To become the best sales person possible you must first learn the principles and skills of sales and then properly apply them. Consider this question, “How much time do you spend each week studying the principles and techniques of sales in order to help your prospects and to increase your income?” The typical medical doctor spends on average eleven hours each week in personal study and clinical observation in order to stay on the cutting edge of their profession. A CPA will spend an average of nearly eight hours each week in preparation and learning to stay abreast of the most current tax laws. Amazingly, sales people earning a six-figure income spend on average less than three hours per week studying the principles and skills of sales.
Unfortunately, there are very few colleges and universities that offer degree programs in sales. A few class are offered that deal with some aspects of sales, but the typical college program does not offer a concise and specific sales program. Weber State University offers one of the only sales related degrees in the country, but it is still limited in the curriculum that it can offer. Unlike other professions, sales people are on their own to learn and apply the correct principles and skills. Sales training is a multi billion-dollar industry. There is no shortage of knowledgeable trainers or excellent materials. The issue is whether on not sales people or employers take advantage of what is available. During the course of our lives we will deal with more sales people than all the doctors, lawyers, CPA’s and all other professionals combined. And yet, the sales people we conduct business with will be by far the least educated and least prepared to solve our problems.
Several years ago I was working with the president of a local company. We had been doing an excellent job training his sales people. His son was about to enter college and they decided to enroll at a local college where I had been teaching a course on sales. The idea was to receive some of the same training in a classroom setting that I had offered his employees in our regular corporate training program. Unfortunately, I didn’t teach that semester so my client decided to hire his son as a sales person so he could receive sales training and coaching along with the other sales people in the company. This young man has diligently (sometimes not happily) applied the principles and skills he has learned. His performance has been greater than any other sales person in the company prior to engaging their sales people in a training program. His first year’s commission income at age twenty-five was fifty-one thousand dollars. Second year income at age twenty-six was ninety-seven thousand dollars. Third year income at age twenty-seven was one hundred and twenty-six thousand dollars. When sales people study, learn and apply, there is no limit to their income.
A typical sales person might believe they don’t have time to study their profession. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is always time to do what you want to do. If you believed that spending time each day studying and learning your profession would increase your income, I’m sure you would spend the time. As an example, during this past year the sales people we have trained have increased their gross profit sales on average two hundred and sixty percent. That translates into more than a two and a half times increase in their commission income. Studying, learning, and applying the correct sales principles and skills is the answer to increased profitable and sales and increased income. Sales people can’t afford not to spend the time to learn. Doctors spend eleven hours a week learning, CPA’s spend eight hours each week leaning. Imagine what your income could be if you spent ten hours each week learning and perfecting your sales skills. Knowledge is power, the power to determine your own financial destiny. Discover the many resources available for learning the profession of sales and commit the time to become the best sales person possible.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Overcome Complacency To Increase Sales Results
There is an old saying, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result.” According to this definition of behavior, sales people often perform as though they are insane. I have often responded to the inquiry, “how are you doing?” with the response, “I’m in a comfortable rut.” In other words, I’m doing what I have always been doing and feel comfortable in the process. There is nothing inherently wrong with comfort, however, comfort is the first stage of complacency and complacency is the beginning of mediocrity.
What better time than now to evaluate your sales performance and look for areas of improvement. With the New Year almost here, you can put the past behind you and look to a new day of improved activity and enhanced performance. Doing the same things over and over again in your sales process without refinement and improved results will never lead to the success you are capable of achieving. What is it that you are doing and what are your expectations? When was the last time you took a step backwards and analyzed your activities in relation to your results? With the New Year at your heals, take a few minutes to ponder five performance enhancing activities that will lift you from a pattern of complacency.
ACTIVITY NUMBER ONE: Set goals. Take time to determine what you want to accomplish in your sales career. Be specific, believe and step out or your comfort zone. Just because you have never achieved a particular level of performance doesn’t mean you can’t, it only means you haven’t achieved it yet. With each goal, establish a number of steps necessary to achieve the goal. These steps are the specific activities that must be accomplished to reach your goal. These steps are the day-to-day and week-by-week actions necessary to move along the path of achievement.
ACTIVITY NUMBER TWO: Plan and schedule your time. Time is the most valuable commodity in the world. Time is essential for success, wealth, happiness, family, and achievement in any form. Time cannot be saved and must be used in the precise moment in order to have any value. You have a choice every day as to how you use your time. It can be used for value or waste, time doesn’t care, it continues without regard to its use until it is gone. If you want to truly break out of the shackles of complacency in your life, you need to control time and the only way to control time is to manage it. Begin each day with a personal and private planning session. Identify what you want to accomplish for the day and always think in terms of your long-term goals. If you are not striving to accomplish the day-to-day steps of your goals, they will never get done. Certain things must be done each day while other things should be done. If you don’t plan, very little will ever actually be accomplished. Daily planning will increase your achievement by as much as one hundred percent.
ACTIVITY NUMBER THREE: Evaluate and improve your sales process. What is it that you do, and what must be done in order to complete a typical average sale? Think of your most successful sale. What steps did you follow to make the sale? Think of your activity in terms of a process. Now, write down the process and commit yourself to doing those activities on a consistent basis to create a pattern of performance, which will become a road map for your sales success. Most sales people don’t spend enough time prospecting, so make sure you include a healthy portion. Remember, prospecting is not cold calling but rather the act of finding opportunities. Use your current customer base as the basis for your prospecting. You can never follow-up too much. National statistics indicate that it takes between five and seven contacts for a prospect to feel comfortable enough to make a purchasing decision. However, most sales people follow-up only three to four times.
ACTIVITY NUMBER FOUR: Commit yourself to working harder and smarter than ever before. Most sales people spend on average only four hours per day working on sales related activities. They put eight hours on the time clock, but only half that time is spent focused on their sales. Planning and scheduling each day will be a great help in working smarter. This will help you will be more aware of which activities need to be completed, how much time should be spent on each activity and when to do them. Determining how much time to spend on each activity is a classic method of working smarter. You should then work hard to complete the task within that amount of time. Working hard requires focus and working smart requires doing the right activities at the right time. Working hard and working smart both require effective daily planning.
ACTIVITY NUMBER FIVE: Discover a purpose in your life so compelling that you will be willing to commit to do the sales activities that less successful sales people are not willing to do. The story is told of a young man who discovered the common denominator of success. He had a definite purpose in his life and it was definitely a sentimental or emotional one. He wanted his son to go through college without having to work his way through as he had done. He wanted to avoid for his little daughter the hardships that his own sister had faced in her childhood. Also, he wanted his wife and the mother of his children to enjoy the luxuries and comforts, and even necessities that had been denied his own mother. To accomplish this purpose, he was willing to form the habit of doing the things he didn't like to do in order to accomplish his purpose.
What better time than now to evaluate your sales performance and look for areas of improvement. With the New Year almost here, you can put the past behind you and look to a new day of improved activity and enhanced performance. Doing the same things over and over again in your sales process without refinement and improved results will never lead to the success you are capable of achieving. What is it that you are doing and what are your expectations? When was the last time you took a step backwards and analyzed your activities in relation to your results? With the New Year at your heals, take a few minutes to ponder five performance enhancing activities that will lift you from a pattern of complacency.
ACTIVITY NUMBER ONE: Set goals. Take time to determine what you want to accomplish in your sales career. Be specific, believe and step out or your comfort zone. Just because you have never achieved a particular level of performance doesn’t mean you can’t, it only means you haven’t achieved it yet. With each goal, establish a number of steps necessary to achieve the goal. These steps are the specific activities that must be accomplished to reach your goal. These steps are the day-to-day and week-by-week actions necessary to move along the path of achievement.
ACTIVITY NUMBER TWO: Plan and schedule your time. Time is the most valuable commodity in the world. Time is essential for success, wealth, happiness, family, and achievement in any form. Time cannot be saved and must be used in the precise moment in order to have any value. You have a choice every day as to how you use your time. It can be used for value or waste, time doesn’t care, it continues without regard to its use until it is gone. If you want to truly break out of the shackles of complacency in your life, you need to control time and the only way to control time is to manage it. Begin each day with a personal and private planning session. Identify what you want to accomplish for the day and always think in terms of your long-term goals. If you are not striving to accomplish the day-to-day steps of your goals, they will never get done. Certain things must be done each day while other things should be done. If you don’t plan, very little will ever actually be accomplished. Daily planning will increase your achievement by as much as one hundred percent.
ACTIVITY NUMBER THREE: Evaluate and improve your sales process. What is it that you do, and what must be done in order to complete a typical average sale? Think of your most successful sale. What steps did you follow to make the sale? Think of your activity in terms of a process. Now, write down the process and commit yourself to doing those activities on a consistent basis to create a pattern of performance, which will become a road map for your sales success. Most sales people don’t spend enough time prospecting, so make sure you include a healthy portion. Remember, prospecting is not cold calling but rather the act of finding opportunities. Use your current customer base as the basis for your prospecting. You can never follow-up too much. National statistics indicate that it takes between five and seven contacts for a prospect to feel comfortable enough to make a purchasing decision. However, most sales people follow-up only three to four times.
ACTIVITY NUMBER FOUR: Commit yourself to working harder and smarter than ever before. Most sales people spend on average only four hours per day working on sales related activities. They put eight hours on the time clock, but only half that time is spent focused on their sales. Planning and scheduling each day will be a great help in working smarter. This will help you will be more aware of which activities need to be completed, how much time should be spent on each activity and when to do them. Determining how much time to spend on each activity is a classic method of working smarter. You should then work hard to complete the task within that amount of time. Working hard requires focus and working smart requires doing the right activities at the right time. Working hard and working smart both require effective daily planning.
ACTIVITY NUMBER FIVE: Discover a purpose in your life so compelling that you will be willing to commit to do the sales activities that less successful sales people are not willing to do. The story is told of a young man who discovered the common denominator of success. He had a definite purpose in his life and it was definitely a sentimental or emotional one. He wanted his son to go through college without having to work his way through as he had done. He wanted to avoid for his little daughter the hardships that his own sister had faced in her childhood. Also, he wanted his wife and the mother of his children to enjoy the luxuries and comforts, and even necessities that had been denied his own mother. To accomplish this purpose, he was willing to form the habit of doing the things he didn't like to do in order to accomplish his purpose.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Enthusiasm Sells
The story is told of a businessman who spent several days each week traveling around the country visiting his different clients. Spending so many days away from home, he was becoming somewhat weary when it came to mealtime. Restaurant food had become routine and he was always looking for something different or at least better. One afternoon as he entered a local restaurant in the town he was traveling, he was seated at a table and handed a menu. As he perused the typical offerings he was about to settle for the same old fare he had been eating for weeks.
About that time, the waitress came by and asked if he had decided. He asked, “What would you recommend?” Immediately her demeanor changed. She lit up like a Christmas tree and started talking about the most wonderful stew, a signature item for the restaurant. She was almost giddy as she described the meat and vegetables, the thick gravy and a taste that was heavenly. She said it was her favorite of all the items on the menu, and a favorite of all the locals. She talked about how it was prepared and how the vegetables were fresh and cooked just to the point of being soft, but not mushy. She described the chunks of sirloin tip steak that was cooked so tender and seasoned to perfection. She went on and on for several minutes bubbling with emotion as she described this wonderful stew to the businessman. When she finally concluded her most enthusiastic presentation, the businessman said, “I’ll have a large bowl of your ENTHUSIASTIC STEW".
Enthusiasm is contagious. Enthusiasm is refreshing. Enthusiasm is a secret weapon that every sales person can use to sell their products and services. Enthusiasm might very well be the difference between making a sale and losing a sale. In the story of the businessman and the stew, I’m not so certain that the waitress really cared if the man ordered the stew or something else on the menu. But, her enthusiasm and excitement for the stew became contagious and was a main consideration for the man making his decision. A recommendation for a product and service can be made with the words we say, but an even more powerful recommendation is found in the emotion or enthusiasm we have for the product.
On Monday the 8th day of December, the government officially declared that the nation is in the midst of an economic recession. What does this mean? Simply stated, growth in gross national product is either neutral or declining. For most business they are anticipating that their sales will decrease during this time. For the few, they will realize that even though times are more difficult there will still be purchases made and the opportunities are still there. Sales people need to work smarter, harder and do things that haven’t been done in the past because of complacency. One of those things that needs to be done to improve performance during these challenging times is to be enthusiastic. Show your enthusiasm for your products and services. Show your enthusiasm for the market you are working. Show enthusiasm for your company. Show enthusiasm for being a sales person.
Your competitors have already made a fatal mental error by conceding that due to the recession, sales will be down. With that mentality they can’t be faulted. Their lack of effort is not the reason that sales are down, it is the recession. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sales will be down for those that believe they will be down. For the rest of us, sales can be as good or better than they were before the government declared a recession. It won’t be easy and it won’t be done doing things as before. Here are five things that will allow you to succeed during these difficult times:
About that time, the waitress came by and asked if he had decided. He asked, “What would you recommend?” Immediately her demeanor changed. She lit up like a Christmas tree and started talking about the most wonderful stew, a signature item for the restaurant. She was almost giddy as she described the meat and vegetables, the thick gravy and a taste that was heavenly. She said it was her favorite of all the items on the menu, and a favorite of all the locals. She talked about how it was prepared and how the vegetables were fresh and cooked just to the point of being soft, but not mushy. She described the chunks of sirloin tip steak that was cooked so tender and seasoned to perfection. She went on and on for several minutes bubbling with emotion as she described this wonderful stew to the businessman. When she finally concluded her most enthusiastic presentation, the businessman said, “I’ll have a large bowl of your ENTHUSIASTIC STEW".
Enthusiasm is contagious. Enthusiasm is refreshing. Enthusiasm is a secret weapon that every sales person can use to sell their products and services. Enthusiasm might very well be the difference between making a sale and losing a sale. In the story of the businessman and the stew, I’m not so certain that the waitress really cared if the man ordered the stew or something else on the menu. But, her enthusiasm and excitement for the stew became contagious and was a main consideration for the man making his decision. A recommendation for a product and service can be made with the words we say, but an even more powerful recommendation is found in the emotion or enthusiasm we have for the product.
On Monday the 8th day of December, the government officially declared that the nation is in the midst of an economic recession. What does this mean? Simply stated, growth in gross national product is either neutral or declining. For most business they are anticipating that their sales will decrease during this time. For the few, they will realize that even though times are more difficult there will still be purchases made and the opportunities are still there. Sales people need to work smarter, harder and do things that haven’t been done in the past because of complacency. One of those things that needs to be done to improve performance during these challenging times is to be enthusiastic. Show your enthusiasm for your products and services. Show your enthusiasm for the market you are working. Show enthusiasm for your company. Show enthusiasm for being a sales person.
Your competitors have already made a fatal mental error by conceding that due to the recession, sales will be down. With that mentality they can’t be faulted. Their lack of effort is not the reason that sales are down, it is the recession. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sales will be down for those that believe they will be down. For the rest of us, sales can be as good or better than they were before the government declared a recession. It won’t be easy and it won’t be done doing things as before. Here are five things that will allow you to succeed during these difficult times:
- Be Enthusiastic.
- Manage your time – Plan and schedule every day.
- Spent eight hours each day selling, not just doing stuff.
- See the people.
- Use your existing customer base for additional sales and referrals.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The Greatest Service A Sales Person Can Provide Is A Solution To A Problem
A sales person who sells someone something they don’t need should be taken behind the proverbial old barn and horse whipped. The same goes for a sales person who is unable to persuade someone to buy something they really do need because the prospect will end up buying something they don’t need from someone else.
Sales people should be trusted advisors of goods and services just as the physician is a trusted advisor for someone’s health and just as a financial consultant and CPA are trusted advisors for someone’s wealth and just as an attorney is a trusted advisor for someone’s personal and business affairs and just as a minister is a trusted advisor for someone’s spiritual affairs. All of these advisors are professionals in their various fields of expertise, and people are drawn to them because they can be trusted. All of these professionals operated under a code of ethics that provides the confidence that they will act and perform their duties properly.
As an advisor for the purchase of goods and services, a sales person ultimately has more involvement in the wellbeing of a person’s life than all of the other professionals combined. Yet, how many sales people take their profession as seriously as the physician, the financial consultant, the CPA, the attorney or the minister. They all study their profession for years in colleges and universities, many with advanced degrees followed by internships and additional preparation. As a sales person, what are you doing to become a professional in your industry, and what are you doing to prepare yourself to be the trusted advisor to ensure the prospect buys the right product or service to solve their problem?
Become a student of your product or service. Learn all you can about how it is made, how it works, what it can do and how it can solve various problems. Know your product, and when you reach the point of not being able to know any more, know who does know and use them as a resource. Many years ago when I was working in the steel industry, my boss, the senior vice president of sales gave me a book to study. Within the covers of this book was all the knowledge anyone would need to understand the technical aspects of the steel industry. The book was called The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel. In essence, it was the equivalent of a Master Degree in metallurgy. I read the book, studied the book in addition to many other companion books during my years as a sales person in the steel industry. However, there were always things that I didn’t know, but I knew who did know, and I used them to reinforce my own knowledge. I discovered that knowledge was power, and the power allowed me to solve problems that others were unable to discern.
Understand your customers, their industries and markets. If you worked for them, you would be their most successful sales person. Knowing your customer allows you to know their needs, and provide them with the right solutions. You are not just selling a product or a service; you are solving problems and meeting their needs. The only way to know your customers is to walk in their shoes. Spend time with them and get into their heads. Understand the how’s and why’s of their business. During my sales career, I worked with hundreds of companies in almost as many industries. I learned their business, their products, their industry and markets. Now I’m a good sales person, not the best by any means. However, I would have been a top sales person for any of the companies that I consulted with because I spent the time to learn the relationship between products, needs and solutions. If you don’t know your customer even better than they know themselves, you haven’t prepared yourself well enough to become their trusted advisor, and you will never be able to provide the service they are looking for; solutions to their problems!
Sales people should be trusted advisors of goods and services just as the physician is a trusted advisor for someone’s health and just as a financial consultant and CPA are trusted advisors for someone’s wealth and just as an attorney is a trusted advisor for someone’s personal and business affairs and just as a minister is a trusted advisor for someone’s spiritual affairs. All of these advisors are professionals in their various fields of expertise, and people are drawn to them because they can be trusted. All of these professionals operated under a code of ethics that provides the confidence that they will act and perform their duties properly.
As an advisor for the purchase of goods and services, a sales person ultimately has more involvement in the wellbeing of a person’s life than all of the other professionals combined. Yet, how many sales people take their profession as seriously as the physician, the financial consultant, the CPA, the attorney or the minister. They all study their profession for years in colleges and universities, many with advanced degrees followed by internships and additional preparation. As a sales person, what are you doing to become a professional in your industry, and what are you doing to prepare yourself to be the trusted advisor to ensure the prospect buys the right product or service to solve their problem?
Become a student of your product or service. Learn all you can about how it is made, how it works, what it can do and how it can solve various problems. Know your product, and when you reach the point of not being able to know any more, know who does know and use them as a resource. Many years ago when I was working in the steel industry, my boss, the senior vice president of sales gave me a book to study. Within the covers of this book was all the knowledge anyone would need to understand the technical aspects of the steel industry. The book was called The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel. In essence, it was the equivalent of a Master Degree in metallurgy. I read the book, studied the book in addition to many other companion books during my years as a sales person in the steel industry. However, there were always things that I didn’t know, but I knew who did know, and I used them to reinforce my own knowledge. I discovered that knowledge was power, and the power allowed me to solve problems that others were unable to discern.
Understand your customers, their industries and markets. If you worked for them, you would be their most successful sales person. Knowing your customer allows you to know their needs, and provide them with the right solutions. You are not just selling a product or a service; you are solving problems and meeting their needs. The only way to know your customers is to walk in their shoes. Spend time with them and get into their heads. Understand the how’s and why’s of their business. During my sales career, I worked with hundreds of companies in almost as many industries. I learned their business, their products, their industry and markets. Now I’m a good sales person, not the best by any means. However, I would have been a top sales person for any of the companies that I consulted with because I spent the time to learn the relationship between products, needs and solutions. If you don’t know your customer even better than they know themselves, you haven’t prepared yourself well enough to become their trusted advisor, and you will never be able to provide the service they are looking for; solutions to their problems!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Effective Questioning Is The Key To Increased Sales
Effective questioning is one of the most powerful tools a sales person can use to close more sales. Most sales people are excellent at talking about the features and benefits of their products and services, but far fewer sales people are effective in asking the questions that lead to increased sales. In each phase of the sales process, questions are essential for success.
In the first phase, prospecting, questions are necessary to know if the prospect has any current or future need for your products. The use of a provocative question can be very effective in creating enough interest in the mind of the prospect to want to learn more about your product or service. Selling is all about relationships. Professional sales people spend time asking questions about the prospect in order to build the trust necessary for the prospect to buy from them.
In the next phase of the sales process, the assessing phase, the initial questions should be focused on the prospects job, responsibilities, company, products, etc. At this point in the sales process the attention needs to be focused on the prospect. We call these questions “seed questions”. Each question encourages the prospect to reveal more information about themselves. The answer to each question can be used as the seed for asking additional questions. Some examples of seed questions are: how long have you been working for this company? Exactly what do you do? What training was necessary to be qualified for this position? How did you get started in this industry? What did you do before you started working here? With each answer additional questions can be asked, building rapport and creating a comfortable environment for the prospect.
Next, we want to ask questions focused specifically on the needs of the prospect. Questions that would help us know and feel their pain; questions that would reveal their need for our products. We call these questions Crystal Ball Questions. If you could look into a crystal ball you would know everything necessary to make a sale. Through effective crystal ball questions you can have the same benefit as looking into a crystal ball. Most sales people do not ask enough questions to really understand the prospects pain. They think they know, but in reality they are simply assuming. Sales people who start selling before they have assessed the needs or pain of the prospect lose credibility and sales. Let me give you an example:
A few years ago I scheduled an appointment with my doctor, Dr. Lee. I wasn’t feeling well and decided to go in for a check-up to see if anything was physically wrong with me. I arrived at the doctor’s office with time to spare, and waited the typical fifteen to twenty minutes before the doctor was ready to see me. The nurse had me fill out several forms, took my height and weight and then escorted me into examination room #4 where she told me to strip down to the waist and sit on the exam table, you know, the one with the crinkly paper where your legs dangle like a first grader. As she left the room she said Dr. Lee would come in shortly.
After about five minutes there was a sharp knock on the door as Dr. Lee walked in. His glasses were down over his nose as his attention was focused on my chart attached to his clipboard. After a few moments reviewing the chart he looked up over the top of his glasses and told me he was writing me a prescription that he wanted me to take three time a day for the next week and that I should report to the hospital the following Monday at 7:00 am for surgery. He also instructed me not to eat any solid foods after lunch on Sunday. “Any questions”, he asked. Yes, I had a lot of questions. What is the prescription for, why surgery, what is going on here. I was thinking to myself, “you haven’t done any assessment. Take my blood pressure and listen to my heart. Listen to my lungs. I can breath deep, in and out. Draw some blood and I’ll even pee in a bottle!” Now, is there any difference between my experience with Dr. Lee and sales people who just assume the prospect needs their products without first assessing their needs through effective question?
The next phase of the sales process is the presentation phase. This is where sales people can really shine by telling the prospect all about their product. However, most sales people turn the presentation into a boring monologue, totally leaving the prospect out of the conversation. A sales presentation should be a dialogue where the prospect is still very much involved. With each key point the sales person should engage the prospect through questioning to assess their interest, their need, their thoughts and concerns. If the prospect is not engaged in the dialogue of the presentation a sale will rarely take place. When discussing your products and services, never make a statement that could be formulated into a question engaging the prospect in the conversation. When the prospect is engaged in the conversation a psychological bond forms between the two parties allowing the prospect to gain the trust and confidence necessary to make a buying decision.
Questions are critical in the completion phase of the sales process. People do not buy if they have questions or unresolved concerns. Sales people must ask those question that will allow the prospect to comfortably reveal their concerns. Never assume that if the prospect doesn’t express any concerns that they don’t have any! Everyone has questions or concerns in their mind. If you don’t get them to reveal them so they can be resolved, the sale will not take place. Ask the questions, “so what do you like about the product as we discussed it? What concerns to do have? Besides that, what else? And then having revealed and resolved all of their concerns, the sales person needs to ask for the business. The direct question, “do you want one?” can be effective. Or the assumptive, “Shall I have it delivered tomorrow?” also works very well. “Do you want one or two?” can boost your sales. To be at your very best, questions need to be asked in all phases of the sales process.
In the first phase, prospecting, questions are necessary to know if the prospect has any current or future need for your products. The use of a provocative question can be very effective in creating enough interest in the mind of the prospect to want to learn more about your product or service. Selling is all about relationships. Professional sales people spend time asking questions about the prospect in order to build the trust necessary for the prospect to buy from them.
In the next phase of the sales process, the assessing phase, the initial questions should be focused on the prospects job, responsibilities, company, products, etc. At this point in the sales process the attention needs to be focused on the prospect. We call these questions “seed questions”. Each question encourages the prospect to reveal more information about themselves. The answer to each question can be used as the seed for asking additional questions. Some examples of seed questions are: how long have you been working for this company? Exactly what do you do? What training was necessary to be qualified for this position? How did you get started in this industry? What did you do before you started working here? With each answer additional questions can be asked, building rapport and creating a comfortable environment for the prospect.
Next, we want to ask questions focused specifically on the needs of the prospect. Questions that would help us know and feel their pain; questions that would reveal their need for our products. We call these questions Crystal Ball Questions. If you could look into a crystal ball you would know everything necessary to make a sale. Through effective crystal ball questions you can have the same benefit as looking into a crystal ball. Most sales people do not ask enough questions to really understand the prospects pain. They think they know, but in reality they are simply assuming. Sales people who start selling before they have assessed the needs or pain of the prospect lose credibility and sales. Let me give you an example:
A few years ago I scheduled an appointment with my doctor, Dr. Lee. I wasn’t feeling well and decided to go in for a check-up to see if anything was physically wrong with me. I arrived at the doctor’s office with time to spare, and waited the typical fifteen to twenty minutes before the doctor was ready to see me. The nurse had me fill out several forms, took my height and weight and then escorted me into examination room #4 where she told me to strip down to the waist and sit on the exam table, you know, the one with the crinkly paper where your legs dangle like a first grader. As she left the room she said Dr. Lee would come in shortly.
After about five minutes there was a sharp knock on the door as Dr. Lee walked in. His glasses were down over his nose as his attention was focused on my chart attached to his clipboard. After a few moments reviewing the chart he looked up over the top of his glasses and told me he was writing me a prescription that he wanted me to take three time a day for the next week and that I should report to the hospital the following Monday at 7:00 am for surgery. He also instructed me not to eat any solid foods after lunch on Sunday. “Any questions”, he asked. Yes, I had a lot of questions. What is the prescription for, why surgery, what is going on here. I was thinking to myself, “you haven’t done any assessment. Take my blood pressure and listen to my heart. Listen to my lungs. I can breath deep, in and out. Draw some blood and I’ll even pee in a bottle!” Now, is there any difference between my experience with Dr. Lee and sales people who just assume the prospect needs their products without first assessing their needs through effective question?
The next phase of the sales process is the presentation phase. This is where sales people can really shine by telling the prospect all about their product. However, most sales people turn the presentation into a boring monologue, totally leaving the prospect out of the conversation. A sales presentation should be a dialogue where the prospect is still very much involved. With each key point the sales person should engage the prospect through questioning to assess their interest, their need, their thoughts and concerns. If the prospect is not engaged in the dialogue of the presentation a sale will rarely take place. When discussing your products and services, never make a statement that could be formulated into a question engaging the prospect in the conversation. When the prospect is engaged in the conversation a psychological bond forms between the two parties allowing the prospect to gain the trust and confidence necessary to make a buying decision.
Questions are critical in the completion phase of the sales process. People do not buy if they have questions or unresolved concerns. Sales people must ask those question that will allow the prospect to comfortably reveal their concerns. Never assume that if the prospect doesn’t express any concerns that they don’t have any! Everyone has questions or concerns in their mind. If you don’t get them to reveal them so they can be resolved, the sale will not take place. Ask the questions, “so what do you like about the product as we discussed it? What concerns to do have? Besides that, what else? And then having revealed and resolved all of their concerns, the sales person needs to ask for the business. The direct question, “do you want one?” can be effective. Or the assumptive, “Shall I have it delivered tomorrow?” also works very well. “Do you want one or two?” can boost your sales. To be at your very best, questions need to be asked in all phases of the sales process.
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