Thanks to Jay Mitchell, editor and publisher of The Small Market Radio Newsletter for giving us permission to share his insightful article on the importance of good questions in the sales process, from the 04-22-21 edition of SMRN:
You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Questions.
In sales, there are basically two kinds of questions: those that client/prospect will ask you, and those that you ask the client/ prospect.
Their Questions
The first kind falls under the category of objections. As Russ Kaspar, Kaspar Media, Frankfort, IN reminded me, “Objections are questions.” Let’s lay out some highlights about the process of dealing with objections:
Sometimes when an inexperienced salesperson hears an objection to which he or she knows the answer, it’s difficult not to jump in with the answer even before the client has completed the question. The first lesson in answering objections is, Respect the client and respect the objection.
When presented with any objection, make sure you pause and think about what was just said by the client. Whether you have the answer readily at hand, you want to sound as though you do not‐that you are formulating a response specifically for the client.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves a little. First, you have to ask yourself whether the objection you just heard is a legitimate question (a.k.a. buying sign), a stalling device, or a riddance device (the client hopes to intimidate you to the extent that you are driven away). While your response may be pretty much the same in all three circumstances, the next step may differ.
For example, if the client presents you with a question that is obviously indicating interest, then after you answer the objection, you might say, “Is there anything else we should cover before we move forward?”
As for the latter types of objections, they could take any form. (In other words, be prepared for some whoppers.) Despite the outrageousness of the question, be sure you respect it and give a thoughtful answer—but that answer might be followed by something slightly different: “I don’t think I’m doing a very good job of explaining this opportunity to you. I apologize. Maybe you can help me get back on track.”
We have a section on our website, www.smallmarketradio.com, called “The Objection Collection,” which gives specific answers to specific objections, but more importantly, gives the background for those answers so you can rephrase them and make them your own. (Note that this is designed to be a living document; please share your experiences with us to make The Collection better.)
Our Questions
There is an art to asking questions of the client/prospect in the course of your journey to “Yes.” One of the best explanations of this process is from a book called The Six Steps to Excellence in Selling, by Warren Wechsler:
PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE THEY LIKE AND TRUST. The best way to create this feeling is to let the prospect do most of the talking. Most people enjoy talking about themselves. All we have to do is ask the questions and then listen. It’s pretty simple, but it’s not easy. Some salespeople listen just briefly before formulating their sales presentation instead of using this opportunity to gather even more information.
THE BEST CONVERSATIONALIST OF OUR TIME. It has been said that Dale Carnegie, the author of the world‐famous excellent book How to Win Friends and Influence People, was the most eloquent conversationalist of his time. He was so focused on listening that when he met someone at a business or social event he would launch into extensive open‐ended questioning, encouraging the person to speak by saying things like, “Really?”, “Oh?”, “Is that so?”, “Tell me more,” “That’s fascinating.”
Carnegie would allow the other person to tell his or her story, and through his questioning, most of it innocent and simple, the other person would develop huge feelings of respect and rapport with him. Invariably, at the end of the conversation, the speaker would move on to another conversation and remark about how wonderful it conversationalist Mr. Carnegie was!
Amazing, considering that Carnegie probably said fewer than 50 words the whole time.
OPEN‐ENDED VERSUS CLOSED QUESTIONS. There are two types of questions—open‐ended and closed. Open‐ended questions encourage the other person to talk and give longer answers. These are effective for getting conversations moving. Closed questions demand one‐word answers (yes, no, 15, sometimes, maybe, etc.) and restrict conversations. They are good for pinning down information on a specific point and as transition questions that change the direction of the conversation by closing down the conversation at hand. Some people will feel like they are being interrogated when they are asked a series of mostly closed questions. Here are some examples of open‐ended and closed questions:
OPEN Who? What? Why? Where? How? Tell me about. . .
CLOSED Do you…? Are you…? Will you…? How many…?
THE FOUR QUESTIONS THAT CREATE TRUST AND RAPPORT. When I begin an interview with a prospect, I take out a clean sheet of paper and write four key words—NOW, BEST, LEAST, and NEW —along the left margin, leaving three inches between words to write down the responses and key points that I hear. These four words represent the four categories of questions I will ask. All of the categories are good for information‐gathering. The order I follow allows me to find out increasingly relevant information.
A caution: When we ask questions in these categories in a friendly, warm, businesslike, and open manner, the prospect is typically going to open up to us. The way to ruin this rapport is to leap in and respond with an answer or a solution. For example, if the prospect says, “I really like the fact that product ABC comes in blue,” and then we say, “My company carries 10 styles of blue!”, the prospect will immediately clam up and think that every time they tell us something, we’re going to go one better than their current situation. The best response to “I really like the fact that product ABC comes in blue” is to say, “Oh really? Is that sky‐blue or royal blue?” Or, “What do you like about that blue?”
In other words, use one statement as an opportunity to ask another question. If we use the four question categories in sequence, the prospect will realize that we are there to listen and to learn more about the prospect’s situation and needs. The prospect will find that he or she likes and trusts us and thinks it’s refreshing that we are not trying to sell them something. An old saying is as true today as it was 50 years ago: People love to buy and hate to be sold.
LISTENING SKILLS. Now that we’ve learned to ask the right questions, we had better be good at listening to the answers. It’s not as easy as one might think. It’s a fact that we can listen four times faster than people can talk. If the average person speaks 150 words per minute, then we can listen at the rate of 600 words per minute.
Compounding this difference is that we can listen to our “self‐talk” as well as what the other person is saying and still be thinking about our surroundings, what we had for lunch, what we’re going to do after work, and when the dry‐ cleaning will be ready. It is no wonder that sometimes we miss parts of the conversation. We are busy jumping ahead of the prospect, formulating answers, or even planning our weekend or the rest of our lives.
So what is listening? It is the receiver receiving information sent by the sender. This sounds easy in principle but is more difficult in practice.
at August 14, 2021 6:13 PM PDT
