Episode 187: James Stapleton – 4 Reasons Why Prospects Fall Out of Your Sales Pipeline

James Stapleton  00:02

Social media is one of the main components of how we connect back in the day when getting a business card and you know following up with someone it was a lot more cold calling it was a lot more of that’s not direct face to face. 

Now with social media, it makes it so much easier to be able to put a name to the face and be more memorable out there posting content that people can be attracted to. And you know, really make those connections stronger so that you can build better relationships with each other.

Intro 00:33

Welcome to the Making Sales Social Podcast featuring the top voices and sales, marketing and business join Brynne Tillman and me Bob Woods. As we each bring you the best tips and strategies, our guests are teaching their clients, So you can leverage them for your own virtual and social selling. Enjoy the show. 

Bob Woods  00:33

My guest for this episode of making sales social is vice president of franchise development, James Stapleton of caring transitions, which helps families cope with the loss of a loved one or the need to relocate someone through an expert network of dedicated experts and resources. 

Let’s just really quickly talk about what caring transitions are, by addressing what it isn’t. It isn’t just a moving company or an estate sales company. It’s a transition company that fills in a gap in the otherwise crowded senior services industry that no one else is really addressing. 

It’s one of the reasons why I really like this company. So James, welcome to Making Sales Social. 

James Stapleton  01:41

Thanks, Bob. I really appreciate your time today.

Bob Woods  01:42

Oh, sure. Not a problem, not a problem at all. So our first traditional question always is, what does making sales social mean to you?

James Stapleton  01:52

You know, I mean, nowadays in these environments, if social media is one of the main components, how we connect back in the day was getting a business card. And you know, following up with someone it was a lot more cold calling, it was a lot more of that’s not direct face-to-face. 

Now, with social media, it makes it so much easier to be able to put a name to the face and be more memorable out there posting content that people can actually be attracted to. And, you know, really make those connections stronger, so that you can build better relationships with each other. 

Bob Woods  02:25

Yeah, Definitely, Absolutely. That’s one of the things that we just teach here. It’s a social sales link in general, whether you’re, you’re using it specifically for social selling, or, you know, in that more kind of broadly, overall, social kind of thing going on it ultimately is about making connections and, and building strong connections. So that you can have those conversations and so that you, you know, when you make connections, you feel connected. 

And I think especially in today’s world, feeling connected is definitely more important than ever, especially coming out of the pandemic, and everybody is just like, “Ooh,” you know, people, people really felt disconnected. And I think that there’s almost that kind of need for even more connection than there used to be. I’m not sure if you’d agree with that.

James Stapleton  03:13

Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, I was just over at the IFA, the International Franchise Association’s national conference. And people were asking for business cards. I have, you know, connected with me on LinkedIn, you know, I’ve got to hold your business cards, I could not place a name to the face of anyone that’s in there. 

But I can go back on LinkedIn and go back to see, you know, when I started as the first person to the last person, and then follow up with those people. Because you have that connection. 

Bob Woods  03:41

Yeah, Absolutely, and then, and we’ve, we’ve actually covered this in other podcasts and other things that we published, but you can actually use the LinkedIn mobile app to make a direct connection with someone while you are like literally in front of them talking to so you know, you’ve got that as almost a database when you’re in those networking situations. 

And you can, when you customize the invite, you can actually put in “Hey, you know, met you blah, blah, blah,”. So, that you can actually have a record of where you met these people. Because I don’t know if your memories are as good as mine, but my memory is not as good as it used to be anymore. Right? 

So actually, before we started talking, we were before we started recording, I should say we were talking a little bit about a really fascinating subject that you were just touching on a little bit and I just got way, way let’s get this for the show. So we’re going to shift gears a little bit and talk a little bit more about after taking prospects through a pipeline and this is for any company at this point. 

So this isn’t just for like a franchisor-franchisee type of situation, b2b b2c, whatever, it doesn’t matter. After taking people through the pipeline. It’s inevitable that some people are going to fall out. It just happens. I don’t care how good of a Salesman you are, sometimes they’re just going to fall out. 

The thing is some people may be falling out who may not should or should not be falling out, I guess is probably the best way to put it. Many sales pros are probably wondering why people are falling out. So you James, you have four reasons why you think people ultimately don’t buy from you. So let’s go ahead and break them down one by one. And let’s start, obviously, I think with number one.

James Stapleton  05:27

All right, perfect. Well, you know, I did sales for 26 years, and I’ve known through all my career in sales, that the people you’re going to come across are gonna you’re gonna have the definite yeses, the people that are like, “Oh, my God, this is a miracle. How did you find me? I need this today,” Right? and they just read it for you, you’re gonna have the people that are definitely known. 

And it’s definitely known either from their side of your side, it’s just not a fit for what you have. You know, as you said, you’re not gonna be to sell everybody, but you’re going to have maybe in between there. The good salespeople, the people that make it in this industry, are the people that close the maybes, those ones that are close can go either way. 

So what I’ve found through my experience is there’s four different reasons somebody’s not buying from you, it’s that there’s no need, no trust, no money, or no hurry. If one of these four things are missing, I don’t care how perfect your product is, I don’t care what they’re able to establish from it, or you’re able to, you know, whatever, if it is perfect for them, you’ll never sell it, if one of these four things are missing. 

So let’s break them down. So let’s start with the first one. So no need. So obviously, if somebody doesn’t need your product, then that’s a big red flag right there. Right? But depending on where you’re coming from, I mean, it’s different. If you know you’re cold, call someone to them walking through your door. 

One of my favorite quotes from Henry Ford was if I ask people what they need, they would have said faster horses. So sometimes, you know, it’s not evident that they need your service, you know, walking in, sometimes, it’s, you know, you have to build that needle for them. So you have to figure out, you know, is there an actual need for my product from this person. 

But when it comes to sales itself, you have to be able to tell them what your solution is to their problem to figure out if there is a need, Right? A lot of people will establish like, they’ll tell people about their business and try to force it in. Right? Here’s one thing that I’ve realized is that people don’t care about you. 

It’s the Janet Jackson song, what have you done for me lately? Okay. That’s what it’s always about. And if you can’t answer that question, then, you know, it’s out the window already. It’s like a kid asking his teacher what two plus two is? And the teacher telling him about all the degrees she has? And how smart is she? You’re not answering the question. But you really have to be able to, you know, dig down and find out, you know, what their problem is, is your, your solution that you have a solution to their problem. 

And then really framing everything around what their problem is, what their need is, and then showing them, this is the benefit. And this, this is how I can help you, here’s the benefit of using me and my products, because it’s going to save you time, because it’s going to save you money, because it’s going to save you something and be able to answer the question.

Bob Woods  08:15

Yeah, So I’ve, and actually, I think this is a really good time to bring back, you know, that faster horse analogy that you just used before, because you know, a car, you don’t necessarily associate a car with a horse. But if you need to go faster, but yet people are looking or think that they need a horse, this is where maybe a little reframing comes in a little bit. And I think that’s what you’re kind of saying marriage is just addressing their needs. Specifically

James Stapleton  08:47

Back in the 1900s. Nobody knew what a car was, Right? It was horse and carriage. So you know, Henry Ford coming in, he had a product that nobody understood that nobody knew they didn’t know how it even works. And so if your product is this, because think about it, people live revolutionary things. 

They’re inventing revolutionary things all the time. Think about social media before it was social media. I mean, think when you first heard about the internet, were you able to explain it to anybody? Are you able to have a conversation? I remember the news programs at that time going, Wait a minute, how does it work? It’s an apt sign or about sign or what is it? Right? 

So sometimes, you know, depending on what your product is, it’s not, you know, face forward to a person or prospect. So but once you explain, you know, what it is, how it works, and how it benefits that person, then it’s like, oh, yeah, how could I not? How can I live without this? 

Bob Woods  09:34

Yeah, and actually, one thing that we talked about before that, that we’re going to bring up again, I mean, there are some industries and some businesses and I think that your business is actually one of them, that people don’t even necessarily know that they exist, but when they hear about it, it’s like, “Oh, my God, this is great. How did I not know this exists? And I think that you could actually plug that into this entire conversation here”.

James Stapleton  09:57

Really? Yeah, I mean, it’s so my business I have explained Everybody like what we do, we’re the nation’s largest provider of SR relocation, resale of household goods. And when most people hear about that, they’d be like, Man, I wish I’d have known about this. When I went through it. We’ve been in business for 17 years, you know. 

So, even though we’re the largest provider of this kind of service, we are out there marketing and in driving the business, and we’ve got 300 locations across the United States. So, most people don’t look into our business until they’re knee-deep in the situation they’re Googling to in the morning. 

What do I do with Mom to try to find a solution to it? So that’s where we are at, I really have to be able to let them know what it is, how it works, how it benefits somebody to become a franchisee because it’s not common knowledge.

Bob Woods  10:38

Exactly, exactly. So let’s get into number two in this list now on no trust and our no trust. In other words, there hasn’t been trust developed yet. Yeah. So let’s go ahead and dress that a little bit more. How does one build trust?

James Stapleton  10:54

It’s trust is the one thing that takes forever to build. And the second takeaway, anybody that’s ever been in a bad relationship can relate to that, Right? It’s, no matter who you’re talking to, you know, everybody has experienced this. So when it comes to trust, what I found is in sales itself, a lot of it has to do with confidence, you know, it has to be how you present the business. Have you ever been in a networking group or you talk to someone?

I mean, think about all the things we buy, you know, are you ever doing a big purchase, where you go to buy a car, or boat or insurance or something like that. And the person might give you a whole presentation, but there was that one little thing they said that you’re like, right, and it blew up the whole thing. 

So at the end of it, it’s like, “Yeah, hurry up so I can get out of here.” A lot of it has to do with confidence and knowing what you’re talking about. I mean, that’s a big one right there. If you know your product inside and out, there’s nothing that’s going to sweep you off your feet.

One of my favorite things that my mentor used to say to me all the time was when you know, and you know, you know, competence replaces fear, Right? I think a lot of the times when we’re going through a presentation, especially when you’re new and you know, there might be a part of the business you’re not sure about. And it gets to that sticking point where they asked you that question and your Porky Pig, you’re the Budda-Budda-Budda. And that’s the one sticking point, Right?

That’s the one thing that they’re caught up on that you are not getting past that until you answer that question. And depending on what your situation is, like, for us, we take somebody through a four to six-week process. So we get an opportunity to say, Listen, let me check on it. No matter if you’re sitting at a table with someone or you’re, you know, they come into the dealership, or wherever your thing is, you might want to shoot LBNL to answer that question. 

And that’s where you know you have to make sure you’re on your game. But here’s the other thing, too, is when somebody’s sitting across from you, and you’re going through your sales pitch, man, their guard is up, Right? Nobody’s trust salespeople, everybody thinks of the slimy snake oil salesman that’s going to leave town for money, Right? 

So their guard is up. And so as you start, you know, talking about your brand, building the solution, they’re dropping that guard down. So, to the point where they’re not listening when it’s up. But man, as you start going through it, their guard is coming down, now they’re listening, and you’re building that confidence in that trust within that client to be able to have them at the end of its What do you think and for them to make a decision on exactly what.

Bob Woods  13:19

Yeah, and then I think that when it comes to trust, you know, bring bringing social back into it, whether you’re talking about more of a b2c type of just straight marketing strategy, or, or whether it’s more like b2b And what we do with social selling, I mean, trust is built through social and we are huge believers in that here. 

And we even have the phrase, you know, attract, teach and engage, which is what we teach here attract, teach, engage, leads to know like, and trust, and everyone wants to know, like, and trust thing, social can, it’s not gonna, it’s never going to seal the deal, but it’s definitely going to get you much, much farther along that path.

James Stapleton  14:01

Well, Also you know, you don’t have a chance to explain yourself, if it’s on social, Right? If you post something out there and somebody’s like, I, this doesn’t make any sense to me, you’re not able to be there, but we’ll hold on and then be able to give that explanation, Right? You’re putting things on social media that you know, either are going to relate to certain people or hit a certain marketer wherever you’re trying to target it, but you don’t get the you don’t get the chance to be able to explain something if it’s not clear. 

So I think social sales, especially if you’re putting things on LinkedIn, or you’re putting things on social media, you’re blasting things out to anything on social. I think that message has to be crystal clear to people. So there are no questions or questions contact me.

Bob Woods  14:44

Let’s talk through it. Yeah, Exactly. Crystal clear. And then we always teach about, you know, always has to have value, always has to be educational, always has to be, you know, advancing and valuable so that people are actually feeling like that. they’re getting something out of this a little bit. So number three is no money. No moolah is this…

James Stapleton  15:07

This is the biggest misconception. I used to do door-to-door insurance sales, knock on someone’s door in an old-fashioned way, sit at a kitchen table, cold calling in between every time I say that people are like, do the same rolling of their eyes. But you know, a lot of it has to do when it comes to money is what’s between your ears. 

Sometimes, you know, you give a big proposal out to someone just because you can’t afford it doesn’t mean they can’t, right? So it’s always, you know, dropping whatever that top number is, you can always go down, Right? You can always say, Listen, it’s $10,000. What do you think? You know and work through it. Right? But can’t go? It’s $10,000. Okay, sounds great. I mean, it’s 15. Right? 

You can’t go up, you know after somebody says it says yes. So you really have to be able to dig in and find out, you know, what the case is when it comes to money. And here’s depending on what your product is, some people buy most people buy what they want have to be sold what they need, they buy what they want, have to be sold what they need, this was a big thing for insurance. 

And nobody thinks they need insurance until they need insurance. And unfortunately, it’s a product you can get when Right? So you really have to be able to put somebody in a situation where what’s going to happen, if you don’t move forward on this, if somebody feels comfortable in the situation that they’re in after hearing your product, they’re not gonna buy it, because they’ll need to buy it right, there’s no, there’s no reason to move forward on it. 

Because nothing is going to change in their world. So, you have to kind of make them feel uncomfortable with what goes on. So you want to talk about building the need, like when we were at the insurance company, we would ask people questions like, Bob, if you got sick or hurt and couldn’t work, would you still receive a paycheck? So you know, the answer is no. Right? And will that be a problem for you? Probably yes. Right? So and So it’d be like him paying my bills, right? So it’s getting people in the situation and making them think through that situation that they’re in. 

But, you know, there’s also other questions, you know, they gotta think about, like, you know, you’re you’re, you’re selling your product or service solution to their problem, Right? So, you know, is there a time aspect, you know, them, you know, doing whatever your product or service or you know, being without it, is it costing them time on their own? Listen, I don’t change my own oil, but I much rather go to a Jiffy Lube, where I’m in the waiting room for 30 minutes. 

And then when it gets to the register, and they say, it’s $80, I’m not like, that’s not how much oil costs, Right? I know that it’s saving me from going under my truck making a mess of my garage, and then what do I do with it? Right? You know, is there a psychological impacts, you know, if you know, sometimes your product is mentally preparing them for something, you know, and if they’re going to do it on their own in their it, once again, sometimes it comes down to time, they’re doing it on their own? What are they giving up? 

Because they have to do X, Y, or Z? How are you saving them time and in money by doing that? Is their family impact? You know, is there something that you know, my family is everything to me. So when it comes to me, it’s if there’s something that’s going to impact my family, like, once again, it may go back to the insurance thing, you know, something like that happens, you know, it’s gonna be a big impact for my family, we’re gonna change everything that we have right now. Right? 

Even when it comes down to physical impacts, you know, what if whatever you’re selling, you know, allows them to be able to do whatever they want to do. But if they did it on their own, once they got hurt, you know, I’m fortunately able, my living is all around talking to people. So, you know, God forbid, I hurt myself, I can probably still talk to people and just be, you know, uncomfortable in a situation. 

But if I was a police officer, as a firefighter, if I was, you know, anybody who isn’t a construction worker, you know, and hurt myself, that’s going to take me out of work. Once again, I’m losing something by not using a product or service that probably could benefit me so and when it comes to money to the first first three objections, somebody gives you a false objection. 

That’s not really the reason they’re not buying from you today. So think about that. The first three objections that give you are false objections, and then usually all revolve around money. This is where you start getting the, I gotta think about it, you know, I can’t afford it, you know, you start getting these excuses. 

So that’s why closing someone, you know, is important, and it’s not hard closing someone, you know, the word closes. So it’s like that term, Right? People like nobody, nobody wants to be closed on something, Right? You know, people want to feel like they’re buying something, they’re not sold on something, Right? 

So, it’s important to dig down into what the real reason is that they’re now moving forward, because it might be something that you can give them a little bit more information on and then right now, once again, these are the maybes, these are the ones that are on the fence. 5050 So those couple of different things, you know, we all revolve around money. And if man you can’t tackle that, and you get an answer to it, you’ll never sell it.

Bob Woods  19:54

And then number four, and we’ve already talked about this a little bit. It kind of goes in with money a little bit. It bears that there’s no hurry apart.  

James Stapleton  20:04

Yeah, I mean, when it comes to hurrying itself, it’s you know, it’s allowing them a certain amount of time to make a decision that’s in a hurry, and listen, even coupons expire, RIght? So you know, think about that, you know, as you’re not you’re not pressuring somebody to do something, but it’s like, Listen, this is what the price is right now, it might not be that, you know, in the future.

I might have more jobs on my calendar and might be in a different situation. I might not have, you know, the people on my team to be able to help you with whatever job you’re looking to do. So you have to put some kind of timeline on whatever proposal you’re giving someone. And you know, when it comes to hurrying itself, time kills deals, Right? 

So every day that passes after you give somebody a price on that quote, every day that passes, it gets them farther away from making that decision, a lot of times, you know, it’s front of mind, Right? it’s up here. And then as time moves on, it goes to the back of their mind. And then they get reminded of every once in a while we’ve all gone through this, we’ve all seen something that we bought, and we’re like, we didn’t pull the trigger at that time, and something else happens.

And it totally takes the thought process away. I remember back during the pandemic, I was looking to buy a truck. And because of the pandemic the chips weren’t in, so they had limited, you know, inventory. And so when I went back, my desire to buy a truck at that moment was very high, Since I couldn’t find the one that I wanted and went from the front of my mind to the back of my mind. 

And I finally made the decision, I’m going to keep what I have right now. And I’ll drive it till the wheels fall off, and then I’ll get something down the road. But once again, you know, if there was someone that I was talking to you that was like, listen, we’ll you know, here’s what we have, this is a great truck, this fits all your needs. And we’ll, you know, work this deal out with you. I will probably be driving a brand new truck right now. 

You give people time to think through it and think about it, they’re gonna talk themselves out of it. And then they’re also going to have been talking to the influencers that are around them. You know, they’ll be talking to their family and their spouse and everybody else that’s like, what are you crazy? Wait a minute, What are you going to do? And it doesn’t allow you to be able to say, well, this is the reason that it benefits you. So and once again, it’s all about, you know, creating that hurry so they can make a decision and this is what it is today.

Bob Woods  22:16

Yeah, definitely. And I think that you know, you’re talking a little bit more about b2c or I think that that, you know, that going to the back of the mind and disappearing kind of happens more, I think that in b2b sales a little bit more you can keep a relationship going with, with someone so that things can actually come back and you can close sale because that happens with us a lot here. But when it comes to those b2c decisions, like the trucks, I think that that’s 100% the case.

James Stapleton  22:54

Don’t even think about social media. I mean, think of how fast people scroll, Right? Yeah, I’ll make an impact with someone and then be able to capture their attention and it is by now, by now, by now. Right? Click the button, you know, I’ve just got, I mean, impulse buys I’ve made off of Facebook that I got in the mail, and I’m like, “Oh, this isn’t what I thought it was what it looked like in the picture”. Right? Yeah. 

You do it all the time. But I mean, but that’s once again, that’s social selling, right? It’s being able to get somebody’s attention, buy it. Now, here’s the price, having it face forward, because everybody wants it quick. Everybody wants the fast food mentality. Right? 

Bob Woods  23:27

Yeah, especially on the b2c side and, you know, my wife could probably tell you a little bit more about that. But I don’t want to get myself in trouble. We’re just gonna go ahead and move on with that. So let’s back up a little bit and talk a little bit more specifically about caring transitions. Like I said before, it’s one of those companies where it’s like, you’re not thinking about it, but when you hear about it, it’s like, “Damn, that’s a great idea.”How did everything get started and which and what’s your ultimate goal there?

James Stapleton  23:56

So we’ve been franchising since 2006. So we’re actually in three days, it’ll be our 17 year anniversary. We started with a company called home helpers, way back in the day that did in home health care. And we saw that there was a huge gap in going from Hey, Mom needs to be moved out of her house now, because she needs more care or maybe it’s you know, the spouse passed away and they need to downsize. 

So we saw a hole in the market. And we decided to, you know, jump, put all of our chips in this basket. Because there really isn’t anybody else that doesn’t nationally like we do, at least not to the scope that we do. So well who we are, what we do is we are the nation’s largest provider of senior relocation, the resale of household goods. 

So, We find seniors that are looking to downsize either into an assisted living facility or smaller apartment. So what we’ll do is we’ll go into the house, we’ll find out what they want to bring with them to the next place, physically move them in and then resettle them there. Then once they’re settled, we’ll go back into the house with whatever’s leftover will do either an in house estate sale, or an online sale through our CT bids proprietary website. 

And then once the estate sale is done any items that are leftover if they have a, if they have value to them, we’ll donate them. If they don’t we toss them. But the whole point is to leave that house in a broom swept fashion. So, real estate agents come on stage and start doing their walkthroughs and sell the house faster. 

So once again, just like I was talking about, like the need for that most people don’t even realize that, you know, something like this exists? Because I mean, reality is that, you know, nobody’s sitting around the kitchen table at Thanksgiving going, “Hey, if mom has a stroke, what are we gonna do with all the stuff in here? It’s always ” Oh, my God, this just happened”. Now what do we do? Right? 

So it’s a very reactive need for this and people are searching for it. So in the morning, like, what do I do with mom, and trying to find a solution to this. And so we are the all-in-one solution from Oh, my God, this just happened to sell the house. And the major need for something like this, too has to do with how much is your time worth, Right? It’s the stress on the family as much as we sell stuff. 

You know, we were clearing out the stuff in the house, it’s really making an impact in the family. Because the stress level is different for both parties. The stress for the kids is they’re thinking I got my own family. I don’t have time to do this. I got my own career, and I’m now spending every weekend in this house. And Mom’s got too much stuff and I don’t know anything in there. 

Stress for the senior is like holding on to pump the brakes, you’re gonna put me someplace strange. We don’t know anybody that’s outside of my routine. And then you’re gonna go through my house and sell the stuff that I have and then you’re at somebody’s house they’ve lived in for 30,40,50 years raising kids. Like that’s where we are the bridge in between both parties. 

They’ll get mom in place where she needs to get her settled and get her setup, take care of the house, take it off the kid’s shoulders so that it can sell and then they can help their loved one settle in this new strange reality. That’s where they spend their time.

Bob Woods  26:56

Yeah. Wow. So in terms of the business, you have the local franchisees and then you have directors as well, kind of like area directors or whatever you want to call them.

James Stapleton  27:10

Yep, Their franchise. 

Bob Woods  27:13

Yep. Franchise director. Okay, cool. So, if someone is interested in finding out more about either becoming a director and overseeing these franchises or becoming a franchise themselves, what can they do?

James Stapleton  27:23

Sure, they can contact me directly so they can reach out to me at either JStapleton it’s a letter J- S-T-A-P-L-E-T-O-N at caring transitions.com Or they can even go to our website, you know, and fill out one of our forums on the website saying that they’re looking for to become a franchisee or, you know, they’re looking for to become a director. We are hiring at the moment. So you know, if anybody’s out there that’s looking for a great sales opportunity with room to grow. We are a great place to start.

Bob Woods  27:59

And I would be a very, very horrible LinkedIn strategist. If I also didn’t mention that James is also on LinkedIn.

James Stapleton  28:06

Absolutely. I think I got like 2900 contacts on LinkedIn. So yeah, I’m pretty, pretty established on LinkedIn. I’m leaving the platform.

Bob Woods  28:14

Good for you. Good for you. So caring transitions vice president of franchise development. That is a mouthful. James Stapleton. Thank you very much for joining us on Making Sales Social. 

James Stapleton  28:26

Thanks, Bob. I really appreciate the time. 

Bob Woods  28:28

Sure. So remember when you’re out and about this week, be sure to make your sales social. Thanks for listening and join us again for more special guest instructors bringing you marketing, sales, training and social selling strategies that will set you apart. 

Outro 28:28

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