Greeting:
Hi everyone,
Introduction of what we are going to be talking about:
In this video, I am going to introduce you to a sales concept that we call the “commitment thermometer”.
The “commitment thermometer” is a way of thinking when it comes to sales that we learned from observing our clients who are the best at sales.
In the first half of this video, I'm going to explain what the commitment thermometer is. In the second half of this video, I will show you how the "commitment thermometer" applies to text message sales, which is what you're going to be doing inside StudioHub.
Why you should pay attention:
The goal here is that by understanding the “commitment thermometer” you will be able to use this knowledge to make more sales through text messaging using StudioHub!
With that said, let’s dive in.
The “commitment thermometer” explained:
To explain the “commitment thermometer”, I want you to imagine a thermometer. This thermometer represents someone’s readiness to buy something.
The higher the temperature of the thermometer, the more ready the person is to buy.
Once the thermometer reaches a certain temperature, they are ready to commit to buying.
Implication:
The idea here is that if you’re going to sell someone something, you want to raise their interest levels enough to get them to the point where they are ready to commit before you ask for the sale.
If you ask for the sale too soon, or too late, the person's interest goes down, and your chances of them buying go down.
Sales story scenario 1:
Let’s imagine a person going to the Apple store to buy a device for browsing the internet, and checking your email, and they want it to be the fastest device they have.
Now, as they walk into the store, the store rep immediately tells them “Welcome to the Apple store. Thank you for coming in. Would you like to buy our brand new MacBook computer?”
At that point, the person says “No, thank you, I’m just looking”.
What that really means is that the person’s interest level is low, and they are not ready to commit yet.
Sales story scenario 2:
Now, let’s replay the scenario again.
The person walks into the Apple store, and this time the store rep says: “Welcome to the Apple store. Thank you for coming in. What brings you in today?”
The person says “I’m just looking”.
Store rep: “Great, do you have anything specific device in mind? So, I can point you in the right direction?”
Person: “I’m looking for a device to browse the internet, and check my emails”
Store rep: “Got it. Do you prefer larger devices like a desktop computer, somewhere in the middle like an iPad or laptop, or a small device like a phone?”
Person: “I would prefer a laptop”
Store rep: “Got it. Besides checking emails, and browsing the internet. What is important to you?”
Person: “I’d like it to be the fastest computer”
Store rep: “Got it. Well, our fastest computer is our latest MacBook pro. It has 36GB of ram. What this means is that you can run multiple programs at once, and your computer will run smoothly without slowing down. Would you be interested in seeing the price for this one?”
Person: “Yes, please”
Store rep: “Great, this model is $2,800. Would you like to move forward with it?”
Person: “Yes.”
End.
Analysis:
Let’s analyze these 2 scenarios again, using the “commitment thermometer.”
As you can see in the first scenario, the store rep asked the person to buy too soon. The thermometer was low. The person wasn’t ready to commit, which is why they didn't end up buying.
On the other hand, in the second scenario, by asking questions to understand what the person wanted, the store rep was able to get the person’s interest levels to rise and get them to the point where they were ready to commit.
Lesson:
Obviously, I’ve oversimplified this. The psychology behind sales is more complicated than this. I also know that not every sales scenario is going to be this smooth.
However, the point still stands. By taking the time to ask questions to understand what people want, you will make the other person more interested. By asking questions, you will have better chances of getting people than if you don’t ask anything.
Applying the "commitment thermometer" to text message sales:
Now that you understand that by asking questions you are able to raise someone's interest in their commitment thermometer, let's apply this same idea to selling over text messages.
Asking questions:
When it comes to selling classes over text messages, most people make the mistake of not asking enough questions, or any questions, when it comes to selling over text.
I've seen people respond to their inquiries by saying, "Thank you for inquiring about our classes, if you'd like more information, or you'd like to sign up, visit our website."
This obviously doesn't work. It's similar to the example I gave you earlier of the store rep asking people to buy immediately as soon as they came into the store.
What you want to do is think back on the same style of questions the store rep from the Apple store asked in the second example and apply it to selling your classes.
Let's pretend you're selling your classes. It could be classes for kids, or adults; it could be dance classes, swimming classes, or music classes, it doesn't matter because the process is still the same.
You want to ask questions to understand what the person wants:
- Who are the classes for? If the classes are for kids, ask how old their kid is.
- Do they have any previous experience?
- What are their goals?
- Have they ever done the activity before?
You want to lead the conversation to the sale by asking questions:
- Here is our schedule. Which classes are you interested in?
- Would you be interested in me grabbing you the pricing?
- Would you like to grab a spot?
By asking questions, you will get a sense of what the other person is looking for, which will help you understand what to sell them. More importantly, though, because people take the time to answer the questions, they become more committed and their interest level rises. This is how you increase your chances of getting them to buy
Speed matters:
Because we live in such a fast-paced world where people want things now, it's important to mention that speed matters a lot.
What I'm talking about here is how fast it takes you to respond to people.
If it takes you a really long time to respond to people, their interest will go down in their thermometer, and it will be harder for you to sell them.
Think about it this way: when are people most interested in chatting about your classes? When they first inquired about your classes, or 3 days later?
The sooner the better, right? That's something that you want to keep in mind.
The faster you respond, the higher their interest, the better your chances are of making the sale.
Ask for the sale:
The last point I want to emphasize is that you need to ask for the sale.
A lot of people make the mistake of not asking people to buy. They think "If people are interested, they will ask to sign up." This is a mistake.
Once you've asked questions to understand what people want, and you feel like their interest is high, ask people for the sale.
Conclusion:
Whenever you go to sell anything, think of the “commitment thermometer”. You want to ask questions to understand what people want, and to increase their level of interest so that they are ready to commit!
In the next video, I'm going to give you a sales script that you can use as a guide to help you make more sales.