The Information Technology Industry has been operating for a while now. Which means that the chances of a sales-professional meeting a buyer who is more experienced than him/her is equal if not higher. Many times salespeople are asked questions that are handed to them in order to check their forthrightness. This is quite often the case when multiple competitors are trying to sell to the same buyer and are thus feeding information (often negative) about their competitors to the prospect. And the buyer in some cases tries to evaluate who is more trustworthy by putting these question in front of the salesperson.
These underhanded questions should be handled carefully because a whiff of bluff can be easily caught, rendering you out of the race immediately. As with all activities, practice is the key here.
So, let’s analyze how you can go about preparing for it.
Statements for these type of questions should be structured in such a way so as to offer responses to the toughest questions your customers may ask you. You can start off by preparing a note of the things that you’d like to talk about. While a mental note can be good in calm situations, in scenarios where there is a chance of you being under pressure, mental notes might not come in too handy. Hence it’s always advisable to have physical notes (digital notes work as well) in front of you to refer. Let’s do this with an example:
“Zoheb, there are so many blogs on sales out there, what’s so different about yours?”
To that question, here are some of the points I’d list:
- My blogs are written for someone looking to start or in the early stages of their career, specifically within Information Technology sales.
- It’s based on my personal experience of handling multiple sales environments.
- It illustrates examples based on real life occurrences I have researched or experienced myself.
While these are notes, the delivery of the above points will be in the following way. Remember you are doing this in person or via audio communication, hence the language below has to be understood with that context in mind:
Answer: “I think there are three major points. My blogs are aimed at the person who is interested to get into sales or is still trying to figure their way into the most fulfilling profession. These blogs are based on my own personal experiences in this industry which are influenced by a host of different environments. The idea of these blogs is to portray real life scenarios that have been researched or experienced by me, so that the reader can learn and apply them in their own daily situations or routines.”
The talking points in the above example cover who the book is for, what it contains and how the readers are going to benefit. The final statement while being delivered on a high note summarizes why people should be reading these blogs.
The way these statements are put together and delivered are quite important too. It should be said in a calm and composed way with confidence in the eye. Like it or not, the reason you are being asked this question is because you are being tested with your trustworthiness. Hence while answering there shouldn’t be any doubt left in the questioner’s mind that you are stating the facts. Build the momentum as you move from one sentence to the next. You should end your answer on a high note. You have to ooze confidence in your statement delivery along with your stance. That builds confidence in the mind of your customer. The last thing you want is for your voice to taper off showing lack of conviction or uncertainty.
CONCLUSION
Many a times, people assume that the most important aspect of a salesperson is to ‘talk’. In fact to the contrary it is to listen carefully to the prospect in order to understand what is being asked of you. Based on a clear understanding of the question, how you respond to the question in these tough circumstances will differentiate you from the pack. It’s a good idea to challenge yourself in your personal time to come up with difficult questions and prepare for their answers in a way explained in this blog.
