As most seasoned salespeople can tell you, the first issue is never the real issue.

When you learn to ask better questions, you get in touch with your genuine sense of curiosity. Your goal is to ask questions that will uncover valuable data AND not sound like every other salesperson's “stock” questions!

The answers you get are only going to be as good as the questions you ask.

I was in a sales call one time and this guy asked the client “What would you change if you had 30 days to make a difference and a magic wand you could wave over your business?” The look on the clients face was the famous “my wheels are turning because no one has asked me this before” look!

Now, you’ve left the realm of a routine sales call and you’ve embarked on a real discussion on matters that matter to your prospect.

Here is a list of questions. Go through the list and ask your self- “have I ever asked these before?”

•What are the biggest challenges you are facing right now?
•What one thing would change your business dramatically if you could do it?
•What has been your biggest breakthrough in the last few years?
•What do you want your business to be known for?
•What is important to you?
•What are you looking for that you haven’t found?

One last comment: these are not the best possible questions for you to use.

Why?

Because the best possible questions for you to use will come from... YOU!

Part of my sale effectiveness seminars involve creating customized questions – customized for your industry, your prospects, your personality, your experience, your sales cycle, and your personal preferences.

There is nothing worse than watching someone who leaves a sales course, memorizes 10 questions that the trainer said were the “best” questions to ask, and then watch that hapless salesperson get eaten alive on their next sales call, simply because they’re faking their way through someone else’s “system”!

So here is another formula to consider:

Q=D | D =T+

Questions create Dialogue and Dialogue creates increased Trust. Trust is built not when you are talking but when they are talking.

Advanced questioning 101

You know you should ask open-ended questions to get prospects and customers to tell you their problems. Now go beyond that sales-training basic and ask engaging and productive questions with these advanced questioning strategies.

If you want your customers to reveal things they haven't revealed to your competitors, ask questions your competitors aren't asking. Three-level questions contain a factual statement, a personal observation and a focused question.

The factual statement should be something you've researched and be attributable to an outside, credible third party. Industry trade publications, business newspapers and trade associations are good sources.

Here's an example of a three-level question in a radio advertising salesperson's introductory meeting with a restaurateur. He prepares by skimming Restaurant Business magazine. He finds a fact he feels might show the need for advertising a dinner special on his station in the afternoon rather than in the morning paper. Here's his three-level question:

Factual Statement: According to Restaurant Business magazine, 75 percent of people who eat at a family restaurant decide where they'll dine within two hours of eating. Personal Observation: I find myself asking my wife, “Where do you want to go for dinner?” And she'll say, “I don't know. Where do you want to go?” I thought I was unique, but it seems 75 percent of people decide this way.

Focused Question: Are you open to exploring ways to get these late decision makers to eat at your restaurant instead of a competitor's place?

That question causes the prospect to consider the fact and the observation before answering.

Here's another example for a leasing agent at an upscale shopping mall who wants to rent retail space to a cellular telephone company:

Factual Statement: According to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, in 1988 the average monthly bill was $100; it's now $56.

Personal Observation: I know my cellular phone bill is much lower than it was when I first purchased a cell phone five years ago.

Focused Question: Is your marketing strategy based on signing up a huge volume of customers or finding customers who will generate above-average phone bills and buy more sophisticated products?

It's that simple. Find a fact. Then tell a quick story about how the fact affects you. Finally, ask a question that focuses on the factual statement and the personal observation.

You want questions that cause customers to think about their business. Customers hear from reps all day long about how great their products are. Use this simple formula to plan penetrating, engaging questions for your meetings.

Advanced questioning 201

I'm wondering if you are aware of imbedded questions.

The previous sentence contained an imbedded question! The question, “Are you aware of imbedded questions?” is imbedded in the statement, “I’m wondering if you are aware of imbedded questions.” There is no question mark at the end of that sentence. Imbedded questions don't contain the words who, what, when, where, why or how. Using imbedded questions is something you do unconsciously in regular conversations with friends. If you want your sales interviews to flow as naturally as your conversation with friends, try imbedding questions in statements instead of asking them outright.

Here are five examples:

1. I would be interested in your views of the business environment in this market.

2. In order for me to make an intelligent presentation, I need to know your budget.

3. I was wondering if you've considered the cost savings a just-in-time inventory program could give you.

4. Tell me about the competitive pressure you’re facing this year that you weren’t facing last year.
5. I always like to find out how people got into the business they’re in.

Three-level questions and imbedded questions take you beyond the world of open- and closed-ended questions taught in basic sales courses.

Tip: Write down your questions

Lawyers do it. Even David Letterman uses cue cards. In the heat of the moment, it's easy to forget the questions you were going to ask. Every meeting is an opportunity to gain more information about your prospects and their problems. By planning your questions and writing them down, you're much more likely to have a productive meeting.

The chemistry of involvement

Before the first appointment, ask the prospect to prepare. During the appointment, ask the prospect for involvement.

Preparation can mean asking the prospect to prepare a list of some kind, or review their records on similar purchases, or do some simple calculations about their usage or buying patterns of your product or service.

For example, a cell phone sales rep might create a simple pre-meeting questionnaire that asks the prospect to jot down how many phones they have now, check off what services they use (voicemail, call forwarding, direct connect, internet features), what their monthly usage has been for the past two billing cycles, how many minutes they use company-wide, etc.

This helps the prospect understand that the salesperson is interested in doing it WITH them and not TO them. It shows shared accountability and a partnership mindset.

It also shows equal status – the message is “you prepare and I’ll prepare and then we’ll compare notes and see if it makes sense for us to talk further about doing business.”

One warning: you can’t just go in and start asking questions and eagerly start taking notes! Let the prospect know why you want to ask questions and why it is important for you to ask them. You could say something like, “Ms. Customer, I would like to first ask you some questions. My goal is to really learn about your specific needs so we can customize something just for you. That sound OK?”

This seems silly, but most sales people assume that the prospect understands why the questions are being asked and that isn’t always the case.

I was working with a salesperson in the field after a brief introduction, he started asking a million questions. The prospect answered about 15 questions and then finally sighed and said “You’re kind of nosy aren’t you?” It was true classic sales moment. Point made?

Involvement is equally straightforward. When you go on appointments, bring forms, checklists, samples, or other interactive tools where future customers can start writing, showing, or helping fill in the blanks.

Both preparation and involvement need to be more than gimmicks: they prove your commitment to customization, and they’re the first step to a collaborative and lasting business relationship.

Want another easy way to get involved in your customer’s operation? Always ask for the tour.

Whether it’s a current customer or someone new, a tour is a good way to see their operation firsthand, get your blood circulating with a brisk walk, and have a more casual level of conversation with your new business friend than what is possible with a big old desk between the two of you. Here is a secret… it both lowers their defences and makes you more comfortable and REAL.

Want some other ways to boost involvement?

•Ask better, deeper questions
•Show them samples, pictures, products – make your pitch as hands-on as possible
•Ask them about their background and history (people love to talk about themselves – hey, why do you think we wrote this book?!?)
•If you have a brochure, walk them through it – don’t just hand it to them
•Use PowerPoint sparingly, and make it much MORE visual (a LOT more pictures) and much LESS verbal (a LOT fewer words).

Stop the presses – let’s back up a few lines. Here is a thought:

DEATH to POWERPOINT presentations!

I have almost never seen a salesperson use a PowerPoint presentation like the one described above. If you can do it, great – but it is rare. You may be better off scrapping it all together. It lessens involvement and reduces your product or service to a series of bullets. People don’t buy bullets.

I have salespeople who tell me, “but we’re required to use the official company 37 page PowerPoint.” Well shame on your sales managers and their bosses because they are killing involvement and you are boring the prospect to death!

These may seem like simple changes to make. And they are. Look, nothing we advocate in this book is rocket science.

In fact, the only thing remarkable about it is that more salespeople don’t DO IT!!! That’s exactly why it’s so powerful and effective.

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