In this blog post I published a few weeks ago, and this one, I talked about the importance of having a good flow in your business.
Today we’re talking about the importance of frame.
Frame can be broken down into two parts, the first part is called the pre-frame.
The pre-frame phase happens before you ever really have an in-depth phone call with someone. You may have an initial conversation to see what their level of interest is to see if you even want to go into a deeper phone call.
But what do I mean by “pre-frame?”
What I mean is that every potential client needs to see you as the person who wrote the book on your subject matter. I mean that literally and figuratively. They need to see you as the expert, the go-to, and the thought leader in your space.
So how do you do that?
At Bestseller Publishing, we speak to every person who has purchased the book or the workbook. They bought something from us. They raised their hand and said that we’re the expert in the space so they trust us enough to pull out their credit card and buy something.
From here, the book works for us. Publish, Promote, Profit frames me and my company as an expert.
You should be using your book in the same way.
It doesn’t stop there though.
We also use video.
Before we get on the phone with someone, we want them to have seen testimonials from past clients, an explanation of what the program is (via a video of me explaining it using client examples, the beautiful products we’ve created, and sharing how our clients have used their books to make a lot of money, make a big impact, etc.)
These videos serve as social proof. Before we talk to a potential client, they’ve seen what we’ve been able to help our authors accomplish and how we’ve done it.
So by the time we finally do get on the phone with that potential client, they’re pre-framed. They know who we are and what we do so they’re ready to talk about what’s most important: what we can do for them.
These steps prevent everyone involved from wasting time. At Bestseller Publishing, we don’t have to spend time explaining what we do. Instead, we get to use our time on the phone converting.
When a potential customer gets on the phone with us, we want them to understand that we’re the experts. We’re not on the phone with them to sell them. Either they want to do business with us or they don’t.
If you’ve properly pre-framed yourself and your business, you have the opportunity to turn the tables on the typical introductory phone call. Now you can ask questions like:
- How can I help you?
- What’s your challenge?
- What are your issues?
You don’t want to have a conversation with someone who’s asking how you’re going to help them and what you’re going to do for them. They clearly were not appropriately pre-framed for that telephone call and you’ll be wasting everyone’s time.
You’re the bestselling author on the subject matter. You’ve been featured on the radio, on the TV, on podcasts and blogs, etc. and I guarantee that you have more credibility and authority than they do.
The goal of a business owner should not be to hunt for a sale. You want customers to hunt for you. They’re looking for a solution to their problem and you want to make sure they see that you can help them get to that solution.
Remember, even if you’re not having phone calls with potential customers because you sell your products through a website, you still need to pre-frame them. It will probably be done via video, but it still needs to be done.
In fact, it’s probably even more important to pre-frame a course or some kind of online material because the customer will be making a more expensive purchase without ever speaking to somebody. They’re not going to buy unless they understand who you are and what you do.
In addition to creating that frame, you also want to help your potential clients/customers see that there’s a gap between what it is they want, why they’re hunting for a solution for their problem, and where they are now.
No one needs to hire a ghostwriter. No one needs to write a book. Business owners can choose other ways to grow their company and many people find success without writing a book. No one needs to purchase from us.
For most of us (“us” being entrepreneurs/business owners), our clients/customers don’t really need the product or service we’re offering. They don’t feel like they’re going to die if they don’t buy from you.
But that’s ok because they still want what we’re offering. They want it badly enough so they hop through the hoops we have in place (giving us their email, going through our free plus shipping book funnel, watching the introductory videos having a phone call with us).
We use a nine-box strategy that is available to those who are apart of the Bestseller Publishing Membership and the most important part of that strategy is what we call “The Three R’s:” reality, roadblocks, and results.
“Reality” and “roadblocks” refers to your potential customer’s current situation. This is where you find out how big their gap is from where they are now to where they want to be in their life/business.
We like to figure out this gap by asking them a series of results-based questions such as: what results do you want to achieve with your book? Why do you want to do speaking engagements? What’s your ideal audience size for those speaking engagements? How much would you like to be charging for your offers?
During this conversation, we’re painting a beautiful picture (with the potential customer’s words) of what exactly they want.
If someone tells us they currently make $20,000 a year and want to be making $350,000 a year, we help them acknowledge that gap. We’ll talk through their current offers and why they think that having a book with good PR and media will allow them to start charging more so they can reach that end goal.
When you have this conversation with someone about where they want to be, it almost always makes them feel good. Talking about where they could potentially make them excited but it can feel less exciting if they’re massively far away from that end goal.
So if your program or product can really help them achieve those results and you can plan a path for them to get there, your offer of $10,000 or $40,000 for coaching will sound like the perfect way for them to fill that gap.
If they’re not willing to commit to such a high price point, they might be willing to buy something at a lower price such as a $5,000 8 week program. If they’re not willing to commit at all (for whatever reason), I challenge them. I’ll put my coaching hat on and ask them when they will be ready to write the book they just told me will change their business.
I don’t want to get off the phone call with them wishing them luck and sending them on their way. If someone is making excuses for why they’re not ready to commit, that’s your opportunity to push them.
Sometimes I’ll say something along the lines of, “I see this isn’t important to you right now which is why it’s been something you’ve thought about for 5 years. Maybe you’ll be ready in another 5 years.” Then they’ll typically tell me that they’re going to get it done sooner. How do I respond to something like that? By saying that this is their opportunity to do it sooner.
Why am I sharing this with you? Because regardless of how much you charge for your product/service, you need to frame your business.
You need a pre-frame structure, especially if you’re selling something that is a significant investment and you need a frame structure for your calls so when you get a potential client on the phone you can close the sale.
Show them the distance from where they are and where they want to then show them how you can help them.
Flow and frame are crucial to a successful business. Read “It’s All About Creating Flow in Your Business” and “4 Ways to Create Flow in Your Business“ to achieve the results you want.
