The $100K Discovery Call Mistake Every Coach Is Making

you spent 90 minutes on a discovery call giving away your best thinking you actually genuinely solved their problems and then at the end you hear and you know what i'm just gonna have to think about it listen up i'm gonna need you to hear this that was not a discovery call now a key rule here that i want you to ingrain in your brain is that no is acceptable yes it's acceptable but maybe is absolutely unacceptable let's get into it so before i hit play i wanted to give you a little backstory this particular client of mine rose she's currently a real estate investor and she's been buying properties building a really nice portfolio for herself and she's been getting a lot of people calling her up hey what are you doing with your business i want to learn what you're doing i want to pick your brain i want to get all these information from you and then she would go and give an hour and a half of her time free consulting and then what happened the person would dismiss them never call her again you know i'll possibly work with you in the distant near future kind of stuff right if you're a coach i know you've gotten that before and tell you what it is not your fault you just have to learn how to have conversations and learn how to redirect calls and start quickly addressing these needs greeds wants desires of your prospect and get somebody so emotionally involved where the no-brainer response is you know what let's do business together so let's dive in how it really goes is i'll deal with you rose you're uh you got a lease she's a lease option coach she's got a lot of some good stuff uh going on so hey rose i've seen all your stuff oh off youtube you've made a big impact in my life rose and i don't really tell this to anyone i watched all your stuff so you're going to get prospects if you haven't done so already you're going to get prospects that are going to start flattering you they're going to try to puff up your ego they're going to tell you all the things you want to hear they're going to start blowing smoke up your chimney and they don't know it but prospects have a system of their own. And what they're doing is they're trying to get information out of you. So what's the best way to do it? Make you feel so good about yourself that you end up doing what? Giving up a lot of your hard earned time, knowledge, energy, and experience. So as a coach, as a consultant, look for these signs rather quickly because you can get stuck in the free consulting trap rather quickly. And then 45 minutes goes by and then you get dismissed so nice thank you so much it means the world to me what wow thank you so much you just really made my day it really meant a lot thank you means the world to me when you start giving validation when you start giving pat on the backs when you start getting some attaboys when you start giving people some recognition acknowledgement it starts giving more of that nurturing and bonding starts to happen and so what you want to be doing is start acknowledging people we are in a society we don't give enough love to people give them some recognition validate their feelings we're taught from a young age don't talk to strangers don't talk to strangers and then it kind of grows with us as we get older but the truth of the matter is people love it when they talk about themselves people love it when they're recognized people love it when you're actively listening to what they're saying people enjoy it and so we must validate their concerns thank you for sharing that not that many people share like you do those kinds of words are going to get people to do what lower the walls lower the drawbridge so you can have a real one-on-one adult to adult connection on a day how can i help you well i'm gonna be honest with you i'm struggling i want to learn how to do what you're doing and i'm a wholesaler right now but i'm getting a lot of people that uh that have properties that are a little underwater right now and they're gonna come to close with the check and i i i see your stuff and you're you're making you know you're you're turning chicken shit into chicken salad and i want to know how you're doing it i want to figure it out like you're making all this money and and you see experience though you said you're wholesaling you already have some good leads like yeah this move that rose did i call it an elevation trigger it's also known as a positive redirection when someone starts telling you something that is negative for them. You want to start giving them some praise, some positivity. You sound like you know what you're doing. I hear it in your voice. What do you mean? You don't need a coach like me, do you? So what I'm doing here is I'm showing her how to get them to actually tell you what's going on. What's the real issue? Why are we on this call? and you're going to get people that's you know come to a come to one of your calls and they're they're over posturing oh i do all this business i do all this stuff i can hear it in your voice you sound like you're doing well why are we talking today i'm a little confused i can learn a couple of things from you well to tell you the truth i'm struggling with x y and z oh thank you for sharing that wow thank you you don't you don't mind if i take some notes do you and that's called a note-taking pattern interrupt, and I use it to slow the conversation down. So in this example, she used a positive redirection. And what it is, is to take out the positive qualities out of a negative situation that the prospect gave you. That way, what do they start doing? Well, it's really not that good. Well, I could do better. And so that's what she's doing here. I mean, tell me about that. How's your business been going? well i mean i'm doing two two or three deals a month but i'm also spending about ten thousand dollars in marketing and it's it's kind of eating into my profits i got five kids and so it's getting really expensive right now got it yeah yeah marketing could man it could take a toll uh that's that's kind of why i i like to resort to to youtube it's a free platform but there's there's a lot of ways to get your name out there and so what can i help you with i guess well i i want to learn what you're doing so before i ask that question like so why are we on this call why are we doing this i want to compress the time i want them to spill the beans as fast as possible and that's the issue that most people don't do they don't set the frame properly so the way i teach set the frame find the truth and lock it in a couple of other little steps here and there some redirection some other moves and techniques that gets people to lower the drawbridge but here i want to condense the time frame so if you're on a call let's say it's normally 30 minutes tell them hey look busy day i got a lot of calls back to back we really only have about 15 minutes and then go into it so tell me a little bit about why we're here today tell me a little bit of what made you even want to book this call and this is also crucial for people that are just randomly calling you they didn't schedule anything on your phone and they just want to pick your brain you want to start compressing the time so they spill the beans as fast as possible they get to the source they get to the truth and see if we could actually do business today or this is someone that's just a waste of your life watch all your youtube stuff and and i think i've i'm i'd love to know more about your program i'd love to get you know something needs to change thank you so much jay for sharing that with me jay you seem like such a nice guy is it okay if i make you're an offer one thing that most coaches do that they don't realize that they're doing is that right now i'm at an eight nine or a ten i'm up there on the emotional scale and rose caught onto it really quickly we want to use all these moves on people and we want to you know start pulling them away and pulling them away and sometimes it actually backfires on us so here she noticed the magic moment she noticed the moment where i'm like i'm ready to go i just just want to learn about she went with it. Here's accept yes as an answer w high on the emotional quot place they can go is down that time and get them to possible when they're rea it's very important to do stealth and you can say n it's something needs to j out here that you seem li Is it okay if I make you an offer? Permissions are crucial. Is it okay if I ask you a couple of questions? Maybe we can do business or are you comfortable telling me no, if it's not a good fit? Can I have your permission to make you an offer? Can I have your permission to say something here? Can I have your permission to tell you the truth and you promise you won't get mad at me? So permissions are crucial. Once you give someone permission, especially the permission to tell the truth. Sir, ma'am, can I have your permission to tell you the truth here? And if they say yes and you promise you won't get mad at me? no, no, it's fine. I think you're making one of the worst mistakes of your life right now. Is that too much truth? The truth of the matter is you're talking to way too much people with very little return and your closing rate is dismal. I'm sorry, but is that too much truth? When someone gives you the permission to tell them the truth and then you ask them, you promise you won't get mad at me. What you want to be doing is give them a gut punch. You want them to make them feel the pain. You want to add a little bit of lime and salt to the wound And the reason why is you want to get them out of cost-based thinking and more of results-based thinking. You want them to see that there's a possibility of getting out of this hole that they're currently in. They came to you for a reason. They came to you because they're stuck, because they need help. And so they need to, sometimes as a coach, you want to assert your authority. You want them to know that they have an issue. And so there's different permissions. So in this case, we're talking about the permission. So all of these different things, before you do something ask for permission and allow them to grant it to you because they feel that they're in control when in reality you're in control because you're the one that's allowing the conversation to flow to where you want it to go which is either a yes or a no but again maybe is unacceptable and you can say no yeah no absolutely something needs to change and i'm stressing out here so after she said can i have your permission to make you an offer and look don't even worry about it i'm as busy as i'm as busy as it is you can say no to me that's what she said here, you can say no to me. Don't worry. Have you ever heard a salesperson say, you know what? Don't even worry about it. I'm as busy as it is. Let's just say no now. You don't have to say, I got to think about it or anything like that. Look, you're comfortable telling me no. A trained salesperson understands that if you give them an opportunity to say no to you, that starts lowering the drawbridge. It makes you feel like, look, this is not a money hungry blood sucker. This is someone that really wants to figure out, hey, let's do business or not. A trained salesperson, they understand that their competition will never use this move because the competition is scared that they might actually say no. When in reality, this asserts your dominance. When you tell somebody, don't even worry about it. I'm as busy as it is. A business is booming already. Look, you'd be doing me a favor by saying no to me. Don't even worry about it. If you say that to a prospect, in their mind, they're like, wow, this person, they're busy for a reason. And then they start becoming curious. You know what? Why are they so busy? Like, you know what? Wow. Maybe I should do business with them. So always tell people, look, don't even worry about it. Look, I'm as busy as it is free out about it if it's in for you. I really enjoy this conversation with you and I'd love to work with you. And I do have an apprenticeship program where we could work side by side. We could underwrite deals together. I could help you get them under contract and even market them. Is that something you're interested in? Absolutely. Yeah. I just, I just don't have a lot of money right now. How much is your program? Yeah. So for my apprenticeship program, I do charge 2,500. and then whenever you and i close a deal we'll split the profits 50 50 and then you will get that money back as long as i make at least 5 000 in the deal the beauty about this business is that you can structure it any way you'd like in this case you went with the jv option or an option where they're learning as they go wow yeah i'm just going to be honest with you right now it you're worth every penny rose i just thank you for that it's okay i just don't have a 2500 right now i'm you know right now he's in a very vulnerable position our prospects when they don't have the money they start shutting down right once you give the offer and what she did here is that she acknowledged thank you for saying that not many people don't i appreciate that you know not that many people share like you do and that's what she did here see what's happening here is that he's embarrassed he doesn't have the full 2500 and you have to acknowledge and validate those real concerns thank you for sharing that and so that's what she did here very important move and it's very subtle pretty low on change i have wow it's it's hard and i completely understand not everyone has 2500 dollars laying around you know i really want to work with you though let's say look at her face here she is doing a technique called the struggle technique so she's making an exception and the way i like to do it i tend to like touch my face i tend to like start being a little worried i tend to start maybe trying to figure out a way to help this person but you want that prospect to see that you want them to see that wow this person is doing the best they can in order to help me in order to work with me they're the way i like to do it is hey look you know what wow yeah i know wow and so i i make that face i'm just thinking out loud here um let's say if i was willing to finance it or even money money put aside but that's a great move so suppose let's pretend i was willing to you know make an exception here you know i'm I'm gonna bend the rules a little bit. Use those things to start forming a nurturing and a bond sequence with your prospect. Because now they're feeling like, wow, this person, they still wanna work with me. They know that I don't have all the money. And the way I like to say it is, if I was crazy enough to bend the rules a little bit and then I take the money away completely. And I believe that's what Rose is gonna do here. This side, do you think that I could actually help you close more deals? She said, money set aside, do you think that I'm the person for you? And so what she wants to do is take the money out of the equation completely, and let's continue watching. Without a doubt, yeah, it's just really the money right now. It's a little tight. Okay, so it really is the money. Yeah, no, you're my gal. I've watched all your stuff. I've made flashcards from all your trainings, and yeah, no, that's just really it. So this person here is clearly somebody that wants to work with her. so I'm gonna recap a little bit what she just said money set aside you even feel like I'm the right person for you you want them to justify why you are the coach the consultant for them and why they believe you want them to sell themselves on why you should be the person for them you want them to tell you exactly you know what you are the person it really just is the money that way you can always fix it later money is never an objection to doing business if the need is great enough. Remember that. So what she's doing is isolating the money and then she's going to go into her financing structure here. I just don't have $2,500 right now. I got about maybe $1,000 to my name at this moment. Okay. I'll tell you what, Jay. I can't change my price, but I can change my terms. So what can you put down that's fair and reasonable towards the $2,500 hundred and then we'll we'll come up with a payment plan for the rest i can't change my price but what i can do is be flexible on my terms very powerful it's showing them that you just made an exception that you the the biggest issue here is that most consultants most coaches they start discounting themselves at this point and when you start discounting yourself that devalues you as a person it just shows that your worth is not as much as you you don't even believe in your worth And you don't want to show that to your prospect. So remember, before you go and start discounting anything, start being flexible on your terms. Maybe do a payment plan. Maybe do some money down today that's fair and reasonable for the both of you and structure it monthly for the time that you're working together. There's different ways of doing it than collecting money today. Would you rather lose a prospect because they couldn't afford the entire payment today or would you rather get your entire payment okay so what spread it across a little bit more time who wins here you do they end up not going with your competition they end up feeling so comfortable with you and that's what you want to be doing you know i bet i'm gonna bend the rules a little bit i typically don't do this and put your struggle face on oh man i that was let's pretend that i was crazy wow um you know what i'm gonna love working with you let's pretend that i was crazy enough to, I don't know, maybe you put something down today that's fair and reasonable. And I'll say, yes, go ahead. I have a pencil. Go ahead and let them tell you exactly how much they can put down today. So what structure in a way where you both win. It's always best. Never underestimate a little bit of money today over a month, over a long period of time that all compounds. The last thing you want to do is have this person go to your competition. Why not just structure it why not make it so that as they're making more money they can pay you more why not give an opportunity to people to work with you and so this is what she's doing here yo i got a michael's gift card right now with a thousand bucks on it you take could you take a thousand down today uh can you convert that thousand gift card into like a thousand dollars l payment or another payment method i don't necessarily shop at michael's add humor into your conversations people love humans be real make some make somebody laugh lower the drawbridge and that's what she did here i threw i threw something sideways at her just to see how she would react but what i do want you to know is that if you add a humor make them chuckle just make them bond with you make them feel like wow this person is doing whatever they can to work with me and that's what she did here oh okay uh yeah i can give you a thousand dollars today i can do that okay are you ready go ahead and share that card number yeah it's a one two three four seven eight six expiration one two three okay got it thank you jay and for the remaining balance there for that that 1500 hot so this is very important here before she moved forward to structuring the monthly payment she wanted to get the skin in the game right now she made the exception this person already fell in love with her so then take the skin in the game and then structure the monthly payments very important most people they don't get the skin in the game up front they don't get the commitments happen because one person gave consideration and the other person gave their time knowledge and energy or one person gave consideration the other person provided the real estate product the service or whatnot always get skin in the game today why are we in business folks to do business someday possibly in the near future no today we're here to replenish the hip national bank you know i'm talking about the wallet so get the skin in the game how would you like to spread that out you want to spread that out over the next three months well what's that um i gave you and so a thousand dollars today sorry i'm terrible at math so 2500 minus a thousand you said 2500 yeah yeah so another 15 1500 divided by three oh that's 500 a month um i can do 350 a a month. I'm sorry. 3 50 a little low jay. Look at here in person. Like she sighing her shoulders rais the way it's like wow. So low. And so and what it's even though that it is a working with them, she's So that's what she's doin went and and even got it a little bit higher um is 350 the best you could do and possibly do 400 if you did 400 is that comfortable for your budget is that comfortable for your budget how do you feel about that you're not going to call me tomorrow and tell me like you can't do this is this something that you really want to do can you is 350 something you're comfortable with or in this case it's 400 something you're comfortable with and you won't turn me into a bill collector i just want to make sure it's comfortable for you you're not stressing out the family you're showing that you care right not that you're trying to dig your nails into them show them that you actually have a side of you that cares right in this case she's going to get the deal she's doing that she's she's getting it right now and she just closed now but always have that connection with that person i know that would really help me out i was just you don't have to go get a second job you could actually focus on on our real estate path together because i don't want put you in a bind i want to do business with you but i want you to be focused i'm ready to go yeah if you can do 400 you have yourself a deal all right let's do it jay let's i already got the thousand down we'll do 400 every month after it and once again you're going to get that money back whenever we close our first deal what i like to do with this step is give them another validation wow you really beat me up there good negotiating if you can negotiate like you did with me i have no problem working with you i have no problem seeing some great things from you give him some praise give him some love wow i'm gonna love working with you but you're you're awesome and so then go in for the post close yeah that sounds great okay great thank you so much jay i really look forward to working with you we're gonna do great things together thank you yeah uh before before we head out um i do want to get you on my calendar so i'll go ahead and send you you the zoom link opens in the chat right now uh go ahead and book a call with me uh for them this week is that okay doing that yeah i'm excited let's get let's get going so it's important in the post close to get the first booked appointment let them see that you're actually proactively looking to get things done hey look can we do friday and then start struggling right scarcity oh wow friday is wow super booked um forget about that see can we do this one o'clock i'm gonna move my entire calendar around can i count on you for to be there and so friday one o'clock or three o'clock which one of those times works for you so you want to start having them see like wow this person they're doing whatever it takes and so that's what rose is doing here she booked the first appointment all right sounds great jay i'll chat with you later and and text me you have my number now right great who made money today i made money why are we in business folks to make money today right now right now not not later in the near future you got you got somebody on the hook right now you have someone that wants to work with you monetize your hard-earned time knowledge and energy and experience if you recognize yourself and what rose went through and what other coaches consultants and agency owners go through every single day giving their hard-earned time knowledge and energy for them to get a you know what i just got to think about it i need you to understand something that is not a closing problem that is a cost problem and it's compounding every single month that you leave that unresolved link in the description will lead you to the revenue league calculator and it also comes with a free gift the three minute qualification blueprint to show you how to be able to qualify prospects in three minutes or less so you can reclaim your hard-earned time knowledge and energy go run the numbers yourself and yes it's gonna be uncomfortable as it should be because that is the change that you need to make when you're going from an apologetic expert to an unapologetic authority and being the decision leader that that closes deals, that provides for their family. Till next time, my name is Jay Moura. I'll see you on the next one.

You spent 90 minutes on a discovery call giving away your best thinking and then heard "let me think about it."

That is not a sales problem. That is an identity problem.

In this live coaching breakdown, I work with a real client named Rose, a proven real estate investor who was losing high-ticket sales by over-delivering before asking for money. What you are about to watch is the Elevator of Sales™ in real time: the exact conversation psychology I use to end free consulting and lead every discovery call to a yes or a no.

If you are a coach, consultant, or agency owner and your close rate does not reflect your expertise, this session will show you exactly why.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS VIDEO
1. The Flattery Trigger and why letting a prospect compliment you is a warning sign, not a green flag
2. The Elevation Trigger and how to use positive redirection to get prospects to tell you the truth fast
3. The Note-Taking Pattern Interrupt that slows the conversation down and shifts control back to you
4. The Set the Frame, Find the Truth, Lock It In model that every high-ticket call should be built on
5. The Permission Technique and why asking before you act makes the prospect feel in control while you lead
6. Why "No is acceptable. Yes is acceptable. But maybe is absolutely unacceptable."
7. The Struggle Technique and how to make exceptions without devaluing yourself
8. How to isolate the money objection so you know exactly what you are really dealing with
9. "I cannot change my price but I can change my terms" and why this one line protects your positioning
10. The Skin in the Game Close and why flexible terms create stronger commitment, not weaker ones
11. The Post-Close Appointment Anchor that keeps the momentum going after the deal is done
.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 The Free Consulting Trap: Why Discovery Calls Drain Your Time
00:16 Maybe Is Absolutely Unacceptable: The One Rule Every Coach Must Know
01:15 Role Play: What a Real Discovery Call Looks Like From the Inside
01:49 How Prospects Use Flattery to Extract Free Consulting From You
02:24 The Validation Framework: Using Recognition to Lower the Drawbridge
03:55 The Elevation Trigger (Positive Redirection): Turning Negatives Into Openings
04:50 The Note-Taking Pattern Interrupt: Slow the Conversation and Build Rapport
05:53 Compressing the Call: Get Prospects to Reveal the Truth Fast
06:13 Set the Frame, Find the Truth, Lock It In
07:13 The Magic Moment: When a Prospect Is Ready to Buy Right Now
07:53 The Permission Technique: Why Asking Permission Changes Everything
08:09 The Truth Permission Close: Radical Honesty as a High-Ticket Sales Tool
08:26 The Strategic Gut Punch: Shifting From Cost-Based to Results-Based Thinking
09:21 The Illusion of Control: How Giving Permissions Keeps You in Charge
09:45 You Can Say No to Me: The Dominance Move That Closes More Deals
10:30 I Am as Busy as It Is: Creating Scarcity Without Sounding Desperate
11:27 Handling I Don't Have the Money Without Discounting Your Worth
12:32 The Struggle Technique: Making an Exception Without Losing Positioning
13:14 Money Set Aside: Isolating Fit From Finance to Save the Deal
14:56 Money Is Never an Objection If the Need Is Great Enough
15:13 I Cannot Change My Price But I Can Change My Terms
16:50 Let the Prospect Name the Down Payment: The Commitment Close
18:10 Skin in the Game First: Why Down Payment Before Monthly Payments Matters
18:57 The Hip National Bank: Why Every Sales Call Must Close Today
19:37 The Struggle Technique in Real Time: When the Monthly Amount Is Too Low
20:19 The Budget Comfort Check: Close Without Creating a Payment You Will Chase
21:07 Post-Close Praise: How Praising the Negotiation Prevents Buyer Remorse
21:44 The Appointment Anchor: Booking the First Session Is Part of the Close
23:11 This Is Not a Closing Problem. It Is a Cost Problem.
.
Run your free Sales Calculator and see exactly what free consulting is costing you per year: https://thejaymora.com/calculator
The Decision Leader Newsletter, weekly sales psychology for proven experts:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-decision-leader-7450423578321264640/
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejaymora/
Website: https://thejaymora.com/
.
Jay Mora is a High-Ticket Sales Coach for proven experts including coaches, consultants, agency owners, and founder-led service providers selling offers at $10,000 and above. 

His proprietary system, the Elevator of Sales™, along with his hands-on one-on-one roleplay style training allows experts to finally end free consulting and lead every discovery call to a yes or a no.

#highticketclosing #salespsychology #discoverycall #highticketcoach #salescoaching