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Dennis Collins: Welcome to another episode of Connect and Convert where small business owners can learn insider secrets to accelerate their sales. Hi, I am Dennis Collins and I’m joined by my partner today.

Leah Bumphrey: Hi. I am Leah Bumphrey.

Dennis Collins: Hi, Leah. Good to have you back. Today we’re gonna talk about curiosity.

Curiosity is the salesperson’s secret to success. So Leah, what makes you curious? Are you a curious person by nature?

Leah Bumphrey: I am. I actually started my work career working in the newsroom as a reporter. And that requires a lot of curiosity. You’ve got to really wanna know, you’ve got to be able to ask questions.

And there has to be a genuineness. There’s no difference in sales. If really want to know about your client’s business, what makes them successful, what’s going on, and what’s possible — even if it has nothing to do with work — if you are just a curious person, life is more interesting.

Dennis Collins: Isn’t it though?

Well, I gotta tell you a little insight into my upbringing and my family. Too much curiosity? No bueno. No good. Not allowed. “That’s not polite. Son, you don’t ask those questions. That’s none of your business, son. Don’t ask about that. That’s private. That’s creepy and nosy.”

And then there was always — I never understood this, “curiosity killed the cat.”

Leah Bumphrey: What does that mean?

Dennis Collins: I have no idea. But anyway…

Leah Bumphrey: Children have a natural curiosity and it’s not malicious, and it’s not self-serving. They just want to know.

You’ll get a kick out of this. I remember sitting on my Uncle Bill’s lap and I had heard that he was rich. I’d heard this somewhere in conversation somewhere. So I wanted to see his wallet. “Uncle Bill, show me your wallet. How much money is in your wallet?” Just for a kid who’s four or five, what does that mean? Right? So I wanted to see what was in there while my parents almost died. And I remember that as a, “Oh, you’re not supposed to!” But why? Why is that a bad question? Why can’t I ask that? I wanted to see what being rich looked like.

Dennis Collins: I love that.

No, money in my family was never discussed. Ever.

We never knew how much our parents earned. They never asked me how much I earned when I was out making a living. It was just not a topic. But in sales, what if you have an aversion or a lack of curiosity about money, can you succeed in sales?

Well, today we’re gonna talk about that and some other issues. What role does curiosity play in sales? What can you do with curiosity in a sales conversation? Can you be too curious? Is it possible to get a little creepy and curious? So stay tuned because we will reveal it today. What does science tell us is one of the most reliable predictors of sales success?

Also, we’re gonna have our questions, you ask and we answer. And we’ll talk about how this stuff actually works in real-life examples of what we talk about.

Dennis Collins: So Leah, let me ask you, have you ever heard the expression, “Play like you’re the dumbest person in the room?” Have you ever heard that? How do you feel about that?

Leah Bumphrey: You know, it goes against everything we believe. ‘Cause I want you to think I’m pretty smart, Dennis. I don’t want to sit there and have you wonder what the heck’s with the gal in the corner.

Dennis Collins: I, for one, do not like to play the dumbest person in the room.

You know, maybe it’s our social style types, you know? We need to be dominant. We need to be in control. I hate it. But guess what? What if you act like you’re the smartest person in the room, what happens?

Leah Bumphrey: That’s how you alienate people. That’s how you start talking down to people. That’s how you start telling them. That’s how you stop being curious because you already know everything. So it’s all about defining terms. What does it mean to be the dumbest person in the room? What does that actually mean? It just means asking questions.

Dennis Collins: But you know, the funny part is you’re not the dumbest person in the room.

The key word there is you pretend to be or play as if you are the dumbest person in the room. You’ve heard this before, learner’s mindset. What does that mean to you, Leah? Learner’s mindset.

Leah Bumphrey: I’ve also heard it expressed as being in humble student mode.

What can you learn? You’re not poking somebody to show them how stupid they are. You’re actually tapping into them to find out how can you make me better. What should I know about this situation?

Dennis Collins: That’s a great way of saying it. I’ve always heard it as a learner’s mindset. Learner’s mindset is I don’t know, you know things that I don’t know, and I’m going to ask you the right questions to unlock that. I’m going to unlock your knowledge, what you know. How does that help in sales?

Leah Bumphrey: The more you know, the more you know how to help, right?

Dennis Collins: Yeah, if you go into a sales conversation and assume that you know everything, the client’s gonna say, “Well, I know what you’re gonna say. I’ve been through this a hundred times.” And you don’t ask the right questions. You don’t listen. You have an “I’m the smartest guy in the room” mindset. You probably are smarter than them in your chosen field. What does that get you? That gets you a no-sale. Curiosity, on the other hand, proper amounts of curiosity gets you a sale.

So let’s talk about it. What does this look like in real life? Leah, why don’t you think of a brush-off or a stall or objection? Just throw one out to me. Something that a salesperson might hear today when they’re out there doing sales.

Leah Bumphrey: You know what? Our budget is just tapped out in that area.

We’re gonna be sitting down. We’re gonna be talking about it, but maybe next fiscal we’ll be able to sit down and talk about things.

Dennis Collins: You know, I got that Leah. I totally understand. This is a tough time of the year. It’s tough to understand how business is gonna go. Most of my clients feel the same way, but, can you tell me a little bit more? I wanna learn a little bit more about what you just said.

Leah Bumphrey: Well, we have a process that we have to follow, we sit down, we talk with all the decision-makers at once, see what the priorities are, and then we decide from there where we’re gonna put our money.

Dennis Collins: Got it. That’s a smart process. Most of my successful clients do the same thing. I’m curious though, what options do we have with that in mind, knowing your process, what would be the best way to work with you?

Leah Bumphrey: Well, you know, I’ll give you a shout when we’re ready. I will give you a call and when we’re ready, you know, we’ll set up some time.

Dennis Collins: That’s great. I really appreciate that. Can you give me an idea of the timeframe? What is your level of urgency?  How quickly do you wanna move? I’d like to understand your urgency.

Leah Bumphrey: Well, really not feeling urgent at all. We’re pretty happy with the solutions we have in place right now, Dennis, if there’s a bit of a splash fund if we have some other opportunities there, then we’ll look at expanding what we’re doing. So maybe next quarter. Give me till then to give you a holiday and we’ll go from there.

Dennis Collins: I’ll be happy to call you next quarter. Just one quick follow-up question. You mentioned you were pretty happy with the solutions that you already have. Help me understand, can I get some more insight on that?

Leah Bumphrey: Well, I have my team of people and I haven’t had any complaints, Dennis. So as long as I’m not having complaints, I’m happy. That’s gotta mean they’re happy, right?

Dennis Collins: Yep. I understand. We don’t like complaints and happy is good.

Let me ask you this. Could it possibly be better? What could be better?

Leah Bumphrey: Well, it can always be better Dennis. Do you know what it’s like these days? I’m sure you are not the first one to tell you – it’s a struggle to find the right people. To keep the right people. We wanna make sure, that’s all. We’re a customer-driven organization. If we do not have people contacting us, then it doesn’t matter who I have, I can’t help them. But if they contact us and I don’t have somebody, what am I gonna do?

Dennis Collins: Yep. Big, big issue. I hear it all the time, that’s one of the reasons we’re talking. I believe I can help. How can we help you unravel this puzzling situation? How can we help?

Leah Bumphrey: Well, when we get our information, as I say, then we’ll sit down. Honestly, Dennis, I don’t have a good feel for what it is that you are even offering. I mean, you and I are just talking right now. Preliminary. There might be an opportunity, but you know, you were recommended to me, but I don’t know how it would fit into what we’re doing.

Dennis Collins: Could I make a suggestion? Why don’t we set aside a few minutes? Maybe 10 to 15 minutes in the near future, I will be happy to walk you through what it is we do because we have helped thousands of businesses just like you and just like yours to solve this problem. Would next Tuesday at say four o’clock be okay?

Leah Bumphrey: You know, you gotta be curious. Dennis, why don’t you call me Tuesday morning and we’ll see how the day is filtering out. But yeah, that sounds like it just might work.

Dennis Collins: I’ll be happy to call you Tuesday morning. Look forward to it. And thanks for your time, Leah.

Leah Bumphrey: Thanks. Dennis. I don’t know what I just bought from you, Dennis, but I’m curious.

Dennis Collins: I’ll let you know. What do you think of that? How did it feel from the customer side?

Leah Bumphrey: Well, it felt like a conversation. It felt responsive. I never once felt that you were pushing me or that you were discounting my lived experience. And that’s huge. ’cause as soon as you do that, you’re outta the woods. Or in the woods.

Dennis Collins: Did it feel argumentative or confrontational or salesy or pushy?

Leah Bumphrey: You know, what you were wondering, and again, what are we talking about? Ah, curiosity. We were wondering, you were wondering. I was wondering too.

Dennis Collins: You were curious too. Well, what we just demonstrated was curiosity in a sales conversation. So here’s the problem. You know, I listened to hundreds of hours of recorded sales calls, so I’ve got a lot of a big database on this. Here’s what happens, a question is asked. An answer is given. And there’s no responsiveness to that answer. They go on to a whole ‘nother set of questions like it’s some kind of a template they’re following. What did I do with you? I listened to your answer, and I crafted my next question off of your answer, did I not?

Leah Bumphrey: That’s right.

You didn’t know necessarily where you were going. Had no idea where I was going. Knew where you wanted to get, but not how. You hadn’t mapped it out. I felt like everything you said was in response to what I had said. Your curiosity sparked my curiosity.

Dennis Collins: Right. And that’s beautifully said. That’s a perfect sales conversation. My curiosity as the salesperson sparks yours enough that we set an appointment. Yay. Perfect. So I’ll, I’ll call you next Tuesday and let you know what you bought.

And now as promised, what does science tell us about sales success regarding curiosity?

A recent HBR Harvard Business Review study found curiosity was the most significant predictor of sales success out of 90 other attributes. Curiosity was linked to asking more questions, and here’s the big deal follow-up questions. Don’t stop with one question, and the follow-up question has to be responsive to the answer the customer gave.

One more LinkedIn study. Seventy-four percent of buyers chose to work with salespeople who demonstrate curiosity. They take curiosity as a signal that this salesperson is engaged, they’re listening, and they will meet their needs. I always like to give you the science behind it.

So this week’s challenge: Improve the quality of your questions, improve your active listening skills, improve your follow-up questions, and make curiosity work for you in a sales conversation. Remember the format, ask a question. Actively listen. Ask for a follow-up. Let us know. How did it go for you? DennisCollins@WizardOfAds.com and Leah, tell us your email.

Leah Bumphrey: LeahBumphrey@WizardOfAds.com. Give us a shout. Let us know. Because honestly, we are curious. We are very curious.

Dennis Collins: We are curious. One last thing. We always promise to answer any question you ask. We listen. We respond. Leah, what’s our question for today?

Leah Bumphrey: You know, we had one question from last week, and Dennis, it’s from someone new or just starting out a sales career, and they wanna know what is the one thing they can do to make a difference and impress their sales manager.

They’ve never been in sales before. They are all over the internet looking at all kinds of videos, including ours. What would you suggest is the one thing that, they do to impress their sales manager?

Dennis Collins: Hmm? To impress a sales manager? Well, having been a sales manager for a portion of my life, what impressed me most is someone who delivers, who takes responsibility, who doesn’t make a bunch of excuses, who takes and accepts responsibility for their own performance.

And of course. Sales management is performance-based. Also what would impress me is if they asked for active coaching, Hey boss, I need coaching in a certain area. I know that I have a weakness over here. I know I have a weakness over there. Coach me or get me coached up. On the stuff that I don’t do well, that would impress me – understanding their strengths and weaknesses and coming and asking for help.

It’s okay to ask for help. Does that make sense?

Leah Bumphrey: That is real-life advice. That is fantastic.

Dennis Collins: For sure. Well, that concludes this edition of Connect and Convert. We come every week with a new episode. Be sure to listen!

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