Sometimes you want to know if your prospect meets certain criteria before you can help them.
For example
If you help people get loans, you might want to know if they have at least a credit score of X before you can work with them. Or, if you’re a realtor, you want to show your prospects the types of homes they can afford to buy… and so on. You need to qualify your leads in advance for many valid reasons.
But here’s the thing
It matters when you do it, HOW you do it, and what kind of WORDS you use. Instead of asking a set of pre-qualifying questions up front, on your landing page… which feels like you’re trying to scrub them… Let them opt in, send them their report or book, and then… Engage with your prospects a little more before you pop the question. You want to motivate them to qualify and move towards their desire themselves, rather than you asking them to “apply”.
Because here’s another thing
Words like “apply”, “pre-approved”, etc… are filters. And filters sound like you’re on the other side of the table judging the person. They have negative feelings about them. Instead, the words you want to use in this situation are what I call AMPLIFIERS.
And here’s what I mean… One of the things we do with buyers in a traditional real estate situation offers people a free home loan report. But rather than insisting they get pre-approved before they get the report… rather than using those negative filter words… We re-frame the whole situation and say…“We monitor hundreds of different loan programs to find the best interest rates, the lowest down payments, the lowest total cost loans, and we put all of our findings together in a custom home loan report.”
Can you notice the difference?
It’s subtle re-frame, yes. But what this does is… Rather than sounding like I’m sitting on the other side of the desk and telling you to give me your information so I can either approve or deny you… I’m now saying, “I’m coming over to your side. And we will look at all these options together and pick the best one for you.” Amplifiers instantly make you the advocate to your prospects, someone with their best interest at heart. And that makes your prospects trust you more.
Because remember, people buy from people they trust. For more on filters and amplifiers, I say much more on the podcast.
