Expert Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Finding Your Message, Building a Tribe, and Changing the World

by Russell Brunson

  So the last step is to repeat your webinar. Again and again. Run it every week for a full year, and watch what happens to your bank account and your expert status.

  SECRET #18

  THE 4-QUESTION CLOSE (FOR HIGH-TICKET OFFERS)

  The webinar process and the Perfect Webinar script you’ve just learned works really well for offers between $297 and $2,997. But when you’re selling more expensive offers, you need to add another step. Instead of just sending people to an order form, send them to a page where they fill out an application. Then get on the phone and interview them to see if they’d be a good fit for the program. This works for two reasons.

  • Reason #1: It’s much easier to sell a $2,997–$100,000 program on the phone. That extra step helps people feel more comfortable paying the higher dollar amounts.

  • Reason #2: At the higher-level programs, you are typically going to be working more closely with people. You can screen them to make sure you’ll enjoy working with them. If they aren’t a good fit, then don’t accept them into your programs.

  In DotComSecrets, I shared a two-step phone script that works really well when you have sales people working for you. For that script to work, you need two people: a setter and a closer. It works amazingly well, but only when the expert ISN’T the one on the phone. At least in the beginning, you will be doing these sales calls yourself, and for that I recommend a completely different script.

  THE 4-QUESTION CLOSE SCRIPT

  I learned various parts of this strategy from a few different people. Dan Sullivan wrote a book called The Question, which this whole script is based on. Perry Belcher coached a few of my friends through the script, and Greg Cassar coached me and my Inner Circle through the process. Even though this is called the 4-Question Close Script, it’s more like a 4-phase script. There are four primary questions, but you will be asking follow-up questions to dig deeper and get more complete answers.

  Before prospects get on the phone with you, they fill out an application form so you can pre-qualify them. Then you should have an assistant contact them to set up a 30-minute call.

  Once you’re on the call, most people will want to open with small talk. That invites them to ramble on and waste time. You don’t want that. You want to set yourself up as the one running the call right from the start. So you’re going to say:

  Hey, this is Russell and I’m excited to be on the call with you. So here’s how these calls work. I’m going to ask you four questions. Depending on how you answer them and how well we get along, we’ll decide whether to move forward. Sound fair enough?

  They should answer yes, or the call can end right there. You’re getting a micro-commitment here, a little yes right at the start. You’re also setting the ground rules so you can steer the conversation where you want it to go. Once they agree, it’s time to start asking the questions.

  Imagine you and I were to start working together today. I teach you everything I know and do everything I can to help you get results. Now imagine we’re sitting in a coffee shop a year from now. What would have happened in your life, both personally and professionally, for you to feel happy with your progress? What would make you believe that this was the best decision you ever made?

  You’re trying to get them to describe their external and internal goals here. You want to hear their true desires. If they can’t answer this question, you don’t want to work with them because you’ll never be able to satisfy them. No matter how much you accomplish—and no matter how much they pay you—if they can’t articulate their desires, then you won’t be able to make them a reality.

  Most likely, they’ll start by describing external desires. They want to make $10,000 a month. Or they want a boat or a fancy new house in a better school district. They want to lose weight or have a better relationship with their spouse. This is a great start, but you want to dig deeper and get to the internal desires as well. So ask follow-up questions based on their answers.

  Question #1

  Why do you want to make $10,000 a month? Why do you want that fancy new house? What’s so important about the school district you’re in?

  Then they’ll start revealing the values and beliefs that are truly important to them. Maybe they want $10,000 a month to prove to their family that they’re a good provider. Or maybe they have a favorite charity they want to support in a big way. Maybe they want to be in a good school district because their kids aren’t being challenged where they are. Or maybe they are childless and their spouse has given up hope of ever having a family. They are hoping that moving to a good school district will demonstrate that there’s still hope.

  Do you see how very different those inner desires can be for different people, even though they want the same things? You need to know those inner reasons WHY they want what they want. So keep digging until they reveal those deep emotional connections.

  At the end of the day, we all want the same things—respect, inclusion, and purpose. When you dig and dig and eventually they say something that reveals one of these three things, you can stop and move to the next question. They might say, “I just want my father to respect me.” Or “I want my life to have a purpose, so I live on when I die.” Or “I want to be part of something bigger than myself.” Train yourself to listen carefully for these cues. Then move on to the next question.

  Question #2

  Clearly, you know what you want. You’ve painted a really great picture for me. So let me ask you this—why don’t you have it yet? What’s been standing in your way or holding you back?

  Here you’re looking for their obstacles and objections. If they don’t have what they want yet, there must be a reason. And you need to know whether you can help them with those obstacles or not. If they start blaming other people, you can’t help them. Listen for them to say things like “My spouse doesn’t support me”, or “I tried XYZ program and it didn’t work. That guy was useless.” If they’re blaming other people or outside circumstances for their failures, you really don’t want them as a client.

  You want people who will take responsibility for their own actions. So listen for some version of “I don’t know how.” Maybe they say, “I tried XYZ program, but I just didn’t understand the finer details. I need to take the time to master the process.” The key here is the word I. If they talk about themselves a lot, then chances are you can help them. If they don’t know how to do something and you can help them, you’re going to have a successful relationship.

  Next it’s time to get them thinking about possibilities.

  Question #3

  I want you to think about what resources, connections, talents, or skills you have access to that you’re not currently utilizing 100%, that we could use to help overcome your obstacles and achieve your goals.

  Give them some time to think about it. They might come up with some great answers, or they might come up with something off-the-wall. The point is to get them thinking about the possibilities.

  Whatever they come up with is good. Encourage them to keep thinking. Keep asking, “What else? What else?” until they run out of ideas. When they do, you say this:

  Okay, so let’s review for a minute.

  1. It looks like you know exactly what you want. You told me you want __________ because __________.

  2. Now you haven’t been able to achieve that before primarily because of __________ and __________, right?

  Now I briefly talk about my experience with the same obstacles they are struggling with, and ask them if they think I could help them to overcome those obstacles.

  3. And last, it looks like you have all these resources you could leverage that you’re not leveraging yet, right?

  I then ask them, “How much more money do you think you’d make (or how much weight would you lose or how much better would your marriage be) if you were able to eliminate the obstacles and leverage those resources?”

  I let them explain to me what will happen.

  “Oh man, if I could do that, I’m pretty s
ure I could make a million dollars (or lose a ton of weight, be so much happier in my marriage)…”

  I then transition to the final question.

  Question #4

  4. So I only have one more question. Do you want me to help you?

  Then I stop talking. I don’t say another word until they answer. Most of the time, they will say yes. Then all I have to do is say:

  Great! Here’s how it works. My fee is $__________. For that money, you get __________. I’m here to help you. I can transfer you over to my assistant to take care of the financial details right now. Would you like to do that?

  If they say yes, you’re done. Usually the only reason they won’t agree at this point is because they don’t have the money. If that’s the case, you can offer a payment plan.

  If you’ve done a good job with the questions, and they can afford your fee, then you should close most of the people you talk to. Just send them off to your assistant to handle the credit card details, and you’re all set. And that’s how the 4-Question Close works.

  SECRET #19

  THE PERFECT WEBINAR HACK

  As you can see, it takes time to create a Perfect Webinar presentation. Most people spend a week or two creating their first one. And even though I’ve been using the format for years, I’ll often spend a couple of days creating one presentation. While that’s really not a long time to create the foundation of millions of dollars in a business, sometimes you don’t have that much time.

  For example, about two years ago, I was helping a close friend launch a new company that sold automated webinar software. His sales process looked very traditional, and they were getting average sales driving traffic into his funnel. Then he decided to launch an affiliate contest where the winner got $50k.

  I thought it would be fun to compete, but I knew the only way I could win was to change how he was selling his product. I had planned on creating a Perfect Webinar, but as the deadline to win the $50k got closer, I ran out of time. I was competing against 100 other affiliates who had been promoting for several weeks, and I was way behind. There were only a few days left before the contest ended.

  I was about to give up and just blow it off, but then I had an idea. What if I could quickly create a Perfect Webinar and launch it—in the next 10–15 minutes? Ha! (I had to laugh at myself for a minute. Then I got serious.) I knew I could never pull it off with traditional PowerPoint or Keynote slides. But what if I just wrote out the key components on a whiteboard?

  I had no idea if it would work, but it was my only shot. So I started asking myself a lot of the questions I’ve covered throughout this book. I’m going to run through them quickly for you right now—because that’s all I was able to do in the 15 minutes before I went live with this presentation. (NOTE: All these elements could have been much stronger if I’d had more time, but I only had 15 minutes before I went live, so I had to think REALLY fast.)

  I want you to see what you can pull together when you use the concepts in this book as guidelines.

  Question #1: What’s the new opportunity I’m offering?

  Answer: Increasing webinar sales using my weekly webinar model

  For this product, we were selling automated webinar software, which was nothing new. So I offered them a NEW opportunity to sell more through webinars using my weekly webinar model. This was a new opportunity that most people (at the time) had never heard of.

  Question #2: What is the one Big Domino for this offer?

  Answer: If I can get them to believe that doing webinars through my model is the only way they can get to 7 figures in the next 12 months, then they have to give me money. So I wrote out this title:

  How to Make (at Least) 7 Figures Next Year with THIS Webinar Model

  Question #3: What special offer can I create for those who purchase?

  Answer: I spent five minutes writing out my stack on a whiteboard, including everything I would give people who purchased through my affiliate link. His software helped people conduct webinars, so I brainstormed things I already had that would complement what he was selling. Here is what my stack looked like:

  • What You’re Gonna Get…

  • The Perfect Webinar Script $497

  • The Perfect Webinar Training $9,997

  • Video of My Closing LIVE $2,997

  • Perfect Webinar Funnel $997

  • My Webinar Funnel…Priceless

  Total Value: $14,988

  Question #4: What is my Epiphany Bridge origin story?

  Answer: The story about how I bombed at my first event and Armand Morin taught me how to do the stack

  Question #5: What are three false beliefs they have about this new opportunity (the 3 Secrets), and what Epiphany Bridge stories will I tell to break those false belief patterns?

  I broke them down like this:

  A. What is their #1 false belief about webinars (the vehicle we were putting them into)?

  B. What Epiphany Bridge story do I have that got me to believe in webinars?

  I knew my epiphany had occurred when I learned the script for how to sell on webinars (which eventually became the Perfect Webinar). So I then wrote on the whiteboard:

  Secret #1: It’s All About the Script

  Then I went into Secret #2.

  C. What is their #1 false belief about their personal ability to execute on this vehicle?

  D. What Epiphany Bridge story do I have that got me to believe in my abilities?

  For me, my big epiphany was understanding how the webinar model worked, and that I could actually do it. So I then wrote on the whiteboard:

  Secret #2: Understanding the Model

  Finally, I thought about the third secret.

  E. What is their #1 false belief or outside force that they think will keep them from success?

  F. What Epiphany Bridge story do I have that got me to understand the truth?

  For me, my epiphany was understanding that this only works if you do it LIVE every week until it converts to actual results. I then wrote down:

  Secret #3: You have to do this LIVE until…

  Now those probably weren’t the best titles in the world, and I’m sure with a few days of massaging them, I could have made them amazing. But this whole process only took me about 15 minutes.

  Then I had to figure out how to promote this message to the most people in the least amount of time. I didn’t have time to set up a webinar funnel and get people into a sequence. I needed to start getting sales IMMEDIATELY. So I opened up two of my phones, turned on Facebook Live and Periscope, and clicked “Go Live” on both platforms. Because I already have strong followings in both places, I was live in front of hundreds of people within seconds!

  I did the presentation by just talking off the top of my head, sharing my Epiphany Bridge stories, and then going into my stack and close.

  Within 26 minutes and 32 seconds, my presentation was done. I had no idea if it was good or bad—it was all so quick. But as I looked at my stats, I saw the sales flooding in.

  I was then able to promote those presentations on Facebook and other places for the next three days until the contest was over. During this time, over 100,000 people saw this presentation. We ended up doing over $250,000 in sales and I won the $50k cash prize! Not bad for only 15 minutes of preparation!

  And while I thought that was pretty cool, even more exciting was the fact that Brandon and Kaelin Poulin saw what I did and decided to model it. Within a few days, they launched a Facebook Live session, and did almost the same thing. They had their stack written down on a whiteboard, and Kaelin wrote her 3 Secrets on paper, which she showed as she was teaching and telling her stories.

  Their first try at this process made them over $100,000, and they’ve gone on to do it each month since. In fact, recently they did over $650,000 from ONE Facebook Live presentation, using the Perfect Webinar script without any PowerPoint slides—just a whiteboard and a few sheets of paper.

  As you master the Perfect Webinar script and you g
et better at telling stories and delivering your offer, you can use it to sell almost any product with just a few minutes notice. The Perfect Webinar is perfect. The only time it doesn’t work is when people mess it up by not following what I’ve laid out in this book. In fact, if you try it and it doesn’t work, I can tell you from experience it’s probably for one of these reasons:

  1. You picked a bad market and no one wants to hear what you have to say.

  2. You built an improvement offer and no one wants to buy it.

  3. You slipped into teaching mode and didn’t create an environment for change.

  If you pick a good market, make a new opportunity that is truly irresistible, and then use your presentation to break and rebuild their belief patterns around that new opportunity…it works. I promise!