By breaking things down and identifying the area of improvement, then you can go to work on what I call spin-doctoring it. It’s a six-step process that I teach in a course that’s like in a second, you can turn them around and condition it to where that negative thought and feeling are now their most empowering if you do it right.
Gain Trust And Rapport
Step one, what do you do?
Well, first thing, when you’re working with somebody, you gotta have rapport. If you’re out in the field and you’re trying to help them out, they have got to trust you. You can’t help somebody who doesn’t want help or is not willing to change. They have got to want it. So, it helps to create some leverage. Find out what it’s going to cost them ultimately if they don’t get this fixed. If they could associate the behavior with negative behavior or negative results, then they’re gonna want to do something about it. But, they won’t typically open up with you unless they really trust that you’re not going to throw them on the bus and tell everybody what their problems are. They have to really trust that you’re there to help them. And so, that’s really big. That rapport is like the really first step. Okay.
Listen
Then you really just need to listen to them to understand and appreciate their world. Find out what they’re dealing with and what’s going on, and kind of listen for where the problem really is and where they think it might be. Usually, when you ask them what’s wrong, they’ll tell you, I don’t know. I don’t know, I don’t know. But if you ask the question, Well, if you did know and let them think about that, then they can a lot of times find it, They become more resourceful. They say, Well, you know, I just, I don’t feel good about this. They’re not gonna perform very well at that. So, you can identify it quickly if they open up to you that way and ask them what’s going on.
Identify The Problem
But, a lot of times they don’t know. So what we’ll do is we’ll record them. We’ll mic them and record them and we’ll listen for it ourselves. It’s like I tell everybody you can see with your ears mm-hmm. , right? If you just close your eyes and listen, you’ll feel what they’re talking about as they go through it. And you’ll identify, oh, here’s where they’re stuck. I think there’s a problem.
Take The Time
How many managers, that if you’re listening to this and you’re really like, Oh yeah, we’ll record them or we’ll go through it. It’s like, do you ever really take the time to do that with your people? Just take the time. It’s huge. You know what I mean? I think a lot of people are like, Man, I can’t seem to get these guys to perform. But, I mean, right there in and of itself, it’s like, well, do you even hear their problem?
Look At The Whole Picture
A lot of people will talk over their own questions. You know, they’ll answer their own question in a house. They’ll talk over the customer. They won’t get a tie-down or a good commitment. Right. Or they won’t recognize the spouse. They’ll talk to just one party. The whole picture needs to be addressed and looked at. You can’t forget to see what else is going on. Just look at other things of that nature.
Don’t Overload
If you’re listening for the steps being done, if you know what’s supposed to happen as they transition through a presentation, you’re making sure that they’re at eight or above at each piece. And when you find, the key areas, I’d never overload them with too much improvement. That’s too much. You don’t want to overwhelm them with a million things to fix. That will lead to the opposite result and so many people will give up when they feel overwhelmed. I’ll find maybe one or two key ones isolate it and work on the top most important one first. That’ll get the fastest result for creating a top-performing sales rep.ย
