“Telling is not selling. Only asking questions is selling.” – Brian Tracy
Sales professionals must be adept at the art of asking questions. Questions propel a conversation forward. Think of some questions you hear all of the time.
For example, “Why?”
If you are a teacher or the parent of a young child, you probably hear this question a lot. Children ask “Why?” out of curiosity and a desire to understand the world around them. They want to get to the root of what’s happening, and they want to understand the unknown.
As sales professionals, we should also be asking “Why?” Much like a young child trying to understand the world they and their parents live in, we’re trying to understand the world of our prospect. We want to understand their pain–whatever it is that is motivating, or will motivate, them to buy. Usually, in order to get to the pain, we must continue to probe. When a client says something isn’t working or they aren’t meeting their goals, we ask, “Why?” We keep pushing deeper until we get to the answer we need.
“Are you committed to making a change?”
People love to complain–but not every person who complains about a situation or a problem has a true intention of following through to make a change. After all, change can be time-consuming, change can be met with resistance, and change can require some difficult decision-making. Change takes work. It is important as you have conversations with your prospects that you ask whether they are committed to making a change.
“What does success look like?”
Prospects will sometimes define success in vague, general terms–they want to sell more, they want to streamline operations, they want to improve efficiency, and so on and so on. It’s great to have a goal for success, but it’s better to have a clearly defined, measurable goal. Otherwise, when the client evaluates your partnership or determines whether they want to renew your contract, they have very little tangible evidence of success to review.
Keep these questions in mind the next time you are speaking with a prospect.
