Are you having a hard time getting people to agree to your meetings?

Well, it could be because of the paradox of choice. 

Lots of studies have shown that actually the more choices we get, the more paralyzed we become in making those choices. 

So why not do what I do when I close for a meeting? 

Don’t give choices. Only give one option. Don’t say, “Are you free on a Tuesday or a Thursday?” Just ask if they’re free on Tuesday. And if they’re not, stay silent and let them offer up another time that they’re free. 

By having them self-select their choices instead of wading through yours, they’re more inclined to engage and they’ll be more decisive. 

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Want to keep someone on the phone a little bit longer?

Try adding some molasses to your next call. 

The truth is, even though our instincts tell us to speak quickly, if we’re worried about getting rushed off the phone, it doesn’t work. If you talk very, very fast, it’s quite easy for someone to find a place to get me to stop and to say, “Sorry, you got me at the wrong time.”

But if I talk with a little more syrup and honey to my voice, it’s actually harder and harder to figure out where to insert the interruption to get me to stop. 

So if you want your conversations to go longer than maybe they usually do, slow it down instead of speeding it up. 

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Still not certain that your customer has the requisite power to close? 

Well, the answer might be right on their desktop. 

We talk a lot about org charts and their ability to help us navigate and steer through complicated organizations and complicated deals, but there’s a hidden advantage in closing for an org chart: not everybody has one. 

In fact, the only people in a company that have ready access to an org chart on their desktop would be someone who’s doing the hiring and firing and budgetary planning that would require an org chart to be on their desktop. And that sounds like someone with power. 

So why not do what I do early in the opportunity? Ask your prospect to send you a copy of their org chart. If they refuse or they take too long to respond, that might be an indication that they don’t even have access to an org chart to send you.

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Are you looking to get people to open up more at your next meeting? 

Well try making them the subject matter expert for a change. 

We’re always so desperate to show credibility at these meetings. Why don’t we let the other person feel credible and ask them questions about their industry – not our industry – but the world that they come from. 

By asking them questions on topics that we don’t have a great understanding of, it kind of puts that person in a place where they get to be the expert and they get to teach us about their world. 

By doing so, they’ll feel good about the conversation and know that they’re being heard. 

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Struggling to find urgency in your pitch? 

Well, you might want to focus on the post sales experience.

People are less interested in what you do and more interested in how they get to use it. So focus on how your prospect would actually use your service after they purchase as part of your pitch. 

By focusing them on the post-sales experience, you focus them on the best part of the process, which is actually getting the goods.

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Not happy with your cold call response rates? 

You might want to travel south. 

The problem with those messages is they’re all focused on the brain, which is not the place I want to be when I’m prospecting. We spend so much time trying to build a message that will be filled with value and benefit.

Before we can get someone interested, we have to get their attention first. And what better way to do that than by talking about the only topic they care about: themselves. 

Resist the temptation to do a value proposition or elevator pitch in email one, and instead focus on the prospect. Get their attention first, and then you can work on their brain and their interest. 

For more Hacks, check out our YouTube page.

Are you looking to inspire more engagement on your next discovery call? 

Well, you might want to slow roll the talk on their project a bit. 

I know we’re anxious to get into the meat of the meeting and talk about the project at hand, but the truth is, as soon as we do that, we’ll be mired in such detail that it’ll be very hard to really get above the clouds and get into the real value and meaning of why they’re making a change. 

So want to do what I do? 

Resist the temptation to jump into the details on their project for at least the first 15 minutes of your meeting, and instead, focus on the larger activities going on in the organization so that context is yours when you start to move the opportunity down the pipe.

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Want to get along better with your prospects? 

Quit being their dentist. 

“Sell to pain.” “Sell to pain.” “Sell to pain.” We’ve been hearing this forever and it’s not bad advice when we’re selling, but prospecting the pain is generally a terrible idea. It’s the same reason why we don’t like seeing our dentist that regularly. 

So why not do what I do? 

Focus your early conversations on things the prospect’s doing well: their growth, their expansion, the strength of their products. Then move into pain conversations after you’ve established a little bit of like in the room. 

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Are you having a hard time getting your customer’s cell phone number?

How about try a minor major close? 

Minor major close is a close you use when you want something pretty major, like a cell phone number, but you get it by making it seem like it’s no big deal. 

And how do we do that? We do that by offering our number first. If I’m going to give you my number and it’s no big deal, then me asking for it shouldn’t be a big deal either. 

So why not do what I do? 

Wait until you scheduled a meeting or some significant call to action or next step. Once you have, say the following to your customer, “Are you in front of your computer, Bob?” 

“I am.”  

“My cell phone number is (617) 555-1212. What’s yours?” 

And wait and see just how many cell phone numbers you’re going to start to get with this little approach. 

For more Hacks, check out our YouTube page.

Want to know the best way to ask a customer for a meeting?

The answer is in using what’s known as a direct close. 

A direct close for a meeting needs to include two things beyond asking for the meeting. You actually have to be clear on when this meeting request expires and how long is this meeting for. People can’t agree to meetings unless they know what they’re agreeing to. 

So next time, instead of saying, “When are you free to meet?” Say, “What is the easiest way to schedule 30 minutes on your calendar this week?” 

By giving the customer that level of specificity makes it easy for them to make a decision. And as far as I’m concerned, when I’m asking for meetings, I prefer to leave all the ambiguity to the side. 

For more Hacks, check out our YouTube page.