how it works.
Until they know what it does for them.
And how that makes them feel.
You can help them actually feel the impact of what you can do for them RIGHT NOW, by asking “What would it be like if … “ questions:
“What would it be like if you could double your rates right now … and enroll MORE clients?”
“What would it be like if you had your pick of amazing, intelligent men to date? Instead of leaving it to chance?”
“What would it be like if your ads attracted a steady stream of perfect clients to your door, month after month?”
When you ask these questions, you increase your prospects’ desire for what you do by connecting them with how they will FEEL once they have that outcome. It’s very powerful.
At some point they are going to want to know how you do the amazing thing you do.
But if you get lost in the weeds explaning BEFORE you connect them with the impact of your outcome, you turn a potentially tantalizing, magnetic discussion into one they want to walk away from.
Don’t make them wrong
The “Magic Wish” Question
Too many entrepreneurs put their prospects on the defensive and rev-up their resentment by making them wrong right off the boat. How?
By asking questions like, “So what is your biggest problem? Where are you struggling with the most?”
Everyone has issues. But NO ONE likes to admit them, especially to a total stranger, in public, at a networking event.
Instead entice them with the Magic Wish question:
“If I could grant you one Magic Wish with your Facebook Ads right now … what would it be?”
“If I could grant you one Magic Wish in relationship right now … what would it be?”
“If I could grant you one Magic Wish that will help you enroll a lot more clients what will it be?”
You will still get insight about their biggest problem or challenge. But you’ll do it in a way that revs-up the conversation, instead of shutting it down.
The bottom line is:
Drawing your prospects in by using their own desire and yearning to propel the sale forward, is more effective than dragging them into your business.
Or attempting to explain your way to a client.
It can feel weird at first. But try a few of the four “teasers” above the next time you’re in a discussion with someone new.
And I believe you’ll see an increase in interest, engagement and most important of all: Enrollments!
Would clients who pay you what you’re worth be your Magic Wish for 2021?
That’s what we all want. The problem is, finding ways to ensure more of the folks you talk to can afford you.
If that’s what you’re searching for, I can help. With 21 specific suggestions that can make your high end client search a whole lot easier. Take a look!
