their own needs – or may not have clearly defined their goals. They may not understand the importance to them of choosing products or services such as yours.
4. GAIN RESPECT Sophisticated prospects must have confidence in your ability. Before your sales call, research the prospect’s background and make in-depth preparations for the call.
5. BUILD LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS
Many salespeople perform fine on the first call – but what about an encore? If your goal is to keep your current clients for many years, you will want to build relationships that endure. Since you may be speaking with clients many times, ask yourself, “What else do I need to know about my current clients?”
6. INVOLVE THE CLIENT Asking questions will help you get and keep your prospect’s attention. The best prospects are the ones who sell themselves; to sell themselves, they must be involved in the sales process from the very beginning.
7. PROVIDE A PROSPECT PROFILE An involved client may tell you what you need to do to sell him. You want the client to have a chance to vent his feelings and ideas. Your questions will help uncover all objections early in the sales interview – when tension is low. And you will identify client style, opinions, understanding, awareness, personal needs, and concerns.
8. ESTABLISH TRUST You can establish a better rapport and climate of trust and confidence through questioning rather than with small talk and chitchat. Asking ques- tions shows clients you are interested in them, their businesses, and their needs – proving you are not there just to give them a standard pitch to fulfill your sales quota.
9. MAINTAIN CONTROL Asking questions allows you to control the sales interview without making the prospect feel he is being controlled. To the casual observer of such a conversation, it would appear the prospect is leading the conver- sation. In reality, the salesperson is subtly leading.
10. GET MINOR YESSES To create a positive atmosphere filled with agreement rather than conflict, ask some questions you know the prospect will answer with a yes.
11. AVOID REJECTION Asking questions lets you evaluate how much interest a prospect has – and if she or her company is in a position to buy at this time. Through better probing, your expectations will be more realistic. Better prob- ing can increase your closing ratio, reduce the number of rejections, and give you a clearer picture of the true sales situation.
12. CLOSE THE SALE To determine if the prospect is ready to take action, ask questions to lead toward the close. By asking questions, you may find prospects ready to buy much earlier than you thought. Once you think they are ready to buy, move to a closing question and close the sale. To become expert at using ques- tions to close sales, develop a prob- ing strategy that leads the prospect – being careful not to question yourself into a corner. Approach broad topics first and then focus on narrower areas. Keep your questions in sequence and ask one at a time. After you have asked a question, give the prospect time to think and answer – and be ready to rephrase the question for clarity. Don’t criticize or attack your prospect’s answer. Practice asking the same question in different ways, vary the types of questions to match differ- ent selling situations – and watch your sales tally climb.
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There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. EDITH WHARTON
VIDEO: SALES DIFFERENTIATION WITH LEE SALZ
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