Knowing what constitutes a great question and learning how to ask the right questions at the right time is a learning challenge for many salespeople, especially those who are historically prone to talking more than listening. As a sales coach and strategist, I spend a lot of time teaching my clients’ teams about the importance of listening and learning. We focus on the use of insightful, open-ended questions to engage in an effective learning conversation with clients. One of the biggest challenges is helping my “pupils” discover a natural flow and personality style to their questions. Knowing not only what questions to ask, but how to ask them in a sincere and truly interested manner is part of the process.
Interestingly enough, it may not be the questions we need to ask our clients that will help us organize these conversations; but, it is the questions we ask of ourselves that help us understand what we don’t already know or understand well enough to be prepared for that client meeting. In a recent blog, “Sales Questions to Ask Yourself“, Maura Schreier-Fleming talks about the process of asking yourself questions as a planning and preparation component. In this blog, the author identifies questions salespeople need to ask of themselves in order to gauge their knowledge and to help with their sales preparation. This serves as a great reminder regarding all the various aspects about our clients’ business that we need to evaluate and understand and be prepared for on a regular basis. In this blog the areas that we, as sales professionals, need to ask of ourselves in this preparation and planning process are:
1. Who else from my company is talking to my customers and what are they saying? Do you know who else has interaction with your clients? Do you know what they have been saying?
2. “What if” questions, i.e., “what if” my primary contact unexpectedly left the company, “what if” they are unhappy about a recent delivery or service call, etc. How prepared are you to respond to the unexpected?
3. Why did my customers buy from me in the first place? This is not what you think you know; but, what did they tell you? If you haven’t asked, you need to ask and find out exactly why they decided to do business with you.
4. What are the competitors saying to your customer? What aspects of those conversations are interesting or intriguing to your clients? How will I respond to this information?
Besides listening more and talking less, the biggest challenge for most sales people is strategy and preparation. Instead of taking windshield time to talk on the phone, take some of that time to ask yourself some questions about your clients. How well do you “know” everything you need to know about them as it relates to you and, how prepared are you to manage those unexpected challenges? Do not get caught unprepared for what you could have planned for. Ask yourself some tough questions to get yourself ready and organized.