Just wrapped up a webinar with a great group of clients on how to audition their prospect better. 

I want to share you the two abilities that set the best salespeople —specifically, coach salespeople apart from everybody else.

So, if you think about what it really takes to enroll people into your coaching —to have a conversation —have them buy your stuff, there are two abilities that set you apart from everybody else.

I’m going to share with you what they are.

The 2 abilities

I’m going to lean a little bit on the shoulder of giants.

There’s a sales trainer from a few years ago called Bill Brooks.

Bill Brooks used to say there are two abilities that set the best salespeople apart from everybody else:

1. Build trust faster 
2. Qualify buyers better

The 4 steps

We’ve just been talking about how to audition.

We’ve got this thing called The Perfect Prospect Pipeline™.

This is the four-step sales process that our clients use to sign up high-paying clients quickly.

There are four steps:

The Indoctrination Event

Step one, the indoctrination event. 

And specifically, the two abilities really come into play right here.

Its job is to get them hot for what you’ve got.

The Funnel Filter

The challenge sometimes is that you get too many leads.

And so, what we want to have is a funnel filter in place —a process that makes sure that only quality people book into your calendar. Does that make sense?

And you want to choose —spend quality time with quality people. So, that’s the piece.

The Triage Call

The third step is the triage call —the 10-minute call that signs high-paying clients.

The Strategy Session

So then finally, there’s the strategy session.

At the end of this 10-minute call where you build trust fast and you qualify buyers better, you’re going to know if they’re going to become clients — or not. 

So, I want to talk to you really quickly about how to build trust faster and how to qualify buyers better.

In fact, I’ve got a little guide that I wrote a few months ago called Audition Clients, and it’s about how to audition your prospects and have them want to work with you.

If you want a copy of the little guide on how to audition clients, then go through the nine steps in the call, and how to do it well.

It’s an actual example of how to do it and how to do it right.

If you want to build trust fast and qualifying clients better, just write the word “AUDITION” in capital letters below and I’ll make sure that Yuri, from my team, shoots it out to you later today. 

So, how do you build trust fast —how do you audition clients well?

How do you qualify buyers better?

Well, I want you to think about the metaphor —an audition on American Idol.

Every sales conversation is like an audition…

The mistake that sometimes we make is we think that we’re the ones auditioning, and the prospect’s the judge, and they’re going to decide whether they like us or not.

So, we try to impress them, and we try to teach our heart out, we try to be valuable and build rapport and be funny, or whatever the hell you do to try to get liked.

And what happens when we do that is their respect for you goes down.

And what we want instead is to realize that it is like an audition on American Idol, but instead of you being the person up on stage trying to impress the judges, you’re Simon Cowell —you’re the judge and your job is to assess their audition, and work out are they a match or not.

So, there are a few key steps in the audition process

Let’s say I’m talking to Bob.

“Hey Bob, Taki here from Sydney, Australia. How are you going?”

Bob says good.

“Mate, really glad that we’ve got a chance to connect. I’ve got a note in my calendar that we’ve got 10 minutes to speak right now. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect. Okay. Cool. So, my job today is really simple. I want to ask you a few questions to really work out if or how I can help you. So, I’m going to ask you a bunch of questions, work out if I can help you or not. If I feel like I can’t help you, I’ll let you know politely and do my best to point you in the right direction. Okay? And if I feel like I can help you, then let’s book in another time and talk about how. Is that cool?”

“Yes.”

“We’ve got a 10-minute call, and I’ve got somebody booked in straight after you. So, we’re going to make you keep your time, I’m going to keep mine. My question is simple. If you can keep your answers short, we’ll get through this soon —really work out if I can be useful to you or not. Is that cool? Perfect.”

And stop.

That’s the first minute.

You’ll notice in that minute, a bunch of things happened.

Well, firstly, I took the lead. Right?

It was really clear in that opening minute; who was the leader and who was the follower.

Remember, who’s assessing their audition and who’s impressing them.

Number two, I also took away that pressure.

I didn’t say, “We’re going to have a call right now to work out how I can help you.”

I assumed first that we might be a fit. That’s critically important.

As somebody sales training you, teaching you, or assume the sale, and it’s bullshit.

Don’t assume the sale. Assume the not sale — have them work to work with you, not the other way around.

So, I went first two to see if or how I could help.

“If” says I might not be able to. 

Totally not selling. I said, “If I can’t help you, I’ll let you know politely. I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction.”

Okay? Again, I’m going to assume the not sale.

“Secondly, if I feel like I can help you, we’ll book another time to talk about how.”

So, I’ve already pre-sold the next appointment without having to say a single thing —without having to do.

I’ve already said at the end, “If I think we’re a fit, we’re going to Hollywood.” Remember? Tickets to Hollywood were on the American Idol audition.

I’m the one with the ticket, and I said, “If we go there, if I think we’re a fit, we’re going to Hollywood.” So, I don’t have to sell the next appointment —it’s already —you’ve already said, “That’s what we’re going to do.” Right?

Three, I started slow.

I wanted to make sure that I set a time limit.

”Have I got the time right?”

“We’ve got 10 minutes. Is that okay?”

So because we booked them literally back to back to back with a five-minute window in between — “I’ve got somebody straight after you.”

So, what happens?

What that says is my time is valuable; in terms of timeframe and pricing, my time is clearly valuable and you’re lucky to have something.

So, all of that happens in the first minute.

And I want to just let you know upfront, that’s what happens in the very first minute of our A-player audition — this nine-minute call we do at the very start of the call.

And at the end, we work out are we a fit or not. And if we are a fit, then they go to the next step in our Perfect Prospect Pipeline.

They go from there to the strategy session.

In the triage call, by the end of the nine minutes, I know who’s going to be a client —they don’t know yet, but I know if they’re going to become a client or not.

And then the strategy session, that’s when they find out if they’re going to become a client or not.

I just want to give you a little bit of a scoop on how to built trust faster, how to qualify buyers better.

This nine-minute call, its job —really simply— is to work out one thing; are we a fit or not?

And if we’re not a fit, there’s nothing I can do —nothing I need to do, nothing that I can even try to do to change that.

We’re either a fit or not; it’s like a light switch, we’re on or we’re off.

So, if we’re not a fit, let’s just leave it right there, part as friends.

If we are fit, then, I don’t have to do any hard selling because it’s obvious.

If you’ve got a problem I can help you solve…

If it’s a priority for you to do something about it…

If you’re friendly and cooperative (it’s a sort of person I like to work with)…

If it’s a priority for you to do something about…

If you’ve got the budget, and I like you, of course, we’re going to work together.

So, our job is just to work out are we a match or not. Cool?

So, listen, hopefully, this is helpful.

Again, if you want a copy of the guide on how to audition clients like it was — if you want to learn how to build trust faster and qualify buyers better, then leave me a comment below with the word ‘AUDITION’, and I’ll hook you up the link a little bit later. 

I’m off to go have some late breakfast after running some webinars this morning, but I thought this could help. Cool?

Take good care. Lots of love. 

P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you grow your coaching business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book

It’s the roadmap to attracting prospects, signing clients, and scaling your coaching business. — Click Here

2. Join the Coach Dojo and connect with coaches who are scaling too

It’s our new Facebook community where smart coaches learn to get more income, impact, and independence. — Click Here

3. Join our Implementation Program and be a Case Study

I’m putting together a new coaching case study group at Black Belt this month… stay tuned for details. If you’d like to work with me on your client-getting and scale plans… just send me a message with the words “Case Study”. — Click Here

4. Work with me and my team privately

If you’d like to work directly with me and my team to take you from 6 to 7 figures… just send me a message with the word “Private”… tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details! — Click Here

Learn more here.