In 2008, J.J. Abrams, the world renowned writer/director of Mission Impossible, Star Trek, and Star Wars: the Force Awakens, was asked about his success. He pointed his success to an unopened box that sits on his bookshelf in his office. He picked up this “mystery magic box” in a small magic store as a child…and never opened it. “I bought this decades ago, but if you look at this, you’ll see it’s never been opened. Ever,” said Abrams.
“Why haven’t I opened this, and why have I kept it?… It represents infinite possibility. It represents hope. It represents potential. What I love about this box — and what I realized I sort of do, in whatever it is that I do — is I find myself drawn to infinite possibility and that sense of potential. And I realize that mystery is the catalyst for imagination. What are stories besides mystery boxes?”
If you watch an Abrams movie or show you are instantly dropped into the middle of an intense situation. Forget introductions and forget character development, those details can come later.
He wants you asking questions from the start:
- Who is that?
- Where are they?
- What are they doing?
- What is happening?
- Why are they doing that?
He believes that people are drawn to infinite possibility and potential. This generates curiosity and this causes people to engage.
This is true about how people engage in the sales process.
Many agents lose sales because they give too much information way too fast. When this happens, it causes the client to disengage and lose interest. It is better to give just enough information for clients to engage.
One example of this is when a client already has insurance and has forgotten that they sent in a request for information. Agents typically get stuck over-explaining the product before they can assess the need.
One simple statement can change the direction of the whole conversation. “Oh Mr. Smith, we hear that from a lot of people. As a matter of fact, I would be shocked if you didn’t! These plans work a little differently. I just need to get this information to you and to the other people who need it. What you do with it after that is completely up to you.”
I want them asking these questions:
- What are these plans?
- Why are they different?
- Why do these other people need it?
Remember, people are drawn to infinite possibility and potential. This generates curiosity and this causes people to engage. There are millions of dollars in the mystery. This is just one example. Take some time to practice.
What Are We Reading…
Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham. A trusted advisor to America’s top corporations and recognized as one of today’s preeminent marketing experts, Jay Abraham has created a program of proven strategies to help you realize undreamed-of success! Unseen opportunities face each of us every day. Using clear examples from his own experience, Jay explains just how easy it can be to find and/or create new opportunities for wealth-building in any existing business, enterprise, or venture.
