Sales and marketing questions to use to sell quicker and better

Selling is all about having a conversation with your prospects. Questioning is vital to keep the prospect talking to you and providing information. The answers to your questions will help you to establish if and how you can help them so you need to be a good listener. The best way to sell is to get your prospects to tell you:

• What they are trying to achieve
• What they want
• How your product or service can help them

You should use questions to find information, keep the conversation moving and also to build rapport.  So contrary to popular belief great salesmen are not great talkers they are great listeners and ask great questions.

What is on your customers mind?

• How are you going to make my life easier?
• How are you going to make me money/save me money/save me time?
• How are you going to help me look good in my company?
• How are you going to reduce my fears or risk if I use your company?

Most prospects have some or all of the above concerns when talking to sales people. Careful questioning can help build rapport and help you give a better solution to the customer’s problems.

Think customer

It is a good approach to start your discussion by focussing on the customer or prospect before moving on to what you and the customer can do together.
Questions can be used to find out what is going well and what problems face the prospect.
Examples:

• What are your goals?
• In what ways can I help you achieve your goals?
• How would you like me to help you?
• How can I make your job/life easier?
• Would you be?

Closed questions

• Do you have accounting software?
• Do you have an environmental policy?
• Have you got a laptop computer?
• Do you produce that in-house?
• Are you exhibiting at the trade show?

You can use closed questions to set up a position either positive or negative.
Examples:

• Are you happy with your current supplier?
• Do they give you all you need?
• Would you like to find a better supplier?

Closed questions can be used to close the sale.
Examples:

• Can we proceed with the order?
• If we can deliver this in 5 days will you order now?
• Do you think?
• Does this sound like the sort of thing that would be appropriate?

Open questions

These are the questions that really get the customer talking and allow you to gather information and discover the issues that the prospect felly strongly about. They are easy to move a conversation forward. They enable you to tailor your presentation and answers to the customer. They enable you to find out the customer’s feelings and opinions.

Open questions tend to start wit words like: what, why, how, tell me, describe, who, when. The best two though are “What?” and “How?”

Be careful with “why.” Too much use can turn a meeting into an interrogation, and make the prospect defensive.
Examples:

• What was your decision making process when you?
• What is keeping you awake at night?
• What are your main priorities?
• What have you tried so far?
• What were the results?
• How did that work out?
• How do you?
• How does that sound/look/feel?
• What are your ideas?
• Can you explain?

Great open questions mean that whatever response you get from the customer good follow up questions will arise.

Being successful

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Want help from me to grow your business? Give me a call on 01226 290288 or email gareth@gapmanagement.co.uk

About Gareth Morgan

Gareth is a Marketing adviser and consultant who helps businesses to increase sales and profits with practical and cost effective marketing plans and actions.