Use the Curiosity Gap to Create Interest, Set Appointments, Drive Sales

Over the last 4 months since I’ve started making videos on YouTube, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out the answer to one driving question:

“Why do I suck so bad at this?”

It’s a more complicated question than you would initially think.  But during my research, I came across a YouTuber named Aprilynne Alter.  She studies the greatest YouTubers and analyzes what they do to be successful.  In one of her videos, talks about what people like Mr. Beast do with their Thumbnails, openers, and video titles.

They trigger curiosity.  That compels people to watch.

As Mr. Beast says, if you don’t click, you don’t watch.

She goes on to explain that curiosity drives human behavior.

Their thumbnails make you wonder, I wonder how that egg got on the moon?  Or why is that dude getting ready to punch someone?  Why is he in the heart of the pyramids?

As she described the phenomenon, I could feel the sensation she was describing.  When I want to know something, it’s like someone has put a fishhook in my brain and is fulling me forward.

After that, I started to wonder, what are the different ways I can use the curiosity gap in the sales process?  How could I plant that fishhook in my prospect’s brain?

Curiosity moves people through the sales process

Setting Appointments

This part of the process is all about creating curiosity around a customer’s need.  No curiosity means no appointment.

This means there are a lot of lines that are destined to fail.

“I’d love to quote your business”

“I’d love set 15 minutes to get to know your better.”

“I’d love to take you to lunch and learn about your business.”

When I think about these lines through the context of creating curiosity, I think a prospect is more likely to be interested in getting a root canal or filing their taxes.  Is it any wonder that they aren’t interested in setting an appointment?

Curiosity around setting an appointment is about identifying a problem the customer has and dangling a potential solution.

For me, my prospects typically have a couple of problems.

1.      They feel like they pay too much. 

2.      They don’t understand what they’re buying. 

3.      They get huge increases last minute with no warning. 

4.      They don’t get communication from their broker. 

5.      They don’t know what is available for them in the marketplace.

A good hook will make them feel like I have an answer for their core problem, and I can help them solve it.

It might sound like this.

“Most people feel like they pay too much for insurance and they don’t know how to fix it.  I can show you a system that will help you better negotiate your insurance program.  Is that worth 15 minutes of your time?”

It creates questions.  What is this system?  Will it work?  Sounds like a hoax, they might think.

But for a good number of people, curiosity will help people move to the next phase.

Move From the Qualifying Phase to the Solution Phase

Curiosity is what moves a person from the Qualifying Phase to providing solutions.

In the qualifying phase, you’re identifying whether the prospect has problems that you can solve.  You should have a series of questions that you ask that will help draw those needs from a latent place in a person’s brain to the front of their mind.

Think about what therapists do.  They ask lots of questions.  They make you think about all those repressed feelings that you hadn’t considered in years.

And right when you think you’re about to make a breakthrough, the bell rings, they look at you and say, “This is where we’ll pick it up next week.”

Same deal in sales.

We ask questions to draw out these problems.  We get our prospect nodding along.

“You’re right.  I have that problem.  And that one too.  I hadn’t even considered that one.”

And ding.  That’s when the bell should go off in the sales process.

“I’m sorry to hear you say that,” you say.  “The good news is I have the perfect ailment for your problem.  In the next meeting, I’m going to show you exactly how to solve that problem.”

The worst mistake you can make is to solve that problem too quickly.  If the prospects feel no curiosity, they will not feel compelled to show up to the next meeting.

It’s the fishhook in their brain that gets them to move forward in the process.

Move the customer to close

I’m a firm believer that if you want to close business at a higher rate, you need to do a better job qualifying.  Closing happens at the beginning of the process.

That’s because if the curiosity gap isn’t strong enough, if the pain the customer feels isn’t deep enough, they won’t feel compelled to accept your solution.

The curiosity gap at the end of the deal feels like this for a customer:

“I know I have this problem.  This person has clearly helped me understand my problems, the solutions, and now I have to answer this question for myself…

Am I better off in my current situation or making the change?”

The curiosity has to be so strong in that moment the buy feels there is no other logical conclusion other than to accept your offer. 

If there is any shred of doubt, the deal stalls out.  They ask questions.  They ask for references.  They shelve the project for a future date and blame it on getting busy.

If the curiosity isn’t strong enough, it’s easier to be complacent.

Conclusion

Aprilynne’s observation about the curiosity gap sent me down some bunny trails.  How can I create more curiosity in everything I do?

In the titles for my emails.

In the titles for my YouTube videos.

In how I close qualifying meetings.

Curiosity drives progress in the sales process.  Use it.