If there was a super salesperson, their super power would definitely be asking questions. I mean, ofcourse, mind manipulation into directly giving you their business would be great! But that would also be unethical and more of a Super Sales Villain style.
I‘ve always been the biggest proponent of listening and a big fan of saving the day with words. Be it at work or at home, the same ethos work great. Therefore, I feel that you too will benefit with these super not so secret powers of asking the right sales questions.
As usual, to understand what we must do, we should have a clear idea of what we must NOT do:
1. Do not, even under duress, go through scripted questions
This usually happens over the phone, but I have seen a few cringe worthy moments where this was done live. So come on! You may as well say beep-boop while you are impersonating a survey robot. Don’t grill your buyer with rapid-fire questions. They’ll think you’re going through a checklist without listening to their problems. Prospects absolutely do not cooperate with a person who seems lackadaisical about their subject. You need to show that you care about their responses and are not just following a questionnaire. A lack of care and curiosity, does not maketh a sale.
2. “Awesome! That’s Great!”
No. No, it’s not. Leave these over enthusiastic positive responses to Loki type characters (greasy sleazy villains remember?) who seem dishonest and duplicitous from the get go. Enthusiasm is great ofcourse, but the energy has to ebb and flow with the conversation. This ties into the previous point, of being disingenuous. It also shows a lack of gravitas in a professional setting.
3. Do not Interrogate or intimidate
You will have to store your police chief hat along with your robot voice back into your improv closet if you really want to try at being on the side of this business. Would you like to be pushed around or treated like a subordinate? Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes and swap that authoritarian routine with only good cop one. We do not want to make a person feel belittled or they will push back. And in this setting that person is the most important asset you have.
4. Do not be the lamb either
Well, good on you for not being a wolf and devouring the client whole with your hostile uninhibited strength. But do not appear to be the soft skittish lamb either. People do not invest in companies who employ “weak” people, so a hard no for those going around nervously whispering questions for the fear of making the prospect unhappy: Anxiety does not inspire confidence.
Now that we have got that out of the way, let’s focus on what’s to be done. So, what exactly are the RIGHT questions? Here are some no-fail ideas to incorporate into your sales routine: remember, it’s the reps not the weights for those lean mean sales machines. Practice!
1. Ask Open-ended questions
If you’ve been in the sales profession for some time, you have heard this term. In short what it means is: Get your buyers talking! No, do not invest in a comfy recliner and coffee machine to make your psychotherapy legit. Drive that conversation. Shift the gears smoothly into the topics of relevance rather than just listening well and getting the buyer to amble around the things which are not relevant to the discussion (there is definitely a time for that, especially if you have to build your relationship, but not right now). Super sales people actively steer the course of the conversation by asking astute questions. Open-ended questions are wherein the customer answers with more than just a word or a short sentence. Ex: How do you define success? Rather than, Will getting promoted be a measure of your success?
2. Real engagement
It does make sense to want to validate your business-fit, but your prospects may feel that they are being pushed through your process rather than discussing business and value. Ask reflective listening questions where your customer may have a chance of providing you with interesting information. It just might highlight a challenge that you may help solve or give you a chance at better placing your product or service to show its worth.
3. Ask probing questions for further elicitation
Do not assume you understand what the customer wants. Clarify what you thought you heard by repeating their “problem” in your own words. It will drive the conversation deeper, clear up any misconceptions and explore the problem in detail. It will help you better understand a prospects needs and wants and will also show them that you are listening. Assumptions, as I have mentioned before, can be sudden death in your sales cycle.
4. Clarify any new word or concept that you do not understand
No one wants to appear ignorant about key words or concepts pertaining to their industry or trade. But what is worse than misinterpretation of the said concept that can cause further embarrassment down the road? Specific questions also show that you are pondering about that problem in particular and are willing to research more for their cause.
5. Follow up questions
The best sales people devote a sizable amount of time at the end of their demos to discussing taking questions and discussing the next steps. They use that time to confirm how they’ll move the project forward. That’s critical to confirming buy-in. Without confirming next steps and buy-in, you’re marketing, not selling.
CONCLUSION:
As a sales professional, your job is to bring home the sale. And you’ll only be able to do that consistently if you are solving the customers’ problems. And the only way to do that is by understanding the problems in the first place, which is only possible if you ask the right questions! Follow some of the steps listed above and see how you’ll be uncovering more information in your deal pursuit, making your job (and the customer’s job) much easier.
