5 Questions Salespeople MUST be Asking Their Prospects
There is a difference between good salespeople and great salespeople. The best salespeople know the importance of asking questions. They understand the crucial role questions play in determining whether a prospect is worth following up, or not. More importantly, they know the right questions to ask. They don’t just ask questions for the sake of asking. They ask questions with an endgame in mind.
So, here’s 5 questions salespeople must be asking their prospects:
1. “Who is the decision maker?”
Asking this question enables you to establish what role the person you’re speaking to – the prospect – plays in the organisation. What you need is a person with the power to sign off on the contract. This is one of the questions salespeople must be asking early on in the process to avoid wasting time.
If you’re not speaking to the decision maker, then you’re persuading the wrong person and you should ask to speak to the right person as soon as you can.
2. “Why?”
‘Why?’ is the one of the most important questions salespeople must be asking. There is no limit to the number of “why” questions a salesperson should and can ask a prospect. Ask this question as many times as possible, until you understand the root of the problem the prospect wants you to solve.
Why do they want to buy your product?
Why do they believe your product or service can help solve their problems?
The “why” questions will always help you to dig deeper and reach the root of the issue.
3. “Why do you need our services now?”
Why does the prospect consider this the right time to contact you? What was stopping them from coming to you last year? Or have they already tried to solve this problem in the past?
Establishing why they need your services now will help you be prepared for and remove any possible obstacles and close the deal faster.
4. “What other options are you considering?”
Again, this question helps you to confirm how close the prospect is to making a decision. Some prospects only contact you to compare rates with other suppliers that offer similar products to yours. Asking this question helps you understand whether you have competition and what you need to do to get your prospect to the next stage of your sales process. If your prospect is open with you and tells you that they’re just weighing up their options, then you know you have some work to do to persuade them to choose you.
5. “May I show you how it works?”
Once you have spent the time getting to the bottom of your prospect’s pain points and problems, you can then sell them the solution. It’s finally your chance to show what your product or service can do for them. This question should always come last otherwise you risk your prospect thinking you only care about selling to them and not about solving their problems.
Asking the right questions at the right time is vital in sales to successfully move your prospect through your sales process to become a customer. It’s important to firstly establish the decision maker, then to build a relationship with that person, asking the right questions to get to the bottom of the problem they have. Once you have done that, you can then present them with your solution.
