Business

Techniques That Helped Jeremy Miner Jump From $0 to $2.4 Million

Published

3 years ago

July 10, 2020

When Jeremy Miner, the CEO of 7th Level Communications, first started out in sales, he noticed something: nothing he was doing was working (similar to many salespeople’s first experiences). He, like us, had been taught many techniques from the old sales model and from so-called ‘sales gurus,’ but he wasn’t achieving the six figures a year that they said he could make following their techniques. At the same time, he was in college studying Behavioral Science and Human Psychology, and he was struck by how what he was learning about the human brain contrasted from what he had been taught in sales. He was studying how the brain makes decisions and how people are persuaded to do something. It was the complete opposite of the traditional selling techniques.

“I knew I wanted to succeed in sales. To do so, I knew I needed to take a giant leap outside my comfort zone. Following the status quo wasn’t going to work,” Miner said. “So, rather than just listening to the methods I had been taught, I decided I’d go in search of another sales training program with the behavioral science elements of sales. I searched… invested in many training courses… attended many events… and read many books. But none of them had the questions that I needed to ask to get my prospects to persuade themselves in a step by step sequence rooted in human psychology.”

So… he created it himself. “You may think that would’ve been easy, since I was studying behavioral science in school. Far from it! But as I continued my trial and error process, I eventually got to a place where I mastered the series of questions that I now call ‘Neuro-Emotional Persuasion Questions’ (more on these soon). And, the year I finally felt I had mastered it, I ended up making $2,370,485 dollars in the year in straight commission as a W-2 sales rep.”

Techniques That Took Jeremy Miner to $2.4 Million

Miner now teaches students around the world how to practice the new mode of selling, which means ditching the traditional model. He goes in depth into each of the neuro-emotional persuasion questions in his course. These questions are intended to help the prospect convince themselves that they need what you’re selling.

Asking questions more than presenting. “I now tell my students that prospects should be the ones talking for about 80 percent of the conversation. To guide this, ask questions. “Engage, don’t tell” is one of the three main forms of communication that I teach in the new model of selling. The “Old Model’ of Selling DOES ask some questions. But, 99 percent of salespeople don’t ask the ‘right’ questions at the right time in the conversation. They just ask ‘surface’ questions which only get you the superficial answers from your potential customers.

Rather, it’s critical to ask specific, skilled questions that bring out emotion from your prospects on what their problems are doing to them. These could be what I call ‘problem awareness’ questions where you ask what problems they have, and how they’re affecting them. These are followed by ‘solution awareness’ questions, where you ask what they have done in the past about solving their problems, what has worked, and what hasn’t, which helps them view you more as a trusted authority who is there to help them, and not just sell to them,” Miner said.

Helping the prospect recognize the consequences of not solving their problem. “Another type of NEPQ question that is particularly effective is what I call ‘consequence questions.’ Once you have established what the problem is and what the solution could be, it’s important that the prospect states out loud the consequences of not resolving their problem. In other words, they hear in their own voice what would happen if they don’t solve the problem (buy your solution) — what they’d be missing out on. Perhaps this would be lost social media exposure if they don’t purchase your social media organic reach service, or they lose a sense of safety if they don’t immediately purchase your security device system,” said Miner.

When they are the ones to say it out loud, they’re more likely to persuade themselves. Contrast this with if you filled in the blanks for them and said, “You’ll lose social media exposure if you don’t purchase this today.” The fact that you were the one to say it totally changes the effectiveness of the statement. Even if that’s completely true and they believe it, too, they don’t want to hear you tell them — they’ll likely get defensive and get off the call.

Engaging and discovering in a helpful conversation.

So, it shouldn’t just be following a script or giving a pitch, but it shouldn’t just be asking questions, either. Rather, the best sales conversations work in a banter between salesperson and prospect. I call this ‘learning and discovering from each other.’ Imagine this like you’d talk with a friend who you had no intention of selling to. You ask your friend how business is going, and they complain about something related to what your business solves. So, you ask some more questions to understand more, then mention what you do. The equal playing field is your mutual curiosity to hear what the other has to say.

It shouldn’t be any different in a sales conversation. It shouldn’t be you shoving your product pitch down a prospect’s throat. That’s simply not what they want, and a great way to lose a potential sale.

To learn about Miner’s exact NEPQ process, visit his website: 7thlevelhq.com.

Business

The Ultimate Guide to the Essential Social Skills in Business

Published

40 mins ago

May 30, 2023

Matthew Wiles

Effective communication and strong relationships are essential for success in the workplace. One factor that can greatly influence these qualities is emotional intelligence, often abbreviated as EQ. EQ refers to the ability to identify, understand, and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Research has shown that individuals with high levels of EQ are better equipped to handle stress, communicate effectively, and work collaboratively with others (Chamorro-Premuzic & Sanger, 2016).

Research has consistently shown that emotional intelligence (EQ) is an important predictor of job performance and success in the workplace. EQ is comprised of a set of skills that allow individuals to recognize, understand, and regulate their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. In addition, individuals with high EQ are better able to communicate effectively, build relationships, and navigate complex social situations. As a result, they are often viewed as effective leaders and collaborators, and are more likely to achieve their personal and professional goals.

In fact, a number of studies have demonstrated the significant impact that EQ has on job performance and success. For example, one study of 85 upper-level managers found that those with higher EQ scores were rated as more effective leaders by their subordinates (Law, Wong, & Song, 2004). Another study of 151 employees found that those with higher EQ were more likely to be promoted within their organization over a five-year period (Carmeli, Brueller, & Dutton, 2009). These findings highlight the importance of EQ in the workplace and suggest that developing these skills can lead to significant benefits for both individuals and organizations.

According to a study conducted by TalentSmart, a leading provider of EQ assessments, EQ is responsible for 58% of success in all job types (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009). In contrast, IQ only accounts for about 4% of success in the workplace. This suggests that EQ is a crucial skill set for individuals in any professional field. Fortunately, EQ is a skill that can be developed and honed over time with practice and awareness.

There are several key components of EQ that are particularly important for success in the workplace. These include:

Self-Regulation: This refers to your capacity to recognize and control your emotions. Sometimes treating them when they arise may be necessary. Understanding how to manage your anger is essential. However, it can also cover how to control the feelings you’ll experience.

Self-Awareness: This implies recognizing and understanding your own feelings. Do noisy places make you nervous? Do other people talking over you make you angry? Knowing these truths about yourself shows that you are working on your self-awareness. Being conscious of yourself is necessary for this phase, which can be more complex than it sounds.

Socialization: This category focuses on your capacity to manage social interactions and direct relationships. It doesn’t entail dominating others but knowing how to work with others to achieve your goals. This could entail presenting your ideas to coworkers, leading a team, or resolving a personal disagreement.

Motivation: Strong motivators include external forces like money, status, or suffering. Internal motivation, however, plays a significant role in Goleman’s concept. By doing so, you demonstrate your ability to control your cause and initiate or continue initiatives of your own volition rather than in response to external demands.

Empathy: It’s equally critical to be sensitive to others’ feelings. This may entail learning to identify different emotional states in individuals — for example, can you tell the difference between someone at ease and someone anxious? — but it also requires comprehension of how other people may react to their current situation. Empathy is one of the essential traits in business and business leadership.

A thought leader in this space, Michael Ventura has built a career advising organizations on the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace. In his book, Applied Empathy, Ventura highlights the value of empathy in business and provides strategies for developing and applying this skill set. With two decades of experience as a leader, facilitator, and educator, Ventura’s work has made impact in with prestigious institutions such as Princeton University and the United Nations as well as corporate clients such as Google and Nike.

Through his work, Ventura advises leaders to focus on the development of EQ in order to help individuals improve their communication, collaboration, and leadership skills, ultimately leading to greater success in the workplace. Experts like Ventura continue to support the growing body of research on the value of EQ in business, and the evidence that organizations who invest in the EQ of their teams help to create a more empathetic and successful professional environment.

And it’s worth noting that EQ isn’t just important for individual success in the workplace, but also for overall organizational success. A study by the Center for Creative Leadership found that EQ was a better predictor of success than IQ or technical skills in the workplace, and that teams with higher levels of EQ tend to be more effective and productive (Boyatzis, Goleman, & Rhee, 1999). By cultivating a culture of empathy and emotional intelligence, organizations can improve their overall performance and create a more positive work environment for their employees.

In conclusion, emotional intelligence is a crucial component of success in the workplace, and individuals and organizations alike should prioritize the development of these skills. The ones that do not only develop a leading edge in their category, but also become a meaningful place to work for their teams. And in today’s rapidly changing talent landscape, the retention of highly capable, emotionally intelligent leaders is one of the greatest keys to unlocking success.

References:

Boyatzis, R. E., Goleman, D., & Rhee, K. S. (1999). Clustering competence in emotional intelligence: Insights from the emotional competence inventory (ECI). In R. Bar-On & J. D. A. Parker (Eds.), Handbook of emotional intelligence (pp. 343-362). Jossey-Bass.

Bradberry, T., & Greaves, J. (2009). Emotional intelligence 2.0. TalentSmart.

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Sanger, M. N. (2016). Does employee happiness matter? Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 3(2), 168-191.