Persuasion is a process and ‘Yes’ does not happen by accident!
This article comes from my my video series ‘Notes From My Mentors’ – and although this strategy is from my notes nearly 2 decades ago, the information is still just as valuable today as ever.
How To Elicit a Transderivational Search
A transderivational search is the process of searching back through one’s stored memories, mental representations and/or internal processes to find the reference experience from which a current behavior or response is being derived.
Evoking that search within the client causes them to relive/rehearse that experience and access the process/strategy that they used in their past to make similar decisions.
Just by asking the right questions to cause a transderivational search, you simultaneously evoke the associated emotions, which you are inquiring about. Unconsciously you are causing the client to anchor those associated feelings, emotions and processes to you, your service, and/or product.
Anchoring is the process of associating an internal response with some external trigger (similar to Pavlonian Conditioning) so that the response may be quickly, and even unconsciously reaccessed.
An example of some questioning structures that can cause this type of search and will simultaneously give you process information are:
- “What caused…”
- “How did you decide to…”
- “What would lead you to…”
- “How did you choose…”
- “What would convince you that…”
These questions will get you process information. The best way to uncover process oriented question is to simply ask for it as the prospect talks… and listen carefully.
The procedure that the client moves through with, in their mind, from start to finish, is what you are to listen for. When you’re learning how to listen a process, it is critical to listen very carefully, because everything taken in both your ears and eyes are closed uncovering process.
Closer: “In selecting your last digital marketing platform, how did you determine it was the right platform for you?”
Prospect: “(pause) First, I looked around several different websites and determine what features I wanted. Then, I actually talked to her three other people in similar business as such as mine to find out what they were using. This allowed me to get a smart, feel for what would be best for my company. Having figured out what would be most economical and thought about it for a week because I didn’t want to jump into quickly.”
Here one has the opportunity to analyze the prospects response from two perspectives, first representational system codes, and secondly, structure in process… (more on that in another newsletter)
However, for this newsletter, let’s look at some of the highlighted areas above… First, they decided to look, which is a visual representation. Then they decided to talk with other people, which is an audible representation, and then they decided to feel smart about it, which is kinesthetic.
I do not want to go too deep here into representational systems, but it is worth noting, and I would be happy to discuss it further on one of our coaching calls.
Yet, you can see that by asking these simple questions they have to go back inside their own mind and replay the process. Which will unconsciously lead them closer to that buying process again. And, it gives us a lot of context of what they are looking for, and what they are not…
So, I’m curious… How did you decide to come on board as a client with us? And, even more so… How are you making the decision to continue with us?
Once you understand the process, you can become more comfortable with that, and make sure that everything , everything that you really need from a program such as hours, is provided.
So, as you can see, this isn’t only how to persuade someone into buying your product or service, it’s also a great way to make sure we’re meeting all of their needs, especially the ones that may not have been spoken originally.
*Discover how we can help you with your sales team – if that is you, or a 100 people… Book a time on our calendar and let’s chat – go to https://go.oncehub.com/30MinuteCoachingWayne