Transcription
Do you want to know something crazy? I can predict with around 85% accuracy who's going to buy from me and when within the first 5 minutes of talking to them. But for years, I had no idea this pattern existed. I chase the wrong people for weeks while ignoring the ones who are quietly ready to buy that same day.
Most businesses treat every lead the same. Same pitch, same follow-up, same close, and then they wonder why their close rate is stuck at 10 or 20%. But the truth is, all buyers are not created equal. There's a psychological fingerprint that reveals itself in every sales conversation. And if you can read it, you'll know exactly how to sell to them. When I learned how to spot this, my close rate more than doubled. My sales cycle got shorter. And best of all, clients started getting better results because I was finally selling to them in a way that matched how they make decisions.
In this video, I'm going to walk you through the exact three-tier pattern that reveals how someone buys before they even know it. You'll learn how to spot it in under 5 minutes, the exact words and behaviors to listen for, and how to shift your pitch in real time to close more deals. This isn't sales trickery. It's just buyer psychology. And once you understand it, you'll wonder how you ever sold without it.
But let's start with a story that opened my eyes to this whole pattern. A few years ago, I was buying business insurance. So, I talked to two different brokers, and the difference in their approach taught me everything about buying psychology. The first broker went straight into the sales pitch, talking features and benefits and price comparisons, the whole dog and pony show. The second broker, though, he did something different. He asked about my business, how I typically make buying decisions, what research I'd already done, and within about 10 minutes, he'd completely adjusted his approach based on how he could tell that I process information.
Now, he didn't exactly tell me directly about some framework or pattern that he was using to analyze me. That would that would have been weird, but looking back, he was reading me perfectly. He could tell that I'd already done my homework and that I wasn't there to be educated. I was there to confirm that I was making the right choice. He closed me in one call because he gave me what I actually needed, which was validation of my research and not another sales pitch.
That experience stuck with me though and I started noticing the same dynamic everywhere. Saw it in my business with people buying courses or signing up for software, just everywhere. You see, there are three distinct types of buyers and they each need something completely different from you. Think of it like this. Trying to sell to every kind of buyer the exact same way is like giving every plant the same amount of water and sunlight. Some are going to thrive, some are going to drown, and some will just wither away. But when you understand what kind of plant you're working with, like a tomato plant, a cactus, or a pine tree, everything changes.
So, let me show you these three types of buyers. Now, here's the pattern.
The first type of buyer, I call them validators, and they already know what they want. They've already made up their mind. They just haven't told you yet. Think about it. Have you ever researched something for weeks, maybe even months, before you finally reached out to a vendor? You weren't buying answers. You were buying certainty. Well, that's a validator.
So, here's how to spot them in the first 5 minutes. First, they ask specific, detailed questions about implementation, not just general concepts. They typically reference other solutions that they've looked at, and they reference them by name. They want to know about your specific process, not general benefits. And they often say things like, "I've been thinking about this for a while now," or, "I've already looked into this." Also, they tend to know industry terminology and use it correctly, and they've already budgeted for this purchase.
Here's a real example from last week. A prospect messaged me and within two minutes asked, "Do you use Slack or email for client communications during onboarding?" Not, "How do you communicate?" or "How do you reach me?" But specifically, Slack or email. That is not someone who's just exploring options. That's someone who has already decided that they're buying from someone and they're validating if that someone is going to be you or someone else.
Now, here's the psychology behind validators. They've already sold themselves. The pain has been building for months, sometimes maybe even years. They felt the cost of not solving this problem. They've done the research. They've probably even gotten buy-in from their team or from their partner or whoever else they need to make a decision. The decision is basically 80% made. They just need you to confirm that they're not making a mistake. A validator's biggest fear here is looking stupid for not having done their homework. They pride themselves on making informed decisions.
So, here's how you sell to validators. First, don't educate, validate. They don't need you to explain why they need your solution. They need you to confirm that they're making a smart choice choosing you specifically. Then share specific examples that mirror their situation. Give them the implementation details that they're craving. Let them lead the conversation with their questions. They'll literally tell you what they need to hear to buy.
I had a validator reach out last month about working together. They didn't ask what I do or how I could help them. Instead, they asked specifically about my process for building automated AI follow-up sequences. They asked if I could integrate with their existing CRM, and they asked what my turnaround time was. That level of specificity, that's someone who's way past the research phase. At this point, they're really just checking those final boxes before pulling the trigger. In other words, I didn't have to explain why follow-up matters or pitch the benefits of automation. I just showed them exactly how I structure campaigns and walked them through a case study from their industry and gave them specific timelines and they were ready to move forward that same day. The biggest mistake that you can make when selling to validators is overselling. They've already convinced themselves. So, when you keep pushing benefits, you actually create doubt. They start thinking, why are they selling this so hard? Something wrong?
So, here's the pattern for the second type. Investigators are studying the problem, not shopping for solutions. They're earlier in the journey, so they know something's wrong, but they're not yet sure what that solution looks like.
So, here's how to spot them in the first 5 minutes. First, they ask, "How does this work?" instead of, "How does your system work?" They tend to take notes obsessively. If you're on the phone, you can literally hear them typing. They want to understand the why before the what. They often say, "I'm just starting to look into this or trying to understand my options." They ask about general concepts and not specifics. They haven't budgeted anything for this yet, and they're trying to understand what this costs in general.
Last month, I had an investigator open with, "I keep hearing about marketing automation, but I don't really understand what it means. Can you explain it?" That, my friend, is not a buyer. That's a student. At least not a buyer today. But here's the thing. Investigators often become your best customers later because they make decisions based on deep understanding.
Now, let's talk about the buyer psychology behind investigators. They buy through understanding. So, their identity is wrapped up in being knowledgeable. They need to comprehend the mechanism before they commit to something. They're not slow, they're just really thorough. And once they understand, they do tend to move fast. Investigators often come from technical or academic backgrounds. So, engineers or doctors or lawyers or professors or people trained to research before making a decision. Their biggest fear is being taken advantage of due to their ignorance. And they've probably been burned before by jumping into something that they didn't fully understand.
So, here's how you sell to investigators. First, you want to teach the system, not the sale. Break down your process into logical steps. Use analogies from their world. Show them the cause and effect. Make them smarter about their problem. I once had someone ask me to explain marketing automation to them, not to buy it, but to actually understand what it means and why it matters to a business. I spent around 45 minutes breaking down the psychology of why customers ghost businesses and how automation solves that problem. And I showed them real examples from campaigns that I've run in the past. I never pitched myself or my service or my system once. And at the end, they asked, "How can we implement this in our business?" And when I walked them through all of the options, they were ready to get started immediately. Notice that they asked to buy. And that's what happens when you educate an investigator properly.
So, here's the investigative framework that I use. First, you want to diagnose the real problem, not the symptoms that they came in with. Second, educate on why traditional solutions fail. Third, reveal the missing piece that they haven't considered. And fourth, show your method as the logical conclusion. The real secret here is that they need to feel like they discovered the solution themselves through logic, not that you just sold them something.
Now, here's the golden opportunity with investigators. They tend to become your best referral sources in the future. They love sharing what they've learned because, well, they're teachers by nature. And once they understand and believe in your solution, they'll explain it to others better than you ever could.
Here's the pattern for the third type. Skeptics aren't actually skeptical about your solution. They're skeptical about their own ability to get results. This is crucial to understand.
So, here's how to spot them in the first 5 minutes. They ask, "Will this work for my specific situation?" Emphasis on my. They bring up past failures immediately. They focus on guarantees and refunds and risk reversals. They often say, "I've tried things before and nothing seems to work for me." They list all of the reasons why they're different or difficult. And they test you with worst-case scenarios.
I had a chat with a skeptic a few weeks ago that opened with, "Before we start, I should tell you that I've hired three agencies before and none of them worked. I don't think my industry is suited for digital marketing." Now, that, my friend, is not someone that's evaluating your solution. That's someone who is protecting themselves from yet another disappointment.
So, let's talk about the psychology behind skeptics. Well, they've probably been burned. Sometimes multiple times. In fact, often multiple times. So, they're not evaluating your product or your service. They're just protecting themselves from yet another failure. And their fear is way stronger than their desire. But here's the counterintuitive truth. Skeptics often have the most to gain from your solution because, well, they've usually tried everything else. So, they're at the end of the rope. When something finally works for them, the transformation is usually massive. Their identity is often wrapped up in being difficult or being different. They've explained away past failures by believing that they're somehow uniquely unable to succeed.
So, when it comes to selling to skeptics, you need to address the fear, not the features. You want to share stories of people who failed before, but then succeeded with your approach. You want to offer unprecedented levels of support, and you want to make the risk feel way smaller than the regret of not trying.
So, here's my framework for skeptics. First, you want to acknowledge their past pain. Say something like, "It sounds like you've been burned before. That's frustrating." Second, you need to differentiate your approach. Something like, "Here's why other solutions failed." And then, of course, give a real reason, not just that they suck. Third, you want to share a transformation story. Someone who is in their exact position and succeeded. Fourth, offer overwhelming support. Something like, "I'll personally make sure that this works for you." Fifth, risk reversal. You want to make it impossible for them to lose.
I once had someone come to me who'd failed with five different marketing approaches. Yes, five. And so they're pretty much convinced that nothing was going to work for their weird business model. So I spent an hour just listening to their horror stories. And then I said, "Look, you've tried cookie-cutter solutions. What you need is something customized for your specific situation." I then walked them through exactly how to structure their marketing for their unique business and gave them my best templates and connected them with three other business owners in similar industries. And they not only became one of my best success stories, but now also send me referrals constantly. And that's kind of the skeptic secret. You see, skeptics often become your best customers because once they trust you, they're loyal for life. They've been burned so many times before that when they finally find something that works, they're never going to leave. I have skeptics who've been with me for years buying everything that I offer. The reason is simple. I'm the one who finally delivered results. That trust, once earned, is unshakable.
Here's where this gets really powerful, though, because once you identify the pattern quickly, everything accelerates. With validators, you can help them decide in one conversation because you skip the education phase and go straight to confirmation. Last week, for example, I had three people reach out about working together and all of them were validators who'd already consumed my content and had done it for months and instead of me having to explain my approach again, I just answered their specific implementation questions. So, all three were ready to move forward immediately. The key with validators is speed. They've done their homework, so you need to respect that. You don't want to make them sit through your standard sales pitch. Just jump straight to their specific questions.
With investigators, you know to slow down and to teach. But here's the thing, investigators often bring other investigators with them later down the road because they're natural referrers. They love sharing what they've learned. One client who started with me as an investigator has sent me 12 referrals at least over the last 2 years. And every time that they learn something new from working together, they share it. It's just in their nature.
With skeptics, you know to spend time on trust, not features. And once you crack their skepticism, they typically buy everything that you offer because they finally found someone that they can trust. I've got one client that I can think of who started as the most complete skeptic ever. Took at least 3 months of trust-building before our first project, but now has worked with me on every major initiative over the last 5 years. So, the lifetime value of a converted skeptic here is insane.
But if you want to know how to spot these patterns in the first 5 minutes, then here's my exact system.
Question number one, "What's got you looking into this?" Now, listen for validators to give a specific trigger event, something like, "We just lost a major client to a competitor who has better systems." Investigators, on the other hand, will mention general curiosity or a trend like, "I keep hearing about this and I want to understand it." Skeptics, though, they focus on long-standing problems like, "We've been struggling with this for years."
Question number two, "What have you tried before, if anything?" Validators will list specific solutions and why they weren't quite right. Things like, "We looked at X, but it didn't integrate, or Y was too expensive." Investigators say that they're just starting research, so this is new to me or I'm just learning. Then skeptics focus on what didn't work and why. Like, "We tried X and it was a disaster and Y was a complete waste of money." Classic why.
Question three. "In a perfect world, what would the ideal solution look like for you?" Validators will give you specific criteria like, "It needs to integrate with HighLevel or handle 10,000 contacts and it needs to cost less than $1,000 a month." Investigators ask you to explain more first, like, "Well, I'm not sure what's possible. What do you typically do?" Skeptics though, they tend to talk about guarantees and support. Something like, "I need to know that someone's going to help us if we get stuck."
Asking and then getting responses to these three questions tell you everything and take less than about 5 minutes max. And once you get the answers, you know exactly who you're dealing with. Here's the master move, though. After you ask each question, let the silence breathe. Don't just rush on to the next one. Sometimes that first answer is rehearsed, but if you give them space, they're going to add the real truth. And that pause, that silence in between, this is where the psychological fingerprint really reveals itself.
Now, here's where it gets really interesting. Sometimes you'll get hybrids. Think of these like overlapping weather systems. One pattern may dominate, but there's always a second front that's influencing the storm.
First, the validator-investigator. They've researched extensively, but they've still got some knowledge gap. So, they're going to ask specific questions, but also want some education. The approach here is to validate first, then fill in their knowledge gaps.
Then, the investigator-skeptic. They want to understand, but they're also scared of being burned. So, they're going to ask a lot of questions, but they tend to do it with a negative frame. The approach here really quite simple. You want to teach while constantly addressing fears.
Then there's the validator-skeptic. They know what they need, but they don't trust anyone to deliver it. Rare, but valuable. Approach here is to offer overwhelming proof and guarantees.
The key to success through all of this, though, is listening for the dominant pattern and then adjusting accordingly. Otherwise, you risk making these three mistakes.
Mistake number one, treating investigators like validators. You rush them. You pitch too early. You assume that they understand what you already understand. They're not ready to buy. They're ready to learn. So, patience really pays off here.
Mistake number two, treating skeptics like investigators. You overwhelm them with information when what they really needed was reassurance. More data doesn't overcome fear. Trust us.
Mistake number three, which is possibly the most dangerous of all, which is treating validators like skeptics. You end up overselling and you create doubt where none existed. So, someone that came in ready to buy ends up getting talked out of it. Last month, I watched a sales rep lose a $50,000 deal because he tried to close a skeptic like a validator. What he ended up doing was pushing for a sale instead of addressing the fear. So, the skeptic literally said, "I need to think about it." Which is code for, "I don't trust this yet." Anyway, the rep followed up aggressively for 2 weeks. The skeptic ghosted him and that's $50,000 lost because he misread the pattern.
Let me show you how this works in real conversations, though. A couple weeks ago, I had three interactions back-to-back.
Conversation one was a validator messages me, "I need help setting up a marketing system that can handle complex B2B sequences. Can you help with that?" My response, "Yes, let me show you exactly how I structure B2B campaigns." As a result of this, we were working together within about 20 minutes.
Conversation two was an investigator asks me, "I'm trying to understand how automation could help my business grow." My response, "Great question. Let me explain the three ways that automation typically impacts businesses just like yours." And as a result, a 45-minute deep dive later, they went away to process everything and came back shortly ready to implement.
Conversation three was a skeptic. Emails me, "I've wasted money on three different marketing agencies. Why would using your system be any different?" My response, "Sounds frustrating. Tell me what went wrong with the others." And as a result, a few back-and-forths later, I introduced them to past clients. They finally moved forward a little bit later and became one of the biggest success stories I have.
Same type of service, but completely different approaches, all successful because I identified the pattern early.
So, here's exactly what you do next in just four simple steps.
Step one, audit your last 10 conversations. Pull up your last 10 sales calls and then categorize each person as validator, investigator, or skeptic. You'll probably notice that you naturally attract one type more than others, and that's your market telling you something.
Step two, identify your dominant pattern. Which type closes fastest for you? Which type do you struggle with? Well, most people tend to crush it with one and then completely botch another. So, you want to know your strengths and your blind spots.
Step three, create pattern-specific follow-ups. You want to stop sending the same email to everyone. You need to understand that validators need quick confirmation and specifics. Investigators need education and insight, and skeptics need trust-building and reassurance.
Step four, track close rates by pattern. Start a simple spreadsheet, then track your close rate for each type. I guarantee that you're going to find massive differences between them. You might close 80% of validators, but only 20% of skeptics. And that is actionable intelligence.
When I implemented this pattern recognition system in my business, three things happened. First, my close rate went from 20% to 45% in 90 days. Not because I got better at selling, but because I stopped using the wrong approach for each buyer type. Second, my sales cycle shortened dramatically. Validators went from 2 weeks to just one call. Investigators still took time, but I knew that upfront. Skeptics took longer, but I stopped wasting time on the ones who would never convert. Third, and most important of all, my clients started getting better results. Because when you sell to someone in alignment with their buyer pattern, they're more bought in. They trust the process more and they implement faster and better.
And in the video that I've got linked up right here, I'm going to walk you through the exact psychological sales techniques that turn these insights into real conversions step by step. You'll see how to structure your offers, your follow-ups, and your automation so everything feels perfectly tailored to each buyer type. And if you'd rather skip the manual setup and use a system that already does all of this automatically, that's exactly what I run inside HighLevel, the sales and marketing software I use to run my entire business. You can grab an extended 30-day free trial through the link in the descriptions below. So, go ahead and check that out now, and we'll see you in there in just a second.