Do the questions you ask your prospects and customers make them think? Do they stimulate conversation? Or are they easy to answer because they are safe and barely scrape the surface of your prospect’s mind?
The higher up the corporate ladder you sell, the more important it is ask tough questions. If you deal with C-level executives, VP’s, and Directors, you will earn their respect by asking more than basic questions. Focus on their goals, objectives, and business challenges. Here are three steps that will help.
First, write out the questions. You cannot afford to fly by the seat of your pants with this so it is critical that you know beforehand what tough question you plan to ask.
Next, practise verbalizing your questions. This pre-meeting practise is essential because it gets your brain and mouth working together and makes it easier to ask your tough questions during your conversation.
Lastly, rather than bluntly asking a tough question, lead into it. For example, you could say, “I noticed on your website that_______, how is this affecting your third quarter results?” This shows that you have done pre-meeting research and can open the door to a meaningful conversation.
2008 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.
Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.kelleyrobertson.com.
Asking “the tough questions” only makes sense if:
- the customer knows you or, if a prospect, at least has reason to trust you and your organization;
- if he believes that you have both the interest and authority to impact his business in a meaningful way, whether by resolving problems or by creating opportunities for profitable growth;
- the questions are put in a context of solution selling and they are an integral part of a comprehensive package that will enable the application of meaningful solutions;
- you are truly capable of understanding the answers and of putting them in context so that they take into proper account the customer’s internal and external environments.
Otherwise, asking the tough questions may indeed stimulate conversations, but not necessarily those intended.
Posted by: Murray Abramovitch | April 07, 2008 at 03:18 PM