How to ask the right questions to help you close the sale

When I was a fledgling sales person selling computers to the government, our sales trainer would say, “The quality of your questions determine the quality of your paycheck.” This was a commission only position but asking the right questions eluded me and therefore, I was struggling.

I was so anxious to get my pitch out that I did all the talking. Plus I thought if I asked a lot of questions, I might bother the prospect. So I made a zillion calls and through the force of this volume was able to make and exceed my numbers.

I took additional sales training and finally learned a systematic approach to asking the right questions. The reason you want to ask the right questions is to:

1. Build Rapport
2. Develop trust in the relationship
3. Show the potential client that you are interested in their needs
4. Qualify the potential client to see if they are right for your business

When your goal is to understand the needs of your prospects to ensure that your solution is right for them, these questions will be critical to this goal.

To give credit where credit is due, this is the Dale Carnegie Questioning model and it works extremely well,

1. Ask “As Is” questions
“As Is” questions are questions about their current situation. Some examples are:

What are the challenges you are currently facing?
Why did you select your current vendor?
What are you hearing from your customers?

2. Ask “Should Be” questions
Should be questions are what the prospects is hoping to achieve.
Some examples are:

Looking forward 6 months, where would you like to be?
If you could wave a magic wand, what would be different?
What do you want to hear from your customers?

3. Ask “Barrier” questions
Barrier questions are what is blocking them from achieving their goals. Some examples are:

What’s preventing you from achieving these objectives?
What is holding your company back from making the transition?
What is the level of urgency for making this change?

4. Ask “Pay Out” questions
Pay out questions invokes emotion from your potential client by asking them to imagine they have achieved their goals.

If you were able to…what would that mean to your company?
What would it mean to you?

Okay, now that we have gone through this questioning model, I am going to give you my secret question. This question allows people to feel comfortable telling me everything important to them. I don’t have to remember all the questions above because of this question. Here it is:

Tell me about…(your company, your goals, etc.)

Then be quiet. Quiet your mind as well as don’t interrupt. Take notes if you need to and come back to fill in the blanks. This question is selling magic!

One last note here, if you have not developed rapport from the beginning of the relationship, your prospect will not feel comfortable answering your questions. You will need to ask permission to proceed and earn the right to ask these questions. Once you have mastered this, your sales success will explode.

Your success is our mission!

Sincerely,

Joanne

www.salessolutionsusa.com
www.breakthroughsalessystem.com

What are the qualities of a great sales person?

I get asked this question all the time and have found that there are some consistent qualities of a great sales person in the new rules of business and selling. I was part of a panel discussion a couple weeks ago where there were differing opinions on the qualities of a great sales person. One person was convinced that hunger was the magic ingredient. His sales people were so persistent that they angered his clients and he got complaints about them. The close of the sale is only the beginning of the relationship. I believe it's important to start off on the right foot.

You must be able to:
1. Show them that you understand their needs or problems.
2. Communicate the value of your product or services to your prospect powerfully.

When you are able to do this, I have found that it is not necessary to call to the point of anger with your prospects.

There are new rules to selling which makes these qualities important in a great sales person.

1. Ability to listen
The ability to listen and not pitch is critical in modern selling techniques. Prospects do not care about your business, how long you have been in business or any of the fancy widgets you think is important. A prospect wants to know that you understand their needs and their problems. I heard a quote once that perfectly explains my point which is, "Listen to understand, not to respond." You want to listen for information or clues the customer is telling us, anything from their successes and obstacles, to stories about their children or hobbies. All this will help with the selling process. You also want to be listening for emotional clues about how they feel about your product or service or any fears they may have with moving forward.

2. Ability to empathize
Along with the ability to listen to your prospects, you will also want to be able to empathize with their needs and problems. This means that you are able to put yourself in their shoes and see your product or service through their eyes. This will help you present your value proposition base upon what’s important for them.

3. Have a strong desire to learn and be coachable
Some of the best sales people I have ever met are always ready to learn something new in sales and personal development. They understand that sales is always evolving and they want to improve their skills. They also do not take it personally when someone provides them with feedback or a better approach to their techniques. They are always open to new ideas, scripts and ways to improve their performance.

4. Have a positive attitude
Yes, we have all heard of this before. Now more than ever, this is critical. We all hear the media droning on and on about the problems in our economy. However business must go on! We cannot come to a standstill in our businesses because of these events. Let me put it this way too. Have you ever gotten a tele-marketing call from someone who sounds down and out? Does it inspire you to want to do business with that company? No. We must put our fears and problems aside to sound enthusiastic and energized. This will be attractive to your prospects and encourage them to want to build a relationship with you.

5. Care but not that much
Now this is the secret to my sales success. If someone does not want to do business with you or even continue the sales discussion, there is no reason to take that personal. Not everyone is my customer. My job is to continue my search to find those businesses who are the right customer. When I take this approach, it is never personal. Also, I want to spend my time with the prospects that have the greatest chance of becoming a customer. To do this, I need to quickly brush off any rejection and move on to the next great new prospect who could turn into my great new customer.

Whether you have a sales team or you are selling your own products or services, these are skills that most of us have or can easily learn to foster.

Selling can be fun and by utilizing the skills above, it can also be easy.
Your success is our mission!

Warmly,

Joanne

ph: 888.856.3185
fx: 415.663.4183
www.salessolutionsusa.com
http://www.breakthroughsalesystem.com/

What Could You Do if You Understood What Your Prospect is Thinking?

The answer: Close more business!

Now I am not suggesting that we become some type of mind readers but it is important to understand what motivates our prospects to buy in order to effectively sell to them. If you are able to quickly identify the personality style of the customer, you will know the "hows" and "whys" of what to say to meet their needs. Once they feel that you truly understand them and feel an emotional connections, they will come up with the logical reasons to buy from you.

It is always my goal to make sure that my solution is the right solution for my clients. I do this through a sales process which includes understanding the emotional reasons motivating them to make a purchase. Because of my personality type, I may think certain aspects of my service are important but my prospect may not feel the same depending upon his or her personality type. I need to talk in a way to show I understand them.

Here are the personality types that I use in my selling process as well as in my Sales Mastery Training program:

Analytical - Analytical people are known for being systematic, well organized and deliberate. These individuals appreciate facts and information presented in a logical manner as documentation of truth. They enjoy organization and completion of detailed tasks. Others may see him at times as being too cautious, overly structured, someone who does things too much 'by the book'. When selling to an Analytical personality type, you will want to talk about the numbers. They are not risk takers so you will need to be able to demonstrate logically how making a decision to buy from you would not be a mistake.

Driver - A Driver is a mover and shaker who is definitely not averse to risk. They are extroverted, strong-willed, direct, practical, organized, forceful, and decisive. Look for someone who tells it the way it is and is very persuasive. Watch out or you’ll be worn down and bowled over. When selling to a driver, you will want to get to the bottom line quickly. You will want to show that you appreciate their accomplishments and experience.

Amiable - They are dependable, loyal and easygoing. He or she is a team player, cooperative and easy to get along with, trustful, sensitive and a good listener. Working in groups with cooperative individuals, the Amiable tries to avoid confrontation. He or she enjoys company, performs best in a stable environment, and often has a stabilizing effect on others. The Amiable personality is concerned with the team. You will know someone is an amiable if they always defer to others. When selling to an Amiable, us "We" in your conversations and build yourself in a member on their team.

Expressive - Very outgoing and enthusiastic, with a high energy level. They are also great idea generators, but usually do not have the ability to see the idea through to completion. They enjoy helping others and are particularly fond of socializing. They are usually slow to reach a decision. Often thought of as a talker, overly dramatic, impulsive, and manipulative. Expressive personality types make decisions based upon emotion. They can also make decisions quickly that may can sometimes get them in trouble. You can tell you are talking to an expressive if they are talking about how they feel about something. When selling to them, make sure you express that you understand the emotion reasons why they are making a purchasing decision.

This information is instrumental to my own sales success and for my clients. I am always excited to help my clients have those "Ah ha" moments where they see how they can utilize this information into their own sales process. It helps build confidence and develop new profitable client relationships.

To your success,

Joanne Hernon
CEO of Sales Solutions
http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com