How Pre-Framing Closes Deals Before The Sales Call
The sales doesn't happen on the sales call, it happens in the pre-frame.
A lot of people think that the sale happens on the sales call. If you have a client hopping on a “consultative” sales call, what you say doesn't matter as much as you think it does. What matters is - what people think about your product and the brand, even before they hop on the sales call. Yes, without the sales call, the sale will not happen. However, 80% of the conversion work is done before they get on the sales call. They just need a small nudge to buy. You need pre-framing.
Having to build a pre-frame doesn't mean people cannot convert on the sales call after hearing the cold pitch. They might. However, they could be the wrong customers who will have much buyer remorse after buying the product.
You cannot make people want something directly on the sales call. The desire to buy something happens over some time, and it happens by cultivating desire.
The desire is cultivated in our prospective clients using pre-framing. In this post, let's talk about pre-framing and how you can build a strategic pre-frame.
As a civil engineer, I think of a pre-frame in the marketing funnel - similar to the foundational structure of a building. You need a strong foundation if you want to build a building that will stand the test of time. A strong foundation will ensure that no matter how big the building is, it can sustain itself without collapsing.
Short term sales tactics hit a glass ceiling very fast and stalls your business. Because just focusing on sales means that you are thinking short term - building something without a strong foundation.
The pre-frame happens in different stages.
Stage 1: Heard Good Things About You
Getting people to hear about you is stage 1 of pre-frame. People are going to hear about you. This can also happen via brand branding initiatives; however, the most powerful kind of "heard about you" is from other customers.
That's why we need as many customers as possible at all ticket sizes so that people have heard about us. That's why trip wires are so important (small products at an accessible cost).
“Heard about you” can happen via:
Watching a YouTube video of you
Reading a blog post from you
Coming across a social media post from you
You appearing as a guest in other people’s content channels
That's why the importance of social media marketing cannot be ignored. However, social media alone cannot drive sales; that's what most business owners think. Social media drives discovery. It's a discovery engine. It's a chance to make a first impression on the minds of your future customers.
That's why you should be careful what you post on social media. If people have a negative view of you in the first interaction with your content/brand, they will never go all the way to the bottom of the funnel.
Stage 2: Received Value From You
After they have "heard about you," the next step in the pre-framing process is to receive your value. The value delivery creates a feeling of reciprocation. It’s one of the 6 triggers of persuasion. (Read Robert Cialdini).
Value consumption by your prospects and customers strengthens the brand. If the value that you are providing is unique and impactful and improves the lives of your leads, your brand gets strengthened, and the leads get warmed up to buy bigger and higher margin products from you.
If the value that you deliver is not that impressive, it's gonna discourage people from buying higher ticket products from you. So, make sure that your content is top-notch. The better the quality of the content, the quicker and more intense the lead nurturing will be.
Ways to Deliver Value to Your Leads:
A 10-30 day email course
Long-form videos on YouTube
An online community where people can meet like-minded people
A mini-video course
A printed book with an ebook version and an audio version
Case studies and inspiration from previous customers
An event that helps people experience your brand
A tool that can improve your prospect's life
All the above products need not be free. A small ticket price helps fund some of the distribution costs. It also helps your lead value what they have. A book cost $10 is perceived as a higher value product than a free ebook. Get people to spend money with you. Make it a habit. Deliver 100x value in return and impress them.
Stage 3: Humility, Trust and Inspiration
No one will buy your high-ticket, high-profit margin products if they are not your fans. As a personal brand & the leader of your community, you need to have a likable personality. You need to be humble and not have an ego that says you already have achieved something. You don't need to boast to inspire people.
Your genuine intention will show through, and people will pick up on subconscious signals. If you intend to sell and make money to enhance your own life at the cost of your customer's money, no matter what techniques you use to hide this intention, it cannot be hidden forever. You will, at some point, stagnate or go down.
However, if your true intention is to improve people's lives and also earn a fair amount of money in return for the service, your true intentions will be picked up by people no matter how much you try to hide it. People would want to buy your products, and you don't need to sell them to them. You would need to put people on a waiting list.
Techniques to become more humble and likable:
Meditate
Meditate
Meditate
If you do everything right, your high-ticket products will "close" on automation. Your profits will soar so much that you won't know what to do with them.