Episode 15: The 4 Common ‘Freeze Points’ in Sales

Episode 15: The 4 Common ‘Freeze Points’ in Sales

Do you find yourself in a sales conversation, only to feel inadequate or stumble at a critical moment? You’re not alone! There are 4 common Freeze Points in sales, and knowing what they are and ways to navigate through them can make a huge difference in your bottom line. Join Pamela as she walks you through the 4 Freeze Points, and gives you strategies and language to handle each one.

You’ll discover:

• The 4 Freeze Points and why they occur.
• How to set your energy and intention to keep the conversation flowing.
• Sample scripts and language to handle the Freeze Points gracefully.

Timecode Guide:

01:42: Pamela explains what the term ‘freeze points’ means in sales.
03:22: Discover the four common freeze points and get examples for how they all show up.
18:44: Gene describes why sales ‘conversations’ are so critical.

Podcast Transcription

Episode 15: The 4 Common ‘Freeze Points’ in Sales

What are Freeze Points?

Intro (00:00):
You’re listening to ‘A Profitable Impact.’

Pamela (00:02):
In a sales conversation. It’s not uncommon to have moments of feeling inadequate or stumbling. It’s because of the four common freeze points and sales, knowing what they are and how to navigate them can make a huge difference.

Gene (00:15):
Welcome to ‘A Profitable Impact,’ where every single week, we help experts like coaches, healers, course creators, and other online professionals to expand their reach, to increase their impact in the world and be well-paid for their extraordinary skills and talents. My name is Gene Monterastelli and I am the lead coach in Pamela Bruner’s Impact Accelerator coaching program. And now I would like to welcome my friend, my colleague, and the CEO of Attract Clients Online, Pamela Bruner. How are you doing today, Pamela?

Pamela (00:47):
Awesome. Because we get to continue our conversation about sales, and particularly the sticky freeze-points that stop people from getting new clients and being well-paid.

Gene (00:59):
Now, as you have been listening to the last couple of episodes in this episode, as we dive deeper and deeper into being effective in sales conversations, if you’re still feeling hung up and you’re having a hard time to be as successful as you would like or as confident as you would like in those sales conversations, we would love for you to have a free conversation with one of our coaches so they can help you to feel more confident and to be more effective with this process. If you’d like to sign up for one of those sessions, all you need to do is go to BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, that’s BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, get onto the calendar of one of our coaches so they can help you to truly be comfortable and confident as you’re talking with your ideal clients.

Pamela (01:42):
As people are moving through a sales conversation, often they’ll feel inadequate at a point or they’ll stumble at a critical moment. And the truth is that there are four really common freeze-points in sales. And so today what I want to talk about is what the four freeze-points are and why they occur, how to set your energy and your intention to keep the conversation flowing. Because even if you know the strategy, you’re going to need the confidence behind it and then sample scripts or language to handle these four freeze-points gracefully.

Gene (02:16):
So, as we jump into this today, Pamela, what exactly do you mean by freeze-points?

Pamela (02:21):
Often when you are talking to a prospective client about their transformation or about what’s possible or about what they’re struggling with, you’re in teaching-mode or you’re in coaching-mode or you’re in some kind of transformational expertise. And so, you’re feeling very comfortable because what you’re sharing is your expertise, but then because it is a sales conversation and because you need to move it along in a certain way, there are these points where you have to take action that changes the trajectory. It’s almost, if you imagine that you are walking side-by-side and you know that you have to veer left at this point and they don’t, you might have to take their, you might have to pull them. You might have to do something that disrupts the natural pace of this. And so knowing what to do that people freeze because they think, “Oh, I have to do something different now,” or “I have to deliver this part of the script,” and it kicks them out of their natural expertise.

Gene (03:19):
And so then what are those four common freeze-points?

Freeze Point #1: The Opening

Pamela (03:22):
I’ll go over each one. The first one is the opening. Especially, you know, as we get on Zoom calls and we’re online, we’re not necessarily meeting with somebody in person. We’re not just picking up the phone and saying, “hello,” what is the opening for a conversation like this when somebody gets on a call with you? And sometimes it’s as simple as how are you doing today, but then how do you transition out of small talk? “Oh, you know, I I’m, you know, I just came back from walking my dog and I’m out of breath,” or, you know, “I just got off of another call and I’m rushing,” or something like that. Like all of those can happen, but in the opening, you want to take charge of the conversation and you want to make sure that you’re moving it forward. So with the opening, starting is just sometimes awkward for you to establish control in the conversation. And that’s one of the points that people freeze. And one of the reasons that they freeze is they are looking more for a conversation. And the truth is in a sales conversation, you have to be a leader.

Freeze Point #2: The Transition to the Offer

Pamela (04:25):
Another freeze-point is the transition to the offer. So especially if you love talking to people about what they’re challenged with and how they might move forward? And how are they going to transform? And how’s their life going to be different? Then transitioning from what we call the pain points and the benefits or the pain points and the vision of where they can go transitioning into. And now I’m going to sell you something. That’s the energy that a lot of people bring to it. And it totally shifts the energy of the conversation. So the transition to the offer is another freeze-point.

Freeze Point #3: Price

Pamela (05:00):
Then the third freeze-point is price. Money is just difficult. Quoting your fees is difficult. When you think, “Oh, what are they going to think of this? Is it going to be too much? It’s going to be too little?” That money is and putting your price is almost always a freeze-point. And then finally asking for the sale because quoting your price is not the point necessarily where you are saying, you know, would you like to move forward with this? Or do you want to do this? Or something like that. But asking that question, that is where you can get a yes or no, or maybe, or something asking that question is where the rejection can occur. So of course, that’s going to be a freeze-point. So again, it’s the opening, it’s the transition to the offer. It’s the price. And it’s asking for the sale.

Gene (05:44):
And I can see with each one of these things like how intellectually, as we look at a sales conversation, it feels like we’re moving into a really different phase with each of these things. We’re starting, we’re offering, we’re giving you money, we’re asking for a sale. But as you’re saying in reality, these are all just continuations of the exact same conversation. And if we’re able to engage with them in a thoughtful, deliberate way, it’s going to feel natural. It’s going to feel easy as we move from one thing to the next.

Pamela (06:13):
And you know, when we teach sales, we teach that it’s an outline, not a script. And while I’ve got some, some little scripty pieces that I’ll give you later, or phrases or sentences that I think are useful, I don’t actually believe in a sales script because it’s like any other script. If somebody throws your curve ball and you aren’t used to handling something that’s off the script, you won’t know how to continue the conversation. You really will stumble. If it is an outline and you think of sales as an improvisational conversation, then you are able to handle any kind of twist and turn in the conversation much more gracefully. And that really brings us to the whole question of how to set your energy and intention. Because when you go into a sales conversation (and we could do an entire episode on the mindset around sales and how you feel when you go into a sales conversation).

Pamela (07:10):
But when you go into a sales conversation, one of the things that often comes up is, how are they going to think about me as I lead them through this conversation? Are they going to like me? Are they going to hate me? Are they going to reject me? Are they gonna think I’m greedy? And so any of those thoughts, those disturbing thoughts can keep you from moving the conversation forward and particularly can hurt you at the freeze-points. So, I want to give a quick little instruction or suggestion to you that you consider a mantra, or you consider an affirmation, or you consider some kind of sentence that is the basis of the energy that you are bringing to sales. One of my favorites is, “they need me more than I need them.” Because even if you are really hungry for a sale or you really need to book this client, the truth is that whoever’s in front of you needs your services, assuming a fit. And assuming they’re an ideal client, they need your services far more than you need them. And if you can live into that energy, you’re going to be in a very, very good place energetically for the sales conference.

Gene (08:20):
And actually Pamela, I have another one of those that I consider one of my two favorite Pamela Bruner-isms ever is that as we step into something like this, the statement that “sales is service.” That, like you said, all of those prerequisites I’m offering something that I believe in that is helpful. And I’m talking to the person who is the right fit in front of me when I’m offering them something, I am doing them a service. I’m giving them access to something that will make their life better. And for most of us who are in the transformational space, we love being of service. We love sharing ideas and resources. And if something comes across my screen, Pamela, that I think you will really love, I’ll say, “Hey, check out this book.” Like half of the books that are in my audible cue right now are things that you have recommended to me just off-hand saying, “this is awesome. I think you’d love that thing.” That we’re used to sharing from that place of serving someone else. And it’s so important that we recognize that the work that we do is truly a service to the person who’s in front of us. And if I’m showing up to offer you something of service, energetically and emotionally, I’m going to be in such a different place than if I’m showing up desperately hope that you will buy from me.

Pamela (09:31):
I’m so glad you brought that up, Gene, because yes, the “sales is service” is such a great energy to bring in. So, let’s talk about some sample scripts and some language to handle these freeze-points that go along with that sales is service, or they need me more than I need them. So for the opening freeze-point, I think a lot of this can come down to rehearsal. What is your hello? Or what is your opening question? One of the opening questions that I love is what had you say yes to this call? Or what had you intrigued about hopping on the call with me or something like that? Because when I ask that it’s a fairly open-ended question and not only do I hear what intrigued them about this or why they were interested, but I start getting information about how they communicate. Do they talk fast? Do they talk slower? Are they thinking more strategically? Are they thinking more emotionally? I get a lot of feedback when I ask an open-ended question like that. And so I’ve got that question ready to go. I’ve rehearsed it a number of times. It doesn’t mean that I can always rehearse my response to their response because who knows what their response is going to be. But it gives me a way to step in and take charge of the conversation.

Gene (10:53):
And Pamela is actually I think, a hidden bonus in a question like that when they start to say, well, when I saw you offered this, I realized it might be beneficial for me because of that. Basically what they’re doing is they’re giving us a testimonial at the beginning of the conversation, because they’re saying, “Ooh, when I saw this ICU of having something of value for me, and that’s the reason why I showed up.” So, it immediately puts them in a position where they know that they want to hear from us. And for me, it’s a little shot in the arm going, okay, great. They trust me in some particular way, because, you know, even though we might be having this conversation or we’re not charging them anything, they’re investing their time. So, it’s not free to them. They’re making an investment. And so, when you answer a question like that, you also get the opportunity for them to make the declaration that this is valuable to me. I want to be here, which makes it easier for them to be engaged.

Pamela (11:50):
Hmm. What a great example. Yes. Now the second freeze-point I talked about is transition to the offer. And this is a shift for a lot of people where you may have gotten a lot of information, okay? This is what this person’s struggling with. This is what this person wants to achieve. Or the outcome that they’re looking for, this is what they’re concerned about. This is what they experienced, that they didn’t like from the last person. They did this with. So, you’ve got all this information and at some point you have to say, okay, let’s talk about what we could do together. And well, the way that I said it just now, okay, well, I have enough information. Let’s talk about what we might do together. That might be a way you say it, but I don’t think that’s a very good one. One of my favorite ways to say this is based on everything that you have told me. I believe I have a resource for you. May I share that with you now? So this, although it’s framed as a question. It’s, I’m asking for an invitation. If they invite me to sell them, that is the best situation for me to be in.

Gene (12:56):
Because when they’re doing that, when you said they’re inviting them to, for us to sell to them, they are by declarative saying, yes, you can share that with me. They are becoming more receptive because they have given us permission to have the conversation, which makes it easier because then it doesn’t feel like we’re forcing something upon them. And obviously they showed up knowing that we were going to be offering them something, but it’s just such a subtle, simple question, makes the transition easy and gets a little deeper. Buy-in from them to be able to hear clearly from us.

Pamela (13:26):
It also can help you in your delivery because sometimes when people go into an offer without that kind of transition, when they say, well, you know, said that you have that challenge, um, you might like this. You may feel like you have to hurry through it or present it very quickly. And when you get the invitation and you get the buy-in through that invitation, you could slow down and breathe and take your time. And you’re going to see much more professional and much more collected and calm as you present.

Pamela (13:59):
So let’s move into freeze-point three, which is price. I say this and people always laugh at me or raise an eyebrow. Do not quote the price until they ask. And sometimes don’t even quote at them. If someone says, as you go into, let’s talk about, you know, I believe I have a resource for you. May I share that with you? And you start sharing your resource. You’re not going to give the price. You’re not going to give the price. Because as your sharing, your resource, your offering, your program, your product, whatever it is, it’s important that the person that you’re speaking to 100% understands the offer before they hear the price. Otherwise the price is meaningless. So as you’re presenting this offer, and these are the benefits, and this is what you can expect. And here’s what we’ll do at point I say, do you have any questions about this? And often people will say, yes, what’s the price, or yes, what’s the investment. And sometimes they’ll say, well, I’m a little confused about how you do X, Y, Z. It’s so great that they asked that before I gave them the price, because otherwise that price is going to come out of nowhere because their heads are still in another conversation.

Pamela (15:14):
So, don’t call the price until they ask then shut up. Now, I have actually gotten to the point where I’ve explained something and had someone say, that sounds great. I want to do it. And I have not yet given the price. And if that happens, yay, it doesn’t happen all the time. It doesn’t even have an option often, but it does happen if that happens for you say, wonderful. So here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to take your credit card and I’ll charge you for the down payment, which is X, Y, Z. And would you like to go on a payment plan or pay in full for the rest? And so you can move right into the price, you don’t have to stop the conversation, but they’ve basically said yes to you, no matter what if they do ask for the price. Um, well, you know, what’s the price, what’s the investment, what’s the cost, quote the price, and then shut up. It’s really common to quote a price and then defend it and then make excuses for it. And then try to discount it, just quote the price and then shut up.

Gene (16:15):
And Pamela, that is so hard. I was last week I was talking to one of our clients and she was sharing the experience of making an offer to someone in this particular setting. And she said, and I said the price, and I grit my teeth shut, and I could hear you and Pamela in my head saying, and then shut up and then shut up and then shut up and just let them process and understand, because she was like, normally I’d go rushing in doing all of the things that you just said. And our client also reported they had some questions and they got a chance to talk about it, but giving the person that space is so valuable because we want them to be able to make a choice or to hear their own objections where we’re not backpedaling and trying to talk them out of it by all of the stuff we say after the price.

Freeze Point #4: Asking for the Sale

Pamela (17:02):
Mm that’s perfect. Great example. And then the fourth freeze-point is asking for the sale. Now, if you’ve read any traditional sales training, sometimes they’ll call this a soft close, a trial close, and they’ll give you a whole bunch of different ways to ask the question. One of my favorites is just, is this something you want to move forward with? And often that will raise other questions. It may raise objections. You may get a yes, I’d love to, but if you get a no, that’s a no. If you get an I’d love to, but that is an opportunity for you to step in and help them overcome the objections that may be there for them, because they’ve said, yes, they want to. But so is this something that you’d like to move forward with? Does this sound something that will get you where you want to go?

Pamela (17:52):
That’s another great question to ask. When I ask that question, does this sound like something that’ll get you where you want to go? I will often uncover objections where they’ll say, well, I don’t know if it’ll get me to where I want to go, because it doesn’t have this, or it has too much of that. And so then we get an opportunity to talk about the value that is within it. So those are the four freeze points. Those are some sample bits of language that you can use. The final thing that I want to say about this is, remember that being really good at a sales conversation happens because you practice it. So either practicing it by having a lot of sales conversations with prospective clients, or enroll a few friends or colleagues, or, or helpful family members and practice that sales conversation and practice moving through those freeze points until you feel comfortable. And you feel like you can maintain that energy of service throughout.

Gene (18:44):
And one of the things that’s really important about what Pamela just said, right? There is a piece of vocabulary we use all the time, but I think we miss often it is a sales conversation. It is not a sales presentation. And a conversation is something where there is this constant give and take. As we’re learning about the other person, we’re learning about their desires and their hopes to see if it’s a good fit, but we’re also getting an opportunity to learn about where their subconscious or conscious hangups are. And being able to say yes to something like this. And so if you’re able to think about these four freeze points in that particular way, you recognize it’s not a script that I say out loud, but it’s a conversation that I’m having with another human being.

Gene (19:24):
If you’re in a situation where you’re still feeling a little overwhelmed and not exactly sure how to navigate a sales conversation like this, if there’s places that you’re constantly getting caught up, we’d love to be helpful. We’d love for you to have a free conversation with one of our coaches. If you’d like to have a conversation. So you can continue to sharpen your skills about your sales conversations. All you need to do is go to book my breakthrough, call.com. That’s book my breakthrough call.com. Sign up for one of those free conversations. So our coaches can help you to be more effective in communicating with your ideal client.

Gene (20:00):
If the conversation we had today is something that you think there’s someone else in your life and other entrepreneurs, small business owner, coach healer, transformational person, please pass this along. The easiest way for someone to find a new resource is from the recommendation of a friend. And it would mean the world to us. If you passed it along, if you haven’t done so already, please subscribe to the show. Subscribing to a podcast is always free. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Audible, basically everywhere you get audio. All you need to do is search for A Profitable Impact. Click, subscribe, click, follow, turn on the notifications. So every single week, when a new episode comes out, you don’t miss it. And if you have a question, a comment, or a topic that you’d like Pamela and I to have a conversation about so that you can be more successful in your business. Please drop us a line. If you go to AttractClientsOnline.com, click on the contact link, drop us a note. We’d love to hear from you for ‘A Profitable Impact.’ I’m Gene Monterastelli until next time. I hope you have an impactful week.

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