The 3 Scariest Questions in Sales That Close 75-80% of Deals

0:01 Welcome to The Coaching Equation brought to you by Empire Partners and hosted by Ryan Lang and Brooke Bishop. Our mission is to help you build a profitable and impactful coaching business by cutting through the noise and all the expert advice to deliver tried and true actionable insights that you can deploy in your business today. Each week, we bring on expert guests, unveil cutting edge tactics and strategies, and share the secrets and stories that we've gathered from working with the most successful coaching companies on earth. Welcome back to the Coaching Equation Podcast.

0:42 I'm your host, Ryan Lang, CEO and co-founder of Empire Partners, alongside my co-founder and co-host, Brooke Bishop. And we are back on the sales conversation today. And this may be one of my favorite sales episodes that we've done since we started this show. And that's saying a lot. because we've done a lot of really badass sales content on the podcast. So you are going to absolutely love today because what we're going to do is we... This is something we actually discovered in working with some sales teams very recently. We identified the three scariest questions in sales. It actually directly relates to our framework, our seven-step framework.

1:23 But these are three... scary questions that people either completely avoid or totally botch. And they completely change the dynamic of your sales conversation. So if you want to level up your sales conversation, this one is the episode to listen to right now. It is relevant. It is pertinent. This is literally coming from the front lines right this very moment. And you're going to get it 100% for free on the best sales podcast on earth. So let's get into it. It's time for the Coaching Equation Podcast. Welcome back to the Coaching Equation Podcast. I'm your host, Ryan Lang, CEO and co-founder of Empire Partners, alongside my co-founder and co-host, Brooke Bishop.

2:03 You're looking fresh today, man. What's up? I opened the blinds. You opened the blinds. Getting some better lighting. Did you take a shower today, too? I'm shaven. I've opened the blinds. It's a good day. Yeah. We're on top of it today. We're on top of it today. All right. So, man, I'm so excited to get back to some sales content today. And, you know, we have a seven-step process for sales. If you've listened to this show before, you're probably aware of that. If you're not aware of it, this episode is not about breaking down the seven steps. But you can absolutely go grab our seven steps. We put it together in a document for you. It's 100% free.

2:44 We'll walk you through our entire sales framework. And you can get it at empirepartners.net forward slash script. Now, with all that said, I mentioned that mainly because of the fact that we're going to hone in on what we think are probably the three scariest questions in sales today. And they all relate to different pieces of our seven step framework. That's why this episode paired with the framework is going to make a lot of sense to you. But let's dive in here, man. Yeah. First, first scary question in sales, or do we want to do we want to kind of preframe why these are scary or do it one at a time?

3:26 Yeah, I think so. It's going to be interesting because I think anyone listening is probably going to be thinking that the scariest question in sales is probably asking for the money or asking for the sale. And what's fascinating, I mean, I don't even know how many thousands upon thousands of sales calls you and I have reviewed over the course of time or how many salespeople we've managed over the course of time. The reality is that's not the question that we see over and over that is not being asked. Now, don't get me wrong. There's definitely those people that have their fears around asking for the sale, but that's not the scariest of questions. So I think what would actually make sense... I'm just trying to make sense in my head.

4:07 To Ryan's point, if you don't have that seven-step framework now, go pick that bad boy up just so you can go pull over on the side of the road or you can stop mowing your lawn. I know Amber mentioned this last weekend she was mowing her lawn and she said she was devouring our podcast. So whatever you're doing, go grab the toolkit so you can get the full script framework that's there so this will make a heck of a lot more sense. But yeah, there's these three pivotal moments here that are actually early in the call and in the middle of a sales engagement that are where people trip up. And I think what would probably make sense is first unpacking why, why do people dodge these questions or why do they botch these questions?

4:48 I think would probably be a good starting point. Cause when we really step back and look at it, I, where I see a lot of people and just kind of kick this into gear. If you look at the first step of our sales framework, if we look at our pre-frame, There's this whole structured piece on the front end where we have to set the stage for the conversation that's about to unfold. And most people will lay it out like, hey, they make sure they, you know, they don't get time closed and they make sure they got the decision makers there and they do they do the song and dance. But there's this question that pivots out of that opening section that for whatever reason, I shouldn't even say for whatever reason, we know the reason. But there's this specific question that you want to ask that transitions from the first first phase to the second step.

5:34 Yeah. And there's this coaching frame that we have to go through. So the coaching frame, it basically goes like this. So Ryan, does a good coach tell you what you need to hear or what you want to hear? Definitely what I need to hear. Beautiful. So do I have permission today to ask you the hard questions, to have the tough conversation with you, as long as you and I are both aligned and helping you move forward in your life? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That's why I'm here. Okay. Beautiful. So that's the question. So I actually learned this actually from Tony Robbins, brother-in-law was actually the person who taught me this framework and it was not used in the beginning. He actually used to use it when an objection came up is when he would start it.

6:14 And we started to unpack this was like, Oh, wait a minute. What if we put this at the very beginning of a sales engagement? Like, what is the impact of doing that? And what we saw and what you and I've seen time and time again, the mass majority of salespeople, when they go into their discovery process, they go wonky. They stay surface with their questions. They don't go deep. They don't ask the hard questions. And it's usually because they're afraid of asking those hard questions because they're not positioned to ask them. So from your vantage point, where have you seen or what's the impact that you've seen on how this bad boy plays? Yeah. Yeah, this is really an interesting one because to your point, I think just going back to the piece about discovery and not going deep enough, I think that a lot of people, as you said, they're not positioned well.

6:59 They feel internally like they don't have permission to go there. And what's really interesting about it is that they usually most people will tie that back to not having quote unquote rapport. And they'll start thinking they literally go in the wrong direction here and they start elongating their rapport section of the call at the very beginning and doing more nonsensical bullshit, silly, you know, chit chat. How many kids do you have? Right. Right. I was at that diner in Biloxi once. Yeah, it's like they elongate that part of the call, waste a whole bunch of time, and then they still don't really have the proper permission.

7:48 And here's kind of an interesting break that happens when people do that. is that too much of the chit chat turns the entire call into a bro call. Now all of a sudden you're, you're laughing together. It's like, you're just at coffee with a friend and it changes the vibe of the entire call. And then when you go to ask that really tough question, it's like, Whoa, hang on a second. I come from, I, yeah, I thought we were buddies here. What the fuck? Um, So I think it's one of the reasons why a much shorter rapport and the coaching frame is a much more powerful way to start the engagement.

8:30 The other thing is that what you're going to find is when people believe that you're – because you might be thinking right now, okay, like how does that question really allow me to go – I mean, yes, I know technically I asked for permission, but aren't people still going to get pissed? Yeah. And the truth is, in most cases, no. In most cases, they won't. Because when you do this right, you're coming from a place of intention. Hopefully, you add in, you know, inside of our training, we have a whole laundry list of different frames that you can add before you say something that helps to basically lighten the blow.

9:11 But it tells someone that you're coming from a place of care. of curiosity and not from a place of judgment before you go ask a really tough question or make a really, you know, a really tough statement. Well said. Yeah. Within this, I mean, we've, we've seen a lot of different trainers that are out there that talk about positioning as a doctor or, you know, positioning with this, this over the top. I mean, obviously if you are a doctor, then you can play that way. But even still, I would encourage you to not posture as a doctor per se coming into a call, especially a coaching call, because it's going to make people feel inferior. And what they want to feel more than anything else is that they can be open to have an honest conversation to your language, right?

9:55 Like not being judged, not having that criticism switch that most people are flipping right out of the gates. Because guess what most people are doing? Most people immediately go into the questions of, you know, well, how much money do you make? Well, what's your current job? Well, can you afford what I do? You know, whether it's stated or if it's implied. Right. Yeah. So when you can come in and establish those guardrails of like, here's who I am. Here's how we're going to play. Are you cool with that? Can I ask the hard questions? The beauty of asking this right out of the gates, you can almost not screw up in terms of what questions you ask. Because if you ask a question that's out of left field and they're like, well, why do you want to know that? I'm going to be like, well, I'm trying to get all the puzzle pieces here. I'm trying to understand your world.

10:37 I asked if I could ask the hard questions and you gave me permission to. So what am I missing here? Or what nerve did I just hit? You can always pivot and spin out of that if it goes sideways. Yeah, I agree with that. And I'll just say this before we move on to the next one. You know, when at the beginning of a call, oftentimes one of the reasons why I actually love using this frame at the beginning of the call and not later on down the road is. Is that at the beginning of the call, most people have shown up with some sort of an intention to to to to play a certain way.

11:18 And somewhere in the middle of the call, most of the time. People go a little sideways, you know, especially when it starts to get real and it starts to get tough. And before somebody knows what type of a question you're going to ask, it's a lot easier for them to go, oh, yeah, because here's the interesting thing. Their answer to this question is actually directly tied to an identity. It's the identity of a person because the people who answer this kind of question like in the major affirmative where they're like, oh, absolutely. What I need to hear, you can call. How many times have we heard on a call somebody respond to that and go, oh, you can totally call it tight with me, you know, blah, blah, blah.

12:02 What that says is I am the type of person who is willing to hear the hard truth if I know that it benefits my greater good. Now, in the absence, now we've established an identity later in the call. Guess what? They can't. It would be incongruent of them to then break that identity. So that's a major nuance. It's a small one most people don't recognize, but it's really a big one because it allows people to actually operate from a higher version of themselves with one simple question. Yeah, no, it's brilliant, bro. I mean, it's, there's this dynamic of we have leaders and followers, right?

12:43 And if somebody's coming to a call, especially if any type of coaching call, it doesn't matter what your offer is, or what your niche is, if they're coming to a conversation with you, if they're subjecting themselves to a sales engagement, Like, let it be known. Let's let's memorialize this thing in stone. If they're coming to a sales conversation, you can already know that the pain that they're experiencing in their life is big enough for them that they're willing to subject themselves to this conversation. That's how bad they want change. Yep. Right. So we anytime somebody goes, oh, they're not qualified, they don't have enough urgency. I call BS. But here's the kick. They want to be led. And if you don't establish those boundaries right out of the gates, they're going to think that they're leading.

13:26 Which means, guess what? Through the whole call, they're going to take you sideways. They're going to take you into story land. They're going to take you into their objections. To your point in their identity, that identity is strong, way stronger than the new one you're helping them establish in this conversation. So you've got to plant those seeds because here's the other big piece that we didn't hit. Objections will come up. And they don't always come up when money gets dropped. They can come up throughout the whole conversation. So this gives you that magic bullet that you can always lean back on. If they bring an objection up, you can go, hey, you gave me permission to be really honest with you today, even if it hurt your feelings. This might be one of those moments, and I'm going to call it tight. It gives you a tool through the whole dialogue.

14:08 Yeah. Amen. We could spend like four hours just on this, this one piece. I know we really could in the interest of time, in the interest of time, let's get into, uh, let's, let's get into number two. What's number two. Sweet. Number two, uh, number two comes right after the discovery process. So when you have your introduction, then you do your deep dive discovery, you're pulling out all the bells and whistles. What do they want? Why do they want it? The pain, the pleasure, all the different components, what it really means. Um, The second question that becomes the scariest, and it's literally anytime we hear somebody is not performing and we go start doing call reviews, this is honestly usually the first thing that we look for because this is the one that people go wonky with.

14:49 And they go wonky because they do a shitty job in discovery. So here's the question. After you've collected your data and discovery, the question goes something like this. So, Ryan, based on everything you've shared with me, it sounds like you've been struggling with this for this long. It sounds like it's cost you this much money. It sounds like it's impacted your health and your relationships in these ways. And it also sounds like based on what you've shared with me, you can only do this for another three to four months before you're really up. You know what? Without a paddle. So let me ask you a quick question. If I could show you a way to remedy this today and create insert the dream, would you be interested in what I have to share with you today? Oh, yeah, absolutely.

15:31 Okay, beautiful. So grab your pen and paper. All right, so we're going to pause for a sec. So I want to touch on the first piece and then I would love to get your insights on this. My personal belief is that most people will dodge this question for two reasons. One, they're scared to ask it because they feel like it's salesy. Right. And it's really the only question in the entire dialogue of our sales approach that would even have that twang. The second piece that I see is that because people have done such a piss poor job in discovery, they don't even know how to relay those pieces back to the client or the prospect to say, yeah. Here's what I heard. They're petrified. They're going, uh-oh, I don't have the puzzle pieces.

16:12 What the hell am I going to project to this person? But from your vantage point and what you've heard and seen in just the thousands of people you've coached, what do you see that comes up in here? Yeah, this is an interesting one because it's such a... It's a reflection and then a question. And it's a sandwich combo that honestly works so well together. And either of these things in the absence of the other is not as powerful by itself. So the recap, the mini recap, first of all, is huge because when you do this well... It shows people one of the number one things that that that we know, especially in today's day and age about people in a sales engagement is that they want to be heard.

17:03 They want to be heard. And what that tells someone right out of the gates is that you heard you heard me. You heard me. If I do an accurate recap, and the recap doesn't have to be ridiculously long. I used to think it had to be crazy long. Tested this plenty. It totally doesn't. But what's really important about it is that you heard them. You've now, if you've done a good job. Now, see, here's the problem. You just said this. If you've done a shitty job in discovery, your recap is going to suck too. Like, how can you do a – I just – I'm doing a recap of some shitty discovery questions that I asked that I didn't get great answers to.

17:48 That's not going to be terribly powerful. So number one, you got to do a better job in discovery. But when you do, that recap is insanely powerful. I've actually had people cry on my sales calls when I get done with a recap. And one of the nuances – Go ahead. I was just going to give you one piece just because I think it's really pertinent to what you just mentioned. It's because being heard means they're being held. Yes. And I cannot tell you how many people on the planet have never had somebody hold space for them and, and actually make, allow them an opportunity to be held. So I didn't, I know I just interrupted you on that, but I just think it's so paramount of being heard means being held and anyone in a, in a intimate relationship, if you want to piss off your partner real fast, go ahead.

18:34 Just assume you know what they're talking about and don't do a recap. It's a good way for a fight. Sorry, I derailed it. 100%. 100%. No, that's a great point. I agree with that 100%. And I think that's why it can be that powerful. The other thing is, I'll give you a little ninja tip here, which is don't summarize, use their words as often as possible. Exactly their words. Because they have an emotional connection to everything that they say to you, especially if you've done a good job in discovery and you've actually gotten to some deeper places, right? So, um, so I think that's really powerful.

19:14 The other, the other part is, you know, so right after I get done sharing that with someone and if I've done a good job and they go, oh man, wow. Yes, that's, that's it. Like you got it, you nailed it. Well, the, the, the single best question you could ask if you actually want to help someone is if these are your problems, um, I'm 100% confident that I could help you solve them. If I were to share this information with you, is it something that you'd be interested in? I mean, it's the single most powerful thing that you could say to somebody that you actually want to help.

19:58 Not saying anything at the end of a really great recap and a really great discovery and just moving into the next section of the call is the equivalent of getting to the end of the call and like saying, OK, well, the investment in the program is nine thousand dollars. And then just saying nothing. Like we have to tie the two together. And it's one of the reasons that that part is called, you know, that that we consider it a bridge. So I think that's I think it's vital. And I think that if you're feeling poorly about it, you probably ought to check in with your intentions and your your, you know, the view that you have of what you're doing in that engagement.

20:43 Because if you're truly there to help someone, you know. how in the hell are you going to get them to a point where you can help them if you don't offer them something that can help? Well, do you, you said a magical word a few moments ago, which was the word identity, right? And obviously you and I are aware of this just because we were in the trenches with our own content. Um, each step of the sales journey requires a different identity on our part. And for our prospects, the thing that's really, really tricky, and this is something we have to be mindful of, we can assume nothing. And why it's so important for us to assume nothing is because they're walking into the picture with us.

21:24 They're coming into the frame with an identity. And, well, what is an identity? And identity is somebody who has repeated a story in their brain so many times that it's created neural pathways that they hold as truth. So the deeper that that neural pathway is created and the faster that electricity can move across it, that gives them an identity. So why do we talk about assuming nothing and why do we talk about identity so much? We have to ask this question because we have to get them to vocalize that they're willing to make changes should they be given a solution. Because they'll hold on to that identity so damn strong. And if we just assume that they're willing to do whatever it takes to change, we're a fool.

22:04 Because they're not. Because they're not. Many of the times, I'm actually using something as crazy as this one. I mean, I've already spoken about my father's passing, you know, last month. As soon as he was diagnosed with cancer, everybody started telling him what he should do. Sounds like a sales conversation. Here's what you should do. Here's what you should do. Here's what you should do. And I'm sitting there looking at my dad on FaceTime, and I'm like... No one's asked him if he even wants to make change. Does he even want to live? Now, one would assume we don't want to die, right? But I'm like, I'm going to assume nothing. I'm like, hey, dad, even if you had a guaranteed proven way to be able to cure your cancer, like, do you even want to go down that road?

22:45 And he goes, no. Like, great. There's no reason to give him any solutions or spend any time on changing his diet or doing this detox or doing whatever. And this this comes up in so many areas of our lives. We just make assumptions all over the place, whether it's politically, whether it's religiously, whether it's I'm from Israel or I'm from Pakistan. Like there's so much polarizing pieces and it all comes from us making assumptions. Yeah. So in the sales world, do not assume that they want what you have. You must qualify it and you've got to get them to vocalize it so that you can start to break those neural pathways where they can go, ooh, I need to create a new identity. So, yes, this this also just what you're saying without going down a rabbit hole on this.

23:30 I mean, we've done entire episodes on this. We are. You know, I think the. It speaks to the fact that when we're inside of a discovery process, why we've got to avoid making statements and ask the questions. Because to your point, part of being able to do this section of the call well, where we recap it and then, you know, and then we basically ask permission to share something that would help overcome the challenges is... We've got to have been in discovery and not just – one of the worst assumptions, bro, that people make is they go, I got it.

24:17 And they think – the assumption is they think that's enough. I got it. I know. I can see your problem. And they'll even say it. So listen, I want to ask a few questions so that I make sure I know what's, you know, not working right now for you or what you need help with, whatever. And guess what, superstar? It's not about you knowing. Yeah. Some of the smartest people we've ever heard on sales calls can literally predict before somebody says it what they're going to say. And they struggle until they realize that they have to draw that out of someone.

25:00 It's not about you knowing it. Yeah, you need to understand. But more importantly, they have to know it. And the two of you together have got to be very clear about the consequences of not doing something about it. And that's where I think if we can avoid that assumption, then we get to this part, this bridge, this turn that we need to make. And now we can actually do it powerfully because we're not running on assumption. We're not running on a, I know what your problem is. So let me force feed you my solution. Now I'm, I've asked, I've received, and I'm going to ask and receive yet again, which positions you really powerful in the engagement, completely the opposite of a traditional sales engagement.

25:47 You're, you're, you're spot on. I mean, it's literally the difference between somebody with their arms crossed, sitting across the table from you to now you guys are holding the hands and skipping down the sidewalk together. And there's, there's one other piece just cause I think it's, it's critical cause the fear, the undercurrent of why people dodge this one is oftentimes they're scared of what their prospect may, might say, no, you miss the boat or no, you don't have all the pieces. So I just want to give people certainty around this one. If you get that piece where they go, yeah, that's not all the details. You don't have to go cattywampus and collapse. I don't even know if that's my new cattywampus and collapse. Sounds like a metal band.

26:27 It's like coheed in Cambria. Sorry. Total derailment. Don't go cattywampus and collapse. What you do is you actually in that moment, you can actually take a split second of going inferior and you go, oh, what did I miss? And then you sit silent and you shut the F up and you just listen. Because guess what? If you missed some of those pieces, and this is to all my people that are out there that go, I get really frustrated when they don't give me the information I'm looking for. Great. You do your recap and they go, yeah, you're missing the boat here. Cool. What did I miss? Tell me, please. I want to know. It shows you care. It shows you're patient. It shows that you're willing to take a step back in order for them to take a step forward.

27:09 So just know if they give you the hard run around here, that's actually okay. You just go backwards. Don't keep moving forward and then try and hammer your solution when they just told you you missed the boat. Bro, I love this. And one of the reasons why is that it yet again puts us right back in a space of curiosity. And if I can just stay curious and really probably one of the bigger pieces here is just not allowing yourself to get caught up in your ego. That's it's a big piece of it. It's like in that moment, if you if you lay it out and they say, no, that's not it or no, I'm not interested.

27:49 That means you did miss something and it's OK. Like literally that's the moment where you can let your ego take over and just shut down the rest of the sales call. Or you can go into curiosity and just go, oh, OK. Tell me more. What what what did I miss? How you know, how help help me better understand. And that's the other thing I think that. Especially in moments where we feel like we might be embarrassed, which is really the big key here. So we feel like we might be embarrassed. And the way to navigate that feeling is to allow yourself to be in curiosity.

28:30 Because if we think about things, when we're in curiosity, we're literally learning and growing when we're truly in curiosity. And when we're in the space of learning and growing, we don't we don't typically judge ourselves as harshly as when we believe we should just know something or have it or get it or whatever so i love that and i think it's a really great distinction to just not let yourself get not let yourself get caught up in that one so all right let's uh let's bring it home what's number three and uh i'm i'm curious to find out what number three is because i these two were so powerful i'm on what's next So number three is a really simple question.

29:12 And then once we, once we lay this out, we'll give a little more context to it. But here, here's the question that is the scary one that people are afraid to ask. So we'll go something like this. So Ryan, do you see why so many people get incredible results by leveraging our systems or our offering or our program? Hmm. Wow. Yeah. I can see that it's very different from the other things that I've experienced. Yeah. Okay. Beautiful. So we're going to hit pause for a minute. So why are people afraid to ask this? All right. So going back to our overarching steps. So we have our introduction or our pre-frame. We go through our discovery. We have the turn closed that if I could, would you, after we give them a recap, we then need to lay out a value add or another way of putting that is we need to lay out a framework that establishes a solution for their problems.

30:02 We then ask that question of, can you see why people get such incredible results by leveraging our systems, our process, our coaching, whatever it might be. People are afraid to ask this one because they may not have done a very good job of laying out the framework. For other people, like we had a whole team of people yesterday, we found out they weren't doing a value-add solution phase. They were just going straight into, here's my offer. Somebody gives them the problem. They go here by my bike. Like it's instantaneous because instead of going, Hey, you just told me you have cancer. If I could show you a way to cure that cancer, would you be interested? Well, yeah, we have to show them how they're going to cure their cancer. If we just go, Hey, here's our protocol. Here's how much it costs.

30:43 Like what? I thought you were going to tell me how I can cure cancer. You have to establish yourself as somebody who knows what the frick frack you're doing and you've got to give them certainty and you've got to make sure you don't make it more complex than the problem they're already sitting in. Yes. Yes. From from what you've heard in this, have you heard I'm knowing either people dodge it or they do this in a very. Actually, can you give us some examples of some bad tie down closes? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, well, so first of all, I would say that by and large, most people skip this altogether. And really, I would say this, I have fewer examples of bad tie down closes because most people just straight up don't do it.

31:32 And more examples of like what you just said, which is... I think that I'm going to get you by over-informationing your ass. And so – I just talk and talk and talk. Right. So this is where where this becomes powerful, where I feel like one of the big mistakes is that people make here is that it is a, you know, three words that we use all the time that several of our mentors have used over the years. Clear, concise, powerful. That has to be the solution. Clear, concise, powerful.

32:14 You don't need to go into the weeds about, you know, all of the magic sauce of your process and all of that stuff. But differentiate it, make it clear, make it concise, make sure that it's powerful and come with certainty. And if you take a shorter time frame to deliver something of value that will shift their perspective on what they need to actually accomplish the result and deliver that with the utmost certainty, then you come to the end and it's almost a natural thing. So I literally just wrapped it up. Can you see how that's allowed us to get incredible results for our clients?

32:56 Yes. Wow. Okay. So I think that the bigger mistake really is just that people over-information in that part of the call, and then they don't make any kind of transition at all. They just... Then it's just like... Well, what questions do you have about that? Which is fine, but it isn't the same thing as getting that yes. I want to ask you this. When you originally put this one in... What was the outcome? Because I think that for a lot of people, they're thinking right now, well, I just want to know, like, it's very uncomfortable for me to ask a question like this.

33:39 So why should I do it? What are we missing when we don't do it? Really good. Okay, so a couple pieces. So where this originally came into the fold was after I did my master prac for NLP. And we did literally we spent five days on the importance of opening loops, collapsing loops, closing loops. And so when I started looking at my sales process or process for a Canadian folk, right, when I started looking at the sales process, I'm like, OK, where are my opening loops in my sales conversation? Because here's what happens when we open a loop. It's kind of like, have you ever, you know, we've probably joked about this a bazillion times, but just see, I'm going to assume nothing.

34:21 Have you ever had where, you know, it's like, hey, and the killer is and then the radio station goes out or the TV powers off and you're like, no, I don't know who it is. Yeah. It's because our brains have to get that completion. Like we have to know, right? Like you look right now and this might get us kicked off the podcast, but like how many people are freaking out about Epstein? Like literally the world is going bonkers. Now I'm one of those people. I want to know what, I want to know the, I want to know who the killer is, but it's literally throwing people sideways because they have all these loops that are open and they have to close those loops. Cause our brain is like, I need closure. I need closure. I need closure. Yep. Yep. So when we looked at the sales process, we went, okay, where can we open loops?

35:03 So these three scary questions are also opening and closing loops. Does a good coach tell you what you need to hear, what you want to hear? What I need to hear. Great. We just opened a loop. We just established I am the coach in this process. And now they're going, ooh. I'm intrigued. I'm anticipating you're going to ask me some hard questions that most people don't ask me. They literally are wanting you to now do it because you opened the loop that you would do it. So then when you ask the hard questions, they're like, oh, he or she just did what they told me they would do. It closes the loop. It creates certainty. It creates trust. Then when we quantify it and we get clarity, hey, you just told me these are all your challenges, your problems, all the world that you want to create.

35:45 If I could show you a way, guess what? We're closing a loop and then we're opening another loop because they're going, oh, you can show me a way to remedy my problems. Their brain is literally going, I want to know more. Please share with me. We now get to the tie down close is, hey, you told me all your challenges, all your problems. I just laid out for you a very simple, clear, concise, and powerful way to fix those problems. Yeah. Do you see why people get such incredible results? We're closing that loop. There's literally going to be an endorphin rush that's going to happen in their body where they go, you figured out my problems. You gave me a solution. The moment they say, yes, it's literally flooding their body with hormones.

36:28 And it's the feel good hormones where they go, finally, somebody understands me and they can help me get out of pain. Yep. It's so much more powerful than just going, hey, do you see how we help people get great results? Like fluff my ego. No, we're literally giving them an experience where they go, holy shit, I can finally make change. So I don't know if I answered your question, but... No, you did. You answered it perfectly. And let's think about this, though, because when we think about the positioning of this, this happens right before we make an offer. So one of the reasons you're so uncomfortable about making your offer... is that you have completely skipped a part of the process.

37:09 You haven't delivered value to someone. You haven't gotten yet another buy-in from them that, wow, yes, they can see how you've been able to get great results for people by way of your process. It literally, one of the things that I love about the way that our system is structured And I will, I'm just like, I'm, I am unabashedly going to crush on what we've created here, dude. But one of the things that I love about what we've created is that it builds a crescendo of energy towards the decision.

37:50 And in most sales engagements, because they're not done properly, because they're not structured properly, because there's not the nuance, because there are not these moments where we're getting acknowledgement and permission and all of those things, we can't create that crescendo. And we get to the offer and it feels yucky. It feels salesy. It doesn't feel good for the other person. They feel like you're doing something to them. The whole thing, all the things that most people believe about sales that makes them hate it. But I want you to see if you think about even just these three scary questions that we talked about today, how you build an energetic crescendo. Because I start in the beginning of the call where during discovery, we're going to ask some tough questions.

38:35 We might get into the shit a little bit. It might not feel great, but it is going to feel good for them to feel heard. Then they feel heard. Now that I feel heard and I feel held – Now I'm on the other side of that. And I find out, oh, my God, there's a solution that could help me fix this problem. Whoa. Then I get to share that. I get even more excited when I start to hear about it and how it's shifting my perspective. Then... Then I can acknowledge that I see how this is powerful. And then somebody offers me a way to get it. Think about this. Like that's how some of the people that have our system close at 75% to 80% in their own businesses.

39:18 Because they can create an energetic crescendo that leads people to a place not of trickery, not of I'm going to ram this down your throat, not of hard sale closing, but literally of... wow, this is what I've been looking for. This is exactly what I need. Even though I'm a little bit scared, let's find a way to make this happen. You know, it's beautiful. Very brilliantly laid out. And it's... What I don't think people get is that when you do it this way, you it's not that you don't get any objections. You get far less objections. But even more over than that, you've got all the arrows in your quiver for when those objections come up, because now they've given you permission to address it as a coach.

40:03 So now you can approach an objection as a limiting belief and you can coach them through their fear because that's all an objection is. It gives you leverage because you've got the proper data that you've collected in discovery and you've gotten them to vocalize that that is in fact true. They want to solve the problem. You've also anchored in that they know in their heart that if they applied it and they did whatever you're telling them to do, that it would get them the result. So it gives you all the stacking effect. So you get to the end of the call and when they go sideways or they go into their fear, you're now actually positioned to have a real conversation versus – handling an objection with some, you know, I said this one script 50 times on when this objection comes up, that's not authentic. That's not coming from your heart.

40:44 That's not serving them where they're at. That's, that's hammering them with something to get them to say yes. When you do this the right way, you can literally coach people to a yes. Yep. It's so well said, dude. So well said. This is a fucking masterclass today, man. Let's do this one again. I didn't expect this. Yeah, let's run it back. Oh my gosh. I hope that you got value out of this. You're listening to this. Please do go grab the sales script. Again, it's 100% free. No tricks, no gimmicks here. This is literally our step-by-step formula. For, you know, after doing 15,000 plus sales engagements together and well over 100, we're probably more approaching like $200 million in revenue from this type of sale.

41:31 But go get it at empirepartners.net forward slash script. And then if you just listen to the episode and you didn't have it, go grab it. Re-listen to the episode. Take some notes. And I can promise you that if you start implementing this kind of stuff, your sales engagements are going to be off the charts. You're going to notice a significant difference in the way that you feel, in the way that other people feel, and most importantly, in the results. So, brother, thank you for bringing the heat today. This was dope. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Coaching Equation Podcast. And until next time, be well. Thank you for listening to this episode of The Coaching Equation.

42:14 Please hit subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. And if you got value out of this episode, we would be so grateful if you would share it out with a friend and leave us a review on iTunes or your favorite platform. To learn more about Empire Partners or to inquire about working with Ryan and Brooke, please visit www.empirepartners.io forward slash go. .