The Magic of Agreement

Welcome back, sizzlers. Today I'm gonna be talking about the magic of agreement. This is perhaps the most important sales skill, even more important than the ability to close, because you cannot close a deal if there's conflict, if there's disagreement.

So you have to be in agreement with your prospect or customer before you can offer up the close.

So always, always, always agree with the customer.

Now that doesn't mean that the customer is alwa is is always right. I'm not saying that, but if you can actually get the customer to understand that you are listening to them and that you agree and you can see things from their perspective, that will help immensely in being able to move the sales process forward.

I've been honing my own skills with the agreement principle in working with Grant Cardone. I'm a 10 x business coach and this is something that the team and I practice daily. It's a muscle that you need to build. The agreement principle is a muscle that you need to have an automatic reflex response.

You see, most people will get into an exhaustive debate.  they get objection after objection, and they try and beat down all of these objections, and in the end they become so exhausted in dealing with them that they lose steam, confidence, and ultimately the sale. It's hard for the prospect cuz you're beating them up the whole time telling them that they're wrong and handling their objectives , quite aggressively.

So you need to be able to diffuse that situation. I know in the past I just sit there waiting for the for the standard objections, and I have my response. I'm gonna shoot them down. I know how to answer them. But I've come to realize, I've learned over time, that's not, perhaps you don't need to be, the smartest the most articulate in, unpicking somebody else's objection.  First of all, your prospect wants to be heard. They want to know that you are listening, that you understand their concern. So you've really gotta build this automatic reflexive response where you are in agreement and it will take the tension out of the sales process.

So I want you to think about saying things and practice this.

Say things,

you are right.

I'm with you.

I agree.

I'll work it out.

I understand.

I'll make it happen.

Done right all positive affirmations that you are agreeing with the customer. Don't try and be right. Don't try and get into a fight to prove that you are the cleverest or that your point is important.

You are not gonna get anywhere if you get stuck on a disagreement. Look, when there are two people involved in a conversation, any conversation doesn't even have to be a sales conversation, it could be with your spouse. If one of you is in agreement, there can be no conflict.

Just think about it. Try this at home. Try this is an exercise that, we, we do, which is try and practice being in agreement. See to build this muscle, this agreement muscle, you need to be able to practice it in an environment that's safe for you. So, practice agreement with your family and your friends just for 24 hours.

Make a commitment that you're gonna agree with everybody. Because if you your spouse say something and you're in a, a disagreement with you never move forward. Whereas if you say, ah, yes, I agree with you, you are right. You make a good point. I understand. Yeah, I'm stupid. I get it. I should have done that. I agree with you. I'm, I'm totally, totally with you. I understand.

It completely diffuses the situation. So try that with your family and friends.

Now let me give you a couple of business examples. Cause then what I want you to do, You know, write down the 10 most common objections that you, that you get in trying to sell your product or service.

You know what they are. You should actually have a document with the 10 most common objections and how you will respond to those objections. I want you to write down how you respond to them in using the agreement principle.

So a common objection is, let's say you, you've cold called somebody, or you've got a prospect on the phone and they're, they're a little harried.

They always say, I don't have any time. I've only got 10 minutes. I've only got 10 minutes. And your natural response is, look  I can't, I can't explain what we do in 10 minutes, you know, our products and services,  there's so many benefits and features and it has to be tailored to your needs. And I need to understand exactly what some of the challenges are in your organization so I can tailor it and hone it and explain how it would work in your environment.

Well you've taken 10 minutes to explain you can't do anything in 10 minutes. So instead of,  objecting to that, just  start every, every sales conversation with an agreement

And say, so I understand, 10 minutes is more than enough time if we get started right now.

So what I'll do in the next 10 minutes is I'll give you the key benefits of our product. I'll give you the price and some payment options. And so we'll be outta here in 10 minutes and  you'll have the information you need to make a decision. Is that good with you? So you've agreed, and you're gonna use that 10 minutes.

You may not get through your entire tech sales cycle in 10 minutes, but you're gonna move it forward. You're gonna give them some information. And remember, one of the golden rules is you'll always, always write a proposal. So even at the end of that call, you can reiterate, here's what we talked about. Here's the The price and the options.

Write that down, get that sent to them so they've got something, and then when you pick up with them again, you can review the proposal, you can take the sales process  to the next level.

The second objection, I'm gonna have a little bit of fun with you here.

 I'm gonna magnify the objection just so that you get to understand how powerful the agreement principle is.

So one of the common objections will be, Hey, the price is way too high.

I agree.

I'm with you.

Most of my clients say the same thing.

I get it.

Let me make a suggestion. Let's pay for it over time, then price won't be the problem.

Do you see how what I did there was I agreed that the price was too high, and listen, price is made up. Price is just a figure we attach to whatever our product or service. The thing that the customer is buying is the value. So if you've articulated value, well price is never a true objection.

I've talked about that on other podcasts. But  what I did there, you saw that I agreed, with them. I said, I agree, I listen, I understand. Yeah. And my clients say the same thing. And then I made a segue into, well let me make a suggestion. Why don't we pay over time? Then price won't be the problem.

So that allowed you to move forward.

But let's say that this customer is still frustrated with the, the price they're banging on about the price.

You're not listening. The price is outrageous.

I hear you. I know the price is too high. I get it. I understand. I agree.

It's a lot of money, but I need your signature here and here,.

So I acknowledge the price. I acknowledge that it was too high, and ask for the order.

Remember, always, always, always, always ask for the order. Ask for the order early. Ask for the order often .Ask again and again. And ask for the order.

Yeah, understand. Heard you. The price is too high. Sign here.

 Everybody moans about the price. If they they go go to Starbucks in the morning,  and they get their grande cappuccino and their bacon egg bites and the barista says, yes, that'll be $12.

Yeah. That, that's an outrageous price! Yeah, it's the price. Do you want to use your Starbucks card or an Amex card? And they pay, right? But everybody wants to complain about price.

It's a complaint. It's not a true objection. let's continue the role play.  Here's our customer again.

Don't you get it? The price is a problem.

I agree. It's a lot of money, and I expect that you knew that before you got here. Let's get started so that you can enjoy the benefits of this product.

Again, I agreed with them and I made the comment that you knew our services were gonna be expensive.

You knew this roof was gonna be a lot of money. You knew this floor would gonna be a lot of money. Right. My haircut, it's a lot of money. I know that. I knew that before I came. I'd done my research, and that's an easy way to diffuse it.

But, but, but, but, but you are not hearing me. The price is a problem.

I agree. This isn't the first time, and I promise it won't be the last, that you spend more money than you expected to spend to get the result you wanted. Visa, MasterCard or American Express? And you say that with a smile and, the customer will go with you.

Let's continue our role play. This is a really tough customer.

You are trying to pressure me into an expensive decision.

I hear you. I understand. I get it, but you wouldn't feel pressure unless it was the right thing to do. It tells me you are the decision maker. If you weren't, you wouldn't feel the pressure. And the pressure is because you know it's right, so let's do this.

 Whenever  your prospect is feeling pressure, it's because they're, they're on the cusp of making a decision. If they weren't the decision maker, They wouldn't feel any pressure cuz they know they can't make the decision anyway. They'd just go, Hmm, yeah, okay mm-hmm.

But once people get emotional and they're talking about making this decision and the pressure because they feel it's important, they're the decision making, they're evaluating. You've got them on that knife's edge though. So get asked for the order. You saw what I did there you -know, let's do this.

If you, if, if you weren't the decision maker, you, you wouldn't be feeling pressure. Let, let's do this. You know, it's the right thing.

 Let's continue our role play.

But it's really expensive.

I understand the price is too, too high. I, I put the price on the product. I know it's high. And congratulations.

What? Yeah. Congratulations.

Many business owners are closing their doors, right? And they can't even make, make rent or payroll. And yet you have the ability to invest in this product to take your business to the next level. Congratulations. Sign here.

I don't think you are listening. The price is too high.!!!!

I'm with you. You are right. I understand. I know. Sign right here.

Mick, you are really slow. You are not getting it. The price is too high.

I know, sir. I know it is. And this isn't the first time nor, will it be the last time that you spend a little bit more to get exactly what you want? Visa, MasterCard, or Amex.

The prospective customer balks at the price they always balk at the price. Price is never the true objection. Price is never an objection. You can give them payment options. You can take price away. It's not their big issue. The underlying issue might be something very, very different.

They might not believe in your product. They might not believe that they get the value and you, you'll have to do a little bit more work in un uncovering that. But the price is not the issue. And you see there, cuz I agreed with them, I didn't say, went into the justification,  and exhausted myself on trying to defend the price cuz the price is, is made up.

And you should all increase your prices by 20%, cuz you know, why not? It's a made up number.  The higher the price people tend to ascribe higher, higher value , to some things that are higher priced. Price isn't the issue. So use that agreement principle, that agreement, agreement muscle.

What I want you to practice is I want you to practice saying, looking in the mirror and saying these things when

You are right.

I'm with you.

I agree.

I'll work it out.

I understand.

I get it.

I'll make it happen.

And practice that with your family and friends when they say something that's an objection.

Just say, I, I hear you. I understand. I'm with you. And then think about how you would segue into the next part or closing the deal. So this agreement muscle, this agreement principle has gotta become reflexive. Listening to this on the podcast will probably stimulate some ideas, but you need to practice, practice, practice and iterate for this to become very, very natural in a sales situation.

Sales always get emotional. People make decisions with emotion and they post rationalize with logic. So you gotta get comfortable with emotion. You gotta get comfortable  with your prospect expressing disdain, distaste, anger, frustration, delight, excitement. That's part of the sales process. That's why we love sales.

So get comfortable with that and have this calming response. I get it. I hear you. I understand. Yes.  Don't, don't exhaust yourself.

 Agreement is very, it's very positive. It gives you more energy when you're in agreement, you're smiling, you're in agreement, and eventually the prospect starts to lose their, if there is some animosity, they lose their virulence about this particular thing and  they understand that you are listening because you keep reiterating that I heard you.

I understand and I agree. The benefits of the product are such that we should move forward, and it allows you to have an effective close.

So go and practice that muscle now. you need to be doing this exercise daily.

So I've got daily training, videos and coaching that's available as part of my 10 x coaching course.

 You can find that. I'll, put a link into the show notes it'll be at,  mickholly.us/coaching mickholly.us/coaching. You can find out about my coaching program where I can coach you on these principles and we can do daily, daily practice videos to get these muscles tuned up to make you more effective in sales, more effective in conversation, and more effective in life.

So Sizzlers go ahead and start agreeing with your friends and family and take that agreement principle into your sales process.

See you next time. Well, we've come to the end of another great episode. Hope you enjoyed that.

please, if you enjoyed the show, go to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. Five stars would be perfect. Let us know. Put some comments in there. That would be fantastic. And if you want more show notes and review some of the other episodes, please go to. sellthesizzle.net. That's sell the sizzle.net. See you next week.