Asking good open questions when talking to prospects and clients is vital to help you get information about their needs. Getting this quality information will lead to you having:
- Fewer objections
- A better chance of closing
- More referrals
- Less post sale issues
Start by asking your prospect an open question like “How do you currently promote your services/products?” Once your prospect starts talking, start writing down their key words. Here are some examples of what you will be listening out for:
- I’m always too busy to make sales calls
- Our computers are slow
- Our telephone costs are too high
- can never get through to the decision maker
Now you need to tailor your questions to match the key words that highlight what’s important to your prospect; What do you mean by too busy…slow…too high…never get through?
By tailoring your questions you will be able to determine the real issues that are impacting on your prospect and their business. This will also give you more insight into how you need to present your offering to match their needs.
All this information is the result of listening for key words and narrowing down your questioning until you have been given more specific information.
You also need to help your prospect quantify their problem by asking questions like:
- How does this impact on your business?
- How does this impact on you personally?
Finally, you will have a much greater understanding of your prospect, their needs and the business they are in. This will lead to your prospect having a greater level of trust in you and your proposal – giving you a much greater chance of winning the business.
Reproduced with the kind permission of The Sales Consultancy