why do you ask the questions you ask? Most likely, it’s because you were taught to ask questions in order to receive information.

Unfortunately, the majority of us are trained at an early age to ask closed questions and never break the habit.

Whether you have children of your own, or you borrow some, observe how most people speak to children. In many cases, a dialogue with a child can sound something like this:

“Are you having a good day? Do you like soup? Does it hurt? Do you know you could have hurt yourself? Did you do your homework? Are you ready for your test? Do you like school?”

There may be a few open questions interspersed in the mix like, “What is your favorite sport or subject in school?” However, the majority of conversations are 80 percent closed.

Why do we do this to kids? I’m not a child psychologist, but if I were to guess it is because we don’t give children enough credit for their intellect. We fail to stretch children’s minds. In our attempt to love, we don’t want them to feel uncomfortable when they do not know an answer to a question much less understand the question.
(more…)

Understanding is one of the least acknowledged fundamentals in selling. If we don’t understand what our prospect means we are likely to shape an inappropriate solution. Try these questions – you might be surprised to discover that your understanding is way-off. These questions also work well when a prospect is very vocal and shooting off in many directions and you need to isolate the core problem and get them to refocus.
• (Repeat your understanding) Does that some up the situation?
• (Repeat your understanding) Have I got that right?
(more…)

We all know that prospects’ problems are the starting point for successful selling, but once you discover a problem, where should you take it? Here are a few of my favourite questions for exploring, quantifying and measuring problems.
• Why/how is that an issue?
• What is this costing you?
• Who else is affected by this issue?
• How does that impact the business/ department/ you?
• Why does that matter?
(more…)

Is the prospect ready to buy / move on to the next step? Have you covered all the key points? Do any barriers exist towards the deal being done? Use these questions to find out!
• Does that sound fair?
• Does that sound sensible?
• How does that sound?
• What’s your feeling on this right now?
(more…)

These are the questions to make the prospect dream and “experience” the benefits of your solution. Enjoy!

• How do you think our service could help you?
• What do you see the payoff of implementing this being?
• How much do you think this could save you/make you/reduce errors/ , etc?
• What differences do you think using our product will make?
• If we can (supply the capabilities they are looking for) what would you do with that? How would that impact the business? What would that mean for you? (more…)

Inevitably, stumbling blocks appear during sales negotiations. Here are a few simple ideas for helping your prospect get past the problem and get the opportunity back on track.
• How do we get past this?
• If we could find a solution to this issue, would you want to proceed (check that the issue is not just an excuse/objection)
(more…)

I’ve done a few different sales jobs in my time (he says stroking his old salesman’s beard) and the most difficult to get to grips with was the one which involved selling solutions that cost a lot, but offered little gain to the prospect’s present position.

So, how can that be? Surely buyers only buy to gain on their current position? Stop and think – that’s actually not correct. The situation was that the industry in which they worked was changing significantly. It was necessary for the prospects to invest heavily to, at best, maintain their current business avoid future loss. The pain/problem was in the future and they knew they had to do something about it.
(more…)

If you have ever had an opportunity stall for X months when your prospect tells you of some new board/procedure/process, you’ll know that having a good knowledge of their buying process is vital in helping you plan actions, forecast close and provide the appropriate support to your sponsor. Here are a few ways to ask your prospect about their processes.
(more…)

Here are a few direct and indirect questions to be used as a starting point for attacking an incumbent vendor / current solution.
• How do you feel about (incumbent vendor)?
• What do you like/dislike about company / product?
• What would you like to improve upon?
• How could it be better?
(more…)

I think it’s fair to say that our jobs as sales professionals are as much about deciding who not to sell to as who to sell to. Qualifying-out the tyre kickers is a great time saver. These questions will help you do that. Crucial in this is attempting to identify whether there is a genuine pain driving their enquiry (if there is not, the opportunity is likely to drop out towards the end of the sales cycle when risk and spending money come into serous consideration)
• Why do this now? Why not next month, or next year?
• What happens if you DON’T (solve this issue)?
(more…)