Asking the Right Questions

Today I want to point out one of my favorite no-nonsense sales trainers whom I've bought materials from, Jim Meisenheimer. This is from his latest newsletter than you can recieve free in your email by clicking here.

One of the best ways to begin uncovering customers' needs is to ask really good open-ended questions.

Asking open-ended questions might be the right thing to do, but doing it right is the challenge for most salespeople.

And here's a big reason why. Salespeople just talk too much. For most salespeople their mouths are the center of their universe.

If you believe you can earn a lot of money by talking, there's an even better way. It's called listening.

In sales you should employ your ears before you engage your mouth!

I just saw the results of another study. Customers were asked, "What bothers you most about salespeople?" More than 50% of the people surveyed said, "Salespeople talk too much."

The quickest way to stop talking too much is to start asking some good sales questions.

Ask your sales prospects and customers about their responsibilities.

Ask them to talk about their challenges, and find out what's keeping them up at night.

Ask them about the qualities they're looking for in the products they need.

You can also ask them to tell you how they measure success when using these products. Getting the answers to these and other great sales questions will make uncovering customers' needs a much easier process for you.

One of the reasons why salespeople talk too much is because they have so much product information in their heads.

The more you talk the less you're able to learn about your sales prospects and customers.

And the less you know means you have to tell everything you know about your products.

Wouldn't it be so much easier to ask really good sales questions and then personalize your presentation?

In fact, after you ask your last question, you could say, "Based on what you just told me I'd like to show you how our products would be the perfect solution for the challenges you're dealing with."

That statement says you've been listening!

And, instead of telling your sales prospect everything you know about your products, you can tell him exactly what he needs to know.

Doing it this way, dramatically increases your relatability factor.

For best results forget about persuading and convincing your sales prospects and customers.

When you focus on uncovering customers' needs you can help them buy the best solutions.

Getting your sales prospects and customers talking is easy - just ask them the right sales questions.

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