Effective Questioning Combats Centuries- Old Selling Problem
By Weldon Long The Old Way- The Buyer Stalls
Essentially the old way involves the purchaser following a reliable pattern when choosing to come off his or her hard earned cash to buy something and the unskilled seller who can easily fall victim to this insidious game.
The dynamic begins with buyer gaining as much information about the product or service from the seller as possible. This information may include price, warranties, financing options or delivery options.
Secondly, the buyer will withhold valuable information from the seller. For example, if a buyer walks onto a car lot to buy her dream car, she is unlikely to tell the salesperson that her old car just blew up and that she has a pocket full of cash she’s just dying to spend. Instead, even if she loves the sparkling new car on the showroom floor, she will keep her cards close to her vest. After all, everyone knows that knowledge is power and none of use want to give an advantage to the salesperson; thus, we keep our mouths shut.
Next, the buyer relies on the tried and true strategy of stalling in an effort to put off spending her hard earned money. It’s not that the buyer won’t spend the money, it’s just that given the choice, we all prefer to postpone spending it as long as possible. Stalling also give the buyer the opportunity to revisit competitive offerings one last time and maybe work the seller over a bit on price.
Which brings us to the fourth step in this age-old game: The buyer asks for a cheaper price. This step is as predictable as the sun rising over the Atlantic. It is going to happen - even if the buyer likes the product or service and thinks the price is fair. Remember, this process has been ingrained in us for generations and no one writes a check without at least a halfhearted attempt at getting a lower price.
Since the dawn of mankind we have been buying and selling “stuff”, and over the centuries a predictable pattern has developed between buyers and sellers. The buyer-seller dynamic can spell “commission catastrophe” for the sales professional who lacks the artful skill of effective questioning.
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While this series of steps is natural, it can devastate the income of a seller who is not adept at derailing the process with effective questions. For example, when the seller begins step-one, gathering information, an inexperienced seller may begin randomly spewing information about how wonderful his product or service is without ever probing for information of his own. When
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