How to Coach Yourself and Others Beware of Manipulation | Page 271

Escape by: Don't make a decision just yet when someone has been discussing your to it objections with
you. The other person is not there to help you make the right decision for yourself, but to convince you
to make a decision that's suitable to him. It's better to wait some time before deciding. You might give
it some thought, but actually, your intuition doesn't need thought to decide right. All you need is
clearing your head before deciding.
Manipulative Questions.
Many sales people are taught how to ask a brand of manipulative question. Let's call them "Reverse
Focus Questions." Here are a few examples:
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Are you tired of market volatility yet?
If I could show you a way to get (some wild claim) would you be interested?
What is the biggest headache in your future?
What's financial issues are keeping you up at night?
What concerns you most about retiring?
What is giving you the most grief at this point?
If you could solve just one financial problem what would it be?

So, what's wrong with such questions? Everything! First, they come from a different time in history - a
different economy, one in which consumers were optimistic. Meaning, they're as obsolete as stock in
Yugo. Second, they are designed to force the focus back to the seller. Meaning, they're self-serving,
and in the Age of Cynicism, that "ain't" good. It's like asking, "Enough about me; how do you like me
so far?"
To understand this, picture a target with a bull's eye and two outer rings:
Bull's eye. Me Me Me! This is the sales person. His agenda, his goal, his self-interest. In a mythical
world, all roads would lead directly to here. This is where the source of all those bad questions are
born.
Inner Ring.
Bounce Questions. These are the most crass questions. In concept, they are designed to focus on the
seller and his self-interest. In function, they are the seller's attempt to 1) manipulate and control the
topics of the conversation, 2) frame the context in the mind of the prospect. Unfortunately, because
consumers are so sceptical, these questions are now met with a wall of resistance. Here are a few
examples:.
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Are you tired of market volatility yet?
If I could show you a way to get (some wild claim) would you be interested?
Are you concerned about excess risk (or financial security or anything else that leads to your
product)?
Are you wildly happy with your current carrier?
How would you like to save money on ______?
When you think about healthcare, what keeps you up at night?

The key to those questions is that they always contain a part of the larger context or topic. That larger
topic is the product or service being sold, and the smaller topic serves to bounce the conversation to the
larger one. Let's look at some examples:
Larger (ultimate) Topic / Smaller (immediate) Topic

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