This content introduces the "3A Framework of Reframing" as a powerful sales skill to navigate prospect objections and maintain control of conversations, ultimately increasing the likelihood of a sale by focusing on understanding the prospect's underlying concerns rather than directly answering potentially trapping questions.
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I have over 100 sales people across our
portfolio that does over $250 million a
year in this video I'm going to teach
you one sales skill that separates the
best from the rest and it's so powerful
I've never taught it before and so I'm
going to cover the 3A framework of
reframing which is the skill I'm going
to teach you and the five rules for
using it ethically so what's reframing
reframing is the one to three sentences
that you say after a prospect says
anything but yes that increases the
likelihood that whatever your next thing
you say gets them to buy so here's how a
reframe might sound someone might say
say hey uh how many certifications do
your trainers have now this is a trap
question because it's basically a blind
question where whatever you say in
response Prospect gets to be the judge
of whether or not they accept that and
then they choose to buy or not and you
don't know what the right answer is and
so rather than answer the question you
ask a question about the question and so
you'd say something like well which
certifications are you looking for
specifically the next version of this
might be someone says uh how many
questions I'm going be able to ask via
email in support now whatever number you
give they might say oh that's that's not
enough or that's too many or whatever it
is and then they say no for that reason
I don't want to buy so instead you might
say well why do you want to ask
additional questions how many questions
do you want to ask is there a purpose
that you're trying to solve with this
like what are you most afraid of see
that was two or three questions in a row
that can reframe without answering the
question they gave me and one of the
biggest lessons that I teach in sales is
the person asking the questions is the
one who's in control and if you've ever
seen the Hollywood movies where they're
like I'm the one asking the questions
here it's because the person who ask the
questions is the one who's in control of
the conversation as soon as they start
asking the questions you're on defense
which is not where you want to be and
the reframing process I'm about to show
you has sold things as low as 100 bucks
all the way up to Million Dollar Plus
service packages and it's sold them in
person on the phone via Zoom from stage
wherever which way you can imagine this
works so in a second I'm going to give
you the 3 a framework and five rules for
using it because this is unbelievably
powerful and in use the right way it
helps lots of people make good decisions
use the wrong way you become a very bad
person give a bad reputation for sales
so the reason I started thinking about
this was I was writing and reviewing our
closing manual for our closers and I had
this little piece right before all the
closes says hey by the way make sure
that you reframe the question before you
enter into the close but the thing is is
I realized as I was walking through the
sales Flor the other day I heard someone
just immediately fir back an obstacle
overcome and it seemed very combative
and I was like ah they're not they're
not getting the the reframe part and I
realized that that little reframe little
bubble was one of if not the most
important part of handling sales and so
if you think about what the most
productive sales people do the people
who close the highest percentage of
sales what do they do they ask for the
sale more times than anyone else now
here's the problem with that is that if
you ask more times than anyone else the
wrong way you'll get prospects to hate
you and if prospects hate you they won't
buy from you and so the idea is we want
to be able to ask ask for the sale as
many times as soon asly possible which
means the way that we ask for the sale
or how we frame our ask should not
decrease rapport with the customer and
so the idea is we want to continue to
maintain Rapport the entire time so that
we can then ask as many times as we darn
well please so here's the 3A framework
that I teach the first a is acknowledge
all right this is where you build
rapport with the prospect version one
all right and the way that we do that is
by saying what they said back to us now
there's a couple benefits from this one
is when you say it back to them they
think that you're actively listing which
of course you should but the other part
of it is that it buys you time to think
about what you're going to say next and
so it gives you a little bit of space to
process before you give your overcome or
your handling of whatever their
objection is the second piece and this
is part of why this seems more natural
with the most professional guys is that
you this is the this is the really sexy
part you associate
all right now there's three associations
that I'm going to show you how to do but
what you do is you associate the
question they asked with the type of
behavior that someone who gets the best
results from your product or service
would ask and so basically when they
feel like they're taking a step away
from buying you say that's an amazing
question that's actually a question that
a lot of the best customers we have ask
and so actually you just say nope that
means that you're more likely to buy the
third thing is that after you have made
the association you've made you've
acknowledged what they said you've made
the association then you ask your next
question after you've properly reframed
what you're going to say next so let's
dive into this so like a lawyer in an
interrogation they never ask questions
they don't already know the answers to
and you as a salesperson want to only
ask questions that you know the answers
to and if you are ever going to answer
questions you want to know that you have
the right answer before you respond and
so when we do the acknowledgement let's
walk through the example I had earlier
so they say well what kind of
certifications do your trainers have and
I say so you're curious about what our
certifications are it's a great question
it's actually shows that you're really
rational person and you're making a
serious decision here which is amazing
so what I did was boom We restated it
boom we made our association and then I
would ask an i you can call it an attack
it sounds a little bit more aggressive
than it is but you basically attack the
frame of the question you say hey which
certification you looking for
specifically and the thing is is most
people have never asked a question about
their question they usually ask
questions because they feel like they're
supposed to to make an informed decision
but most of the time they don't even
know what they're asking and so they're
like I don't know it's like well let me
tell you what we do have now if the
person's like uh do they have nasman Ace
certifications now if I don't have that
for my trainer specifically I would then
say why those certifications
specifically right and then they would
say well I I I heard that they're good
it's like well those are amazing
certifications I agree with them I'm not
disagreeing and then I would say well we
have a couple other ones and I'll tell
you why we chose these rather than those
and now I can answer it without failing
right now if I just said uh our guys
don't have that or they have this I
might have lost the sale right there and
so the thing is is that this applies to
basically any question that someone asks
it could even be like um you know I need
to think about it it' be like awesome
what's your main concern right like
immediately I'm not I'm not letting them
out on that or like hey what are the
main variables using to decis make the
decision or what would make this a no
right these are all questions what are
you most afraid of having happen right
if I'm deeper in the sale obviously that
wouldn't be my first one I would say
what's your main concern then we'd sort
the question from there but many times
people ask you questions in the sale
that you don't need to answer you just
ask more questions about their question
and as long as you're the one asking
questions you're the one who's in
control which leads me to rule number
one of the triaa so here's a little
psychology for you as counterintuitive
as this seems a prospect believes almost
nothing about what you said say in
almost everything that they say and so
the goal is not to tell them they're a
good fit the goal is to ask them
questions so that they then say I think
I'm a good fit for this or yeah that
makes sense that's how you can get them
you breadcrumb them to The Logical
solution which is that they should buy
your thing and by the way if you like
some of this more advanced sales stuff
we go through this stuff in depth at our
acquisition. comom scaling Workshop so
my sales director he personally meets
with all the companies uh that show up
and helps them
issue whether it's nurture issues
whether it's compensation issues is
stuff that we understand really well and
so if you are a business owner you are
looking to scale check them out
acquisition. comom hit the scale button
and my team will be in touch so a lot of
beginner salespeople think that they
should want and this is the worst
question ever asked in sales is do you
have any questions it's literally asking
them to have objections and asking them
to take the wheel of the conversation
you're literally saying here take
control over this because I don't know
what I'm doing so please don't do that
train that out of your team the second
thing is that as soon as you start
answering questions again they're the
judge jury and executioner of whether or
not your answers are good and if your
salespeople are not as knowledgeable as
you or your technicians which is often
true in any kind of service business the
people delivering are not necessarily
the same or as knowledgeable as the
people who are selling it is that they
basically set themselves up for failure
and I'll give you a quick overcome for
this if someone gets a little bit like
hey why aren't you answering my
questions you say listen it would be
like you asking the secretary about how
your heart surgery is going to be with
the surgeon you're going to want to talk
to the surgeon and I'll give you a
different one I call this the mechanic
version which is hey you're asking me
what's wrong with your car and it would
be unethical for me to answer it without
looking under the hood first and so we
can give you much better answers on the
inside once we started working with your
business or with your whatever right
with your body it doesn't really matter
right but you can use that analogy to
kind of get around it and then I say
this and this seals it and if anyone
this is how I say it and if anyone does
give you an answer on the first call
without already having looked under the
hood after already giving you a physical
or doing the an assessment run the other
way because it means they're just trying
to tell you whatever they can to get you
to buy and now I have the ethical High
ground and they can't ask any more
questions about that rule number two no
one can disagree with a question I tell
my team be like smoke and so you can't
catch smoke because all you're doing is
you're basically always sides shifting
in terms of whatever they say you're
like o let me ask you a question about
that oh can you be more specific hey
what are the variables you're thinking
about and that way you're always
engaging with them and they're the ones
doing the talking and then you get to
decide whether their answers are good or
not and whether or not they're a good
fit for the program now we're not going
to tell them that that they're a good
fit for the program we're going have
them make that decision but in terms of
judge jury executioner you want that to
be you here's why rule number two is so
important you can never disagree with a
prospect now you may you may you know
actually disagree with them but you
don't want to voice disagreement with
the prospect because you never win a
sale by winning an argument anyone who's
engaged in an argument both people lose
and more importantly for you as a
salesperson you lose the sale and so the
objective is actually to never disagree
with a prospect and the point is to get
them to change their minds and we can
only do that in an agreeable way people
don't change their minds when in a bad
mood or they feel insulted right and so
we do that by asking them questions now
there are ways to ask questions that
seem insulting and that's what triaa
helps solve and we're going to dive more
on that as we go through this but it
also means that we can ask questions
about their questions which is something
that a lot of beginner salespeople don't
know they then assume they know what
this person is asking about and so they
have this really vague question and then
they try and come up with the quote
right answer and they fail every time
and by the way this is just the Ultra
Mega hack is that if you don't know how
to answer the question you can always
ask more questions about their question
so let me show you how this sounds in
reality so someone says I need to think
about it we say totally understand what
are the main things you're considering
what are the variables that you're
considering in your decision what's your
main concern what are you most afraid of
having happen What would make this a no
and one of my favorite questions by the
way is well then what would it take for
you to say
yes now let's say someone says
I don't have time timing is off right
now for me you say great totally
understand acknowledge timing is kind of
tough for you right now I think it's
smart that you're already thinking about
implementation our biggest success
stories are actually people who think
they're the process the same way you are
right now so what would make it a good
time and so as you work through this
this these two give you the space make
the positive Association they take a
step back you say I feel you I totally
understand now they're back to neutral
and then you iate with the thing that's
closer to the sale and then you move the
move the conversation forward with the
ask so let's do another one someone says
I need to talk to my spouse you say
totally understand I think it's really
sensible that you'd want to talk to your
spouse and super fair just so I
understand out of curiosity what parts
do you think now I'm here what parts do
you think they wouldn't like what parts
do you think they would disagree with
and so we've now moved from I have to
talk to my partner to now we're back in
the sale talking about the specific
things and once we get the prospect to
name those things then we can attack
those right we're still in the sale so
let's say someone says I hate this
particular feature you say totally get
it I hate them all too just kidding let
me just ask you a real question why not
and then we can get we're back into it
right like all of these things is people
will make statements as though they are
deal Enders and beginners will take a
statement like that and think oh I guess
they're not going to buy and that's
couldn't be further from the truth you
just continue to ask questions about why
they don't like something and by
continuing to ask questions about their
questions you can stay in it and keep
asking because that's the point the best
closers make the most asks which leads
me to rule number three which is tell
them what their question means so this
is a zoom in on associate if you're a
salesperson with at least two years of
experience and you're enjoying this
stuff this is like just the surface of
the type of stuff that we train our
teams on and if you'd like to work at
acquisition. comom or one of our
portfolio companies we are always
looking for exceptional sales people we
have a lot of roles open right now in
sales and so you can go to acquisition.
/are and hit the business consultant
button that'll that'll take you to the
uh application for that if you're good
just apply we're willing to be flexible
on payments based on experience and
whatnot but just put in the application
so the first time I had this used on me
I was actually getting pitched
investment or private wealth management
from somebody and I wanted to just get
out of the conversation as fast as I
could because I was like I already have
a wealth advisor like I'm good and the
guy just said oh that's amazing 90% of
the clients we have that shift over are
already have a wealth advisor so it
means you already know how a lot of
these things work which means you'll be
up the learning curve and I was like
what just happened I was like I thought
I was getting out of this and now I'm
more like the customers that that
ultimately buy and I ended up not buying
from that particular guy but I did think
wow that was such a powerful reframe how
can I use that in all of my
selling and so the prospect has not had
this conversation as many times as you
you should never be caught off guard
with the questions or the statements
that they're going to make remember
you've had a thousand of these
conversations the fact that somebody
could surprise you is ridiculous you
have to practice this is why we train
and so a prospect is trying to just
throw up bombs or smoke screens to get
out of the sale and again to be clear
what I believe is bad selling is one of
two key things is one is you sell an
unqualified Prospect which basically
means that you're lying to them that
they're going to get a good result or
that they somehow are qualified when
they're really not which really
underpins the main thing of sales in my
opinion which we have across really all
of our communication stuff in the
company which is State the facts and
tell the truth if you state the facts
and tell the truth and this person is
qualified then you have the ethical
obligation to ask as many times as you
possible and get them to pull their head
out of their ass so that they can see
the world clearly instead of it being
dark and full of which is is up
their ass and help them make a decision
to help themselves that's the point now
if you get weird about resistance then
you don't understand the job of sales
the the best sales people are
comfortable when other people feel like
there's conflict all right and so
they're able to always deescalate which
is why be like smoke is so key it's a
dance not a fight it's seduction not
rape all right the idea is that we want
to always have consent from the person
we always want them to want to be there
and people like you when you ask
questions about them people like you
when you compliment them and you say hey
that's a really smart question hey that
makes you just like the people who have
the best success stories and I'll show
you a little bit more about some more
associations in the next rule which
leaves to rule number four use Straw Men
for tough truths so we've all been in a
sale where someone just says something
ridiculous where you can clearly see
that they beliefs around the world are
so flawed that you have to have kind of
a papa talk right now there's different
ways of entering this some people say
hey can I put my coach hat on instead of
my friend hat so the thing is is that in
all of these reframes you're basically
getting permission from the person to
give them a harsh truth now if you're a
younger guy and let's say you sell B2B
much tougher to do so if you're 22-year-
old sales guy and you're talking to a
45-year-old you know $10 million year
plumber he probably doesn't give a
about you trying to put your coach hat
on he just thinks you're a child and he
doesn't care at all to the same degree
if you say hey well can I share
something that really worked well for me
again the same degree that puts you
above him and he's not going to like
that and so I use three different
strategies of Straw Men and strawman in
argumentation is basically like
basically putting I use the word foil
normally but people don't know what that
means but basically it's like you
basically put up this caricature of
someone who's just like them that you
can then have the tough conversation
with without insulting the prospect so
I'll give you three different ways that
we do this so the first way is when you
make the association so this is us going
deep on associate here okay so this is
where someone says whatever it is
totally understand that you're coming
from that direction I would ask those
questions too now we make the
association so one of three so number
one you can say it's so funny you ask
that because I had someone just earlier
today who asked the same questions can I
share with you what I just shared with them
them
now the thing is is that because I'm now
talking about a conversation I had with
someone else I can now be brutal as
to this other person but I'm not saying
it to the Prospect and so it's not
insulting the second way that you can do
this is that you do it in reference and
I said it earlier to a successful past
customer that's so cra like totally
understand you know what that actually
makes you just like Sarah who had a
similar Plumbing business and actually
crushed it with our marketing agency and
so now we've made the association and
she asked this question too boom and
then we and then we handle the objection
all right and so these Straw Men are
particularly important when you are
going to answer a question so everything
up to this point has been basically
sidest stepping being like smoke but
sometimes you will have to make the
answer and so if we do need to give them
an explanation or kind of break their
belief when they're say I don't have
time you're like oh it's not really a
timing thing it's a priorities question
but if you say that to somebody and you
don't have as much Rapport you're going
to lose the sale right like that is the
logical thing it everybody has the same
amount of time every day it's really
just a question of priorities but if you
say it at the wrong time they're going
to be like screw you right and so by
doing the straw man or putting the foil
up or the car that you can then attack
or talk to in front of this Prospect it
creates a third party that's
neutral the third way of using the
associate is that you can appeal to
Authority so if you're in a business
where the CEO is edified or the CEO is
seen as a as a as a as a uh as a
respectable person or an expert in the
field either can be fame or it can be
influence or can be expertise it doesn't
really matter which one but as long as
they have some level of expertise instead
instead
of appealing to your own authority you
appeal to theirs which is it's so funny
that you ask that Alex just told me this
thing earlier today can I share it with
you right and so then the person appeals
to someone else's Authority and then
shares it they're the messenger they're
not saying I'm not saying this he said
it and I'm just sharing it with you
these sound like tiny Sid steps but this
type of triple reframing is what
separates beginners from pros and it and
when you do it this way people actually
like to be sold by you because they feel
like they're being hurt you make
associations that are saying hey that's
smart hey that's reasonable totally
understand why you'd say that like these
are all things like that's a rational
decision hey I think that's a fair point
those are all things that someone wants
to hear they're like hey he's listening
he thinks I'm intelligent or I'm
rational or he's not discarding my
decision everybody wants to be validated
right so it's the same thing as the
angry boat but just in a sales
conversation so in the angry boat for
customer success or customer service if
someone's upset you don't disagree with
them and say hey it wasn't that big of a
deal sorry we were 5 minutes late it
never works because you're disagreeing
with them you're invalidating the reason
that they're angry so you have to get
more angry you have to go above and
that's where you say hey that's a
totally reasonable concern rather than
saying that's a stupid question right
like you might feel that way but you
don't say that and the reason I realize
this especially with the association one
is I heard my sales guys and they were
they were having a tougher time using
some of the closes and I was like
they're like yeah you know some of them
aren they sound a little you know tough
they're a little harsh and I was like no
no no it's and when I realized that I
was like oh it's because they're not
prefacing it with this if you preface
with this you can say almost anything
and this allows you to cut to the heart
of the matter way faster instead of
dancing around it because you don't want
to hurt someone's feelings which leads
me to rule number five which is retain
childlike curiosity at all times so one
of my favorite ways of training this
concept is actually training a physical
thing that you do with your body even if
you're on a sales call and they can't
see you because your tone will change
based on how you're standing if you're
smiling or not your voice will come out
different which by the way I encourage
you to have a mirror if you're on the
phone next to you in your sales booth
and if you do Zoom obviously you can see
your own little image there but I like
to have people say huh and you say it
just like that and huh also buys you two
or three seconds before you say your
next thing say huh that's so interesting
you'd ask that question can I can I ask
you a little bit more about that
like if someone says something really
nasty to you right but if you if you
retain that way the goal is to seek to
understand not whenn and the way that I
try to keep this and if you're a sales
guide put a little sticky note above
your camera or wherever you look while
you're selling which is keep the human
number one all right and so this is a
really powerful frame that I actually
learned from Leila for having hard
conversations on the team but it
actually applies to sales which is if
you genuinely believe that the product
you have is going to help this person
and this is a qualified prospect that
you're talking to then you want to
understand their concerns so that you
can help them get over them because you
know this is the right decision for them
and so this is a frame that I like to
think about so let's say you could
travel back in time but you're in a
different body and you see your old self
and you know what the future's going to
be and you might say okay I have to
convince this person to buy Nvidia 10
years ago and so or I have to buy Apple
stock or I have to buy Bitcoin whatever
it is I don't really care the thing is
is you know that this thing is going to
go through the roof but the person
you're talking to doesn't know you from
adom think about how you talk to that
person now remember they don't know who
you are even though you know you you
would have absolute empathy for your old
self and be like listen I totally
understand this seems totally crazy but
let me walk you through what I think is
going to happen right let me let's like
what are what are your main concerns
what are you most afraid of right what
would it take for you to say yes what
would it take for us to take the next
step together it allows you to make sure
that you're focusing on the prospect
rather than the product and so you don't
close sales by being right you close
sales by making the prospect right and
so the big understanding here is that
you want to understand them not beat
them because as soon as it feels
combative you've already lost the sale
if they feel like you won an argument
logically you've lost the sale the point
is to make money not to be right and so
we want them to feel good about The
Logical decision that we're helping them
make and if anything you want to be you
want to be a face hero in this in their
in their Journey you're like hey I'm
just I'm just the guide here I'm just
I'm going to just share the information
that I think will help you make a good
decision right Ah that's a great
question can I provide a little bit of
context on that just from someone that
had this experience earlier today right
like all of these things are things that
will allow you to give those hard truths
to close the deal the reason the
association is so important is that it
gives the prospect a label to then live
up to and so this is a 2011 version of
selling but if you say Hey you seem like
a really honest person or hey that's a
really smart decision or hey that's a
really smart question if I then give
them that label when I get closer to the
close I might bring that back up and
then associate smart people by this
thing right hey that's you must be a
good family man right because you had
some spouse objection fine seems like
your family man family is really
important to you I think that's awesome
it's super admirable now when I get to
the end of the sale I can bring up the
fact that this is a family man and
because he's a family man he should buy
and so it allows me to pair whatever
their obstacles were with things that
I'm going to bring up in the clothes Pro
tip my Universal response for almost
anything so I walked through the sales
floor and one of the guys was on the
phone and I was like you should come and
I just walked through the room and then
the guy was like ah and so my sales guy
was like so you coming and the iy was
like yeah and it a super weak right he
was obviously not sold yet so I actually
was like give me the phone and so I
hopped on the phone and I said dude what
are you afraid of and so when you ask
what are you most afraid of it gets you
to the heart of the issue as fast as POS
now if it's the first objection I would
want to ask what's your main concern
what's your main issue what are the
variables using to make the decision
that's like kind of understanding so you
can triage but when I'm further along in
the sale I'll usually ask hey what are
you afraid of man like what are you
afraid of having happen and if someone's
like I just I just need more time then
you say totally understand what would
make it a no and so by doing that it
still keeps you in the sale because at
the end of the day like you want to make
a good decision I'm the source of your
information so the best possible
decision we can make is is here but
again you can only say something like
that if you have Rapport in the sale and
you've continue to demonstrate that
throughout if I said something like that
and I didn't have Rapport they'd be like
no you so it's not going to work if
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