You ask questions to gain information. Right?
No.
The “close” is not where the sale happens; though I believe most business people think so. The real pros…the really successful people…know differently.
Let’s move to Tip #3 in our conversation about how to sell more and do it easily.
Tip #3: ASK A LOT MORE QUESTIONS
The reason to ask questions, lots of them? Great questions enable your prospect to hear their own thinking out loud. When they hear what they are saying, they sell themselves.
Several months ago I was finishing our new kitchen. I was fussing over the last item—the lighting pendants over the island. I didn’t want to spend too much. The sales person asked me how much I was spending on the kitchen. When I answered that question, I realized how stupid I was to look for cheap. I sold myself.
Every, single question you ask your prospects must be designed for one purpose only—to enable them to remember and experience their problem and the pain the problem is creating for them. When pain is recognized, the need to get rid of the pain increases…which means buying your pain relief.
Design your questions.
- What question will expose your prospect’s need/want?
- What question points out their undesired performance in an area where you can improve it?
- What question shows them the consequences of doing nothing about the pain, of staying in the same place and dealing with the same undesirable problem?
Questions are your friends. And now you know it’s not about gathering useful info.
The real advantage of questions moves your prospect straight to their problem, with the belief you are the solution.