As a follow-up to the Sales Probe posting last week in this space, today’s entry discusses “effective questioning” during a sales call. This includes not only the questions to ask the customer, but also the art of knowing how to ask them. If you don’t know what questions to ask, your time with the customer will be wasted. Likewise, if you know the right question to ask, but ask in a way that’s irritating or confusing, you won’t get useful information, and risk upsetting the delicate balance of your business relationship.
In that mode, BNET published some hints regarding effective questioning:
Rule #1: Never meet without a plan. Think about what you want to accomplish with a customer before your meeting. Well before. Think about your relationship and identify any gaps in your understanding of his business. Even if you’ve been working with a customer for a while, you don’t know everything that has happened since your last sales call. And in this age of the internet, it is unacceptable to be unaware of press releases or news stories about your customer or his industry. Eyes wide open, ears always at attention.
Rule #2: Never rehearse your questions. It’s annoying to read questions from a list. It makes look like an amateur, and makes it difficult to allow your conversation to evolve naturally. Instead, write down a few key words to help guide you thru your conversation. This trick also helps you avoid missing a subject or issue you want to make certain to discuss.
Rule #3: Never ask stupid questions. Some people say “there are no stupid questions.” Those people are stupid, however, because it is stupid and embarrassing to ask a question that is easily found with a little research on the web. Don’t waste your precious face time going over public knowledge.
Rule #4: Never give the third degree. Your meeting should not sound like a police interrogation. Pick two lines of inquiry for your sales call and set an objective to uncover complete responses to at least one of those lines of inquiry. For example, on the first call, focus on understanding the company or management decision chain, leaving the buying process discussion for the next meeting.
Rule #5: Never talk more than you listen. If it was logical, you should consider having this tome tattooed on your hand so you see it every time you look down. There is nothing more important than the art of listening during a sales encounter. Have a conversation. Allow for silence if necessary after a question to elicit a response. Listen to the customer, and then pause to decide how to take the conversation forward from there based on their response. This truly is an art. Learn it.
Rule #6: Never ask leading questions. Old school sales training teaches reps to ask questions that lead the customer towards whatever they are selling. (Example: “How can our company help your business?”) Such ploys, however, are transparent and obvious to most customers. Instead couch your question in neutral terms that allow the customer “room” to give you the information that you need. Example: “In a perfect world, what would your vendor be doing for you?”
Rule #7: Always invite customers to speak their mind. As early as possible in the conversation, invite the customer to speak about whatever is on their mind. For example: “Yes, I’m here to talk about (our product). But what’s going on with you? How did that big project turn out?” Chances are that you’ll find out more from that conversation than any number of pointed queries of your own.
Rule #8: Always ask open-ended questions. Every question you ask the customer should begin with “How…”, What…” or “Why…” Open-ended questions create a conversation (rather than an inquisition). Once you are in a conversation, then the rules of “effective questioning” can take over…
“…too many salespeople don't ask the tough questions—simply because they don't want to hear the answers.” -- Dave Stein, Sales Leadership