The Art of Persuasive Selling with Jeremy Miner, #199

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In today’s overly saturated B2B sales market, standing out from the crowd and getting a “yes” from your prospect is not achieved by using traditional selling techniques. Because when modern B2B sellers understand how to leverage the intersection between human behavior and psychology, then they can evoke the emotion necessary to drive the sale.

That topic – how to get prospects to lean all the way in, without selling – is exactly the focal point of this episode of the Modern Selling Podcast as I dive deep into neuro-emotional persuasion with one of the world’s leading sales trainers.

Jeremy Miner is the Founder of 7th Level Communications and is an internationally recognized sales guru who has taught thousands of people how to go from just getting average results in selling to becoming a high 6-figure and even 7-figure sales earner and be viewed as the “Trusted Authority” in their market.

Over the years, Jeremy has been asked by thousands of salespeople to train them on how to eliminate rejection, how to connect with their prospects, how to cold call, how to overcome their prospects objections/concerns, and finally how to close more sales without being a pushy, sleazy, disrespected salesperson. 

His company, 7th Level Communications was created to take any salesperson, no matter their experience, from wherever they’re at in selling to getting them to a high 6-figure and 7-figure annual income in sales.

Be sure to download my full conversation with Jeremy to get an equivalent to an MBA in sales that will undoubtedly help you book more meetings and close more sales.

What is the biggest mistake salespeople make?

Jeremy has worked with thousands of sales teams and organizations, so I was curious to know from his perspective where he thinks the industry is falling short.

His response was spot on with what I tell my sales teams, here at Vengreso, “A lot of entrepreneurs and salespeople are so excited about what they do and truly believe that their offering is the latest and greatest. And, somehow, they believe that this excitement alone will persuade prospects to want to buy what they’re selling. But, the reality is, many times without even realizing it, we’re giving off subconscious nonverbal and verbal cues that are creating more sales resistance in the conversation – not less.”

That’s why it’s so important, as sales professionals, to come across in our sales conversations with prospects as being neutral. Of course, we want to make the sale. But, I always say that in order to sell, you must be interested – not interesting. 

So sales reps must seek to first understand the prospect’s problem in a way that’s not interrogative and triggers a fight or flight response. 

For example, Jeremy recommends not going into the sales call assuming that your B2B offering is what the prospect needs. Rather, be open and honest with the prospect upfront as a way to disarm their initial sales resistance, so you can gather the information you need.

Here’s a script Jeremy uses:

“I’m not sure if we are the right fit yet for you. In order to determine that, I need to understand a little bit more about…”

In this way, Jeremy is not looking to close the sale immediately by claiming to have the right product for his prospect. Instead, he’s finding a way to probe for more information without setting off red flags.

Jeremy and I do an entire sales conversation role play that can help your sales team nail their sales conversations. Using just one technique Jeremy explains in the first 15 minutes of this episode is worth trying on your next sales call.

Tune into the full conversation to get all of the proven sales strategies Jeremy uses to help even the most inexperienced sales teams crush their quotas.

The NEPQ Sales Methodology 

When it comes to mastering the art of selling, I’m always interested in learning new methodologies and frameworks.

Here, at Vengreso, we teach the PVC Sales Methodology for prospecting which is rooted in personalizing every sales interaction and leading with value in every prospect touchpoint.

Jeremy uses a slightly different approach that has been widely successful for the sales teams that he works with.

It’s called NEPQ which stands for Neuro-Emotional Persuasion Questioning. This unique method moves the sales rep from the boiler room type selling approach (think Wolf of Wall Street) where urgency is forced into the prospect’s face to an approach that focuses more on building dialogue.

In this way, prospects won’t feel like they’re being sold to and will have less sales resistance. This in turn enables sales reps to build immediate rapport and trust.

Jeremy explains, “What many sales reps don’t realize is, we’re the most persuasive when we allow others to persuade themselves through dialogue. The key here is we have to think about what questions we need to ask, when we ask them, how we ask them, with what tone will we ask them, and with what pauses will we include to make the conversation feel natural? If you can nail this, then you will pull the prospect in, rather than push them away.”

Listen to the full conversation, particularly at the 28-minute mark to see exactly how Jeremy puts his NEPQ sales methodology into action.

Why do buying decisions stall?

I’ve been in sales for over 20+ years, but even I have had some large sales opportunities stall unexpectedly. I wanted to pick Jeremy’s brain to see what he thought is driving this trend, especially within digital sales.

I found his response to be quite interesting, “Buying decisions only stall because sales teams are using sales techniques that work against human behavior and trigger sales resistance. I’m a big proponent that sales is about change. It’s about how good you are at helping your prospect view in their own mind – not by telling them – but by the questions you ask that they’re ready to change their situation.”

I always say that selling is the art of helping. If we’re not helping our prospects solve a problem or achieve a desired outcome, then getting to a sale will be impossible. 

Jeremy shared what he calls “consequence questions” which are a powerful framing tool that he teaches sales teams to help prospects get to that critical point in the conversation where they’re ready to say “yes” to change and to buying from you.

Download the episode to hear how these incredibly simple questions work to help sales teams book more meetings and close more sales.