After you read this blog post, click on him, add him as a friend, thank him for making this situation available to you as a learning experience.
I recently did a three-way call with a prospect that Destrie has been working on. Destrie used the techniques in the USANA Communication training available in Integritas Group to Connect, Develop, and Introduce USANA to his prospect.
His prospect is an owner of a martial arts studio and he approached the gentleman after taking his classes. He connected with him, developed a relationship and at the right time introduced USANA once a bridge was built. He got the guy as a customer and he is using the product now. Well done, Destrie.
Destrie then approached him about the business, because the owner was allowing Destrie to discuss the product with his members and he even did some sampling. It looked like this guy was definitely going to join the business. Once he started to get the guy to the close step, the guy balked and put him off with a "I don't have time" objection. Destrie did what he could to handle the objection, but eventually decided to get his upline, Jason Wells (me) on the phone. This was also great work by Destrie. He didn't allow the prospect to shut him down and made the three-way call happen.
He was a "no" when I got on the phone with him and was still a "no" after, however, the guy was intrigued after our conversation and asked for my phone number, so he is interested, but as an analytical personality, was complicating every little detail.
Destrie made an outline of what he learned on the three-way call.
Three-Way Calls & Learning
Before I get into "difficult prospects," I want to say that Destrie is becoming a downline that is going places, because he not only used the three-way call as a place to get help with a prospect, he used it as a learning tool.
The lessons I am going to list from here out are actually what Destrie came up with on his own.
Lesson #1: Ask questions about the objections prospects bring up.
When the prospect told me he was too busy, I asked him what he meant and he really couldn't give me an explanation other than he felt it would "take time." True, USANA can take time, but in his case, he had the contacts and Destrie had the time. He gets started in USANA, refers people to Destrie (like he already is doing), and he gets paid for it. No more time is spent than what is already doing. He still kept making excuses.
Lesson #2: To get the root of the objection, you have to ask a few questions to find out what is holding them back.
I kept digging, and what I discovered is that he didn't think he had the market in his studio for USANA. People wouldn't be interested in it. It's fine if Destrie does it and he can see how Destrie does, but he didn't want to get involved until he saw results. Funny, since all he had to do was continuing taking the product and spend $30 a registration fee.
The point is Destrie or I wouldn't have ever gotten that out of him had I not asked questions and dug deeper.
Lesson #3: Throughout the conversation, listen for clues on which personality type your prospect is.
After talking to this guy for about 5 minutes and applying the personality profiles contained in the USANA communication training found in Integritas Group, I knew this guy was analytical.
He got so tied up in details, he was afraid to say "yes" even though the risk of saying "yes" was 30 bucks. Nothing I could say or do could change his mind, so I felt that building a relationship with him at that point was my best route.
I wouldn't have known to "not push" him had I not known his personality type. Also, he was a green-red, so he had some direct controller in him (more on the relevance of this later).
Lesson #4: Be direct when questioning their objections.
I think this goes right along the lines of Chris' article earlier this week about "Having a Backbone with your Prospects."
This is what I didn't understand about this prospect. He said he was "skeptical" that this product would fit his studio, yet he was allowing Destrie to approach people about the product. To me, if I am skeptical of something, I am not going to let someone risk my current business and income (his clients) by talking to them about a product through a business that I am skeptical of.
So, I asked him that. I questioned him on his business decision to allow Destrie to talk to people when he himself didn't think the business was a fit for his gym. He laughed and said, "You know what..that is an excellent question...I haven't thought of it that way..." Then he says "Should I be worried about this product or Destrie?" in a very direct way. I said "No, the product and Destrie are fine, it's you that is the problem..."
Now, when you read this, you might think "Wow, I can't believe you talked to a prospect that way. Isn't that rude?" No. My tone wasn't rude, but I was direct, honest and he ended up respecting me.
Why did I get away with it? Remember when I said he had a bit of "red" or "controller" personality? There you go. I knew what I could get away with by understanding his personality type.
Lesson #5: Phrase your answers in way that helps them understand that you are trying to help them.
I think Destrie wrote this, because of something I said to him. I said to him: "I have no agenda here. You are already a customer, you are allowing people to talk to Destrie in the studio, so I have nothing to gain at this point by you joining the business. I just don't want USANA to have it easy. Why not pay both of you instead of one of you?"
That logic made sense to him, but again, he couldn't get around his objections.
Lesson #6: When they are skeptical, find out exactly what they are skeptical about.
I just asked him. What are skeptical about? That is when I found out that he didn't think he studio was a market. I asked him why and his response was "Because no one asks me about supplements...only nutrition and exercise..." Ding ding ding.
You see? He doesn't even see the opportunity here. When people ask me about nutrition and exercise (I'm 40, in good shape, and play volleyball at a high level, so people want to know what I do at my age), they don't know what they are asking. They just want to KNOW what I AM DOING. Just because they don't say "supplements or vitamins" doesn't mean that they wouldn't interested in it. They respect me for what I do at my age and they respect him as the instructor in the class.
I explained to him when people ask me that, I say, I eat "this way", I lift at the gym, do yoga, and take supplements and vitamins. People end up becoming customers, because one of the things I mention is supplements. They ask me, "What supplements do you take?" Ding ding.
So, after I explained that, he was silent (analytical processing), then he said, "You know, I didn't think about it that way....so, can I get your phone number, then I am going to pay attention from now on when people ask me those types of questions, and then maybe this is something that will work in future."
He is open now at least where when I got on the call, he was difficult, annoyed, and seemed like this call was going to be a formality in just saying "no" to Destrie and I.
Lesson #7: My personal lesson (not Destrie's)
What did I do when I explained how those "nutrition" conversations go? I was training the prospect! Yes, I was doing a mini-training to show him how he could build the business and how it would work for him. Sometimes, you have to do these "mini-trainings," so the prospect can see how they will have success in the business.
Conclusion
No conclusions. Just this advice:
Read this article three times, because I can tell you there are some great "nuggets" in here from this three-way call. Again, thank Destrie on Facebook for his courage in sharing this.
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