Questions That Sell: The Powerful Process for Discovering What Your Customer Really Wants

by Paul Cherry

Why ask good questions?

• Motivate your prospective customers to do the talking.
• Differentiate yourself from your competitors
• Demonstrate empathy for your prospective customers.
• Facilitate a prospective customer's awareness of his needs and help him come to his own conclusions
• Prompt a prospective customer to recognize the importance of taking action.
• Discover how a particular company makes a purchasing decision, as well as whom the decision makers are within the company.

Your opening sound bite in a pitch should hit on the emotional desire to overcome failure and/or achieve greater success. 98% of prospects want one or the other.

Start with warm-up questions. Don't sell too hard too early.

Ask about the past. For example:

• What would you say is different about your organization today from when you started with this company?
• What have been some of your likes and dislikes with vendors in the past?
• Since you have been with the company, what have been some of the biggest hurdles you have faced?

Questions to uncover problems:

• What problems are you currently experiencing?
• What's working? What's not?
• If you could wind back the clock or wave a magic wand, what would you change?

Questions to disrupt existing vendor relationships:

• How does your ideal situation compare with your current situation?
• If you could change one thing about your current vendor, what would it be?

Questions to strengthen existing customer relationships:

• How can we make your life easier?
• What is it that you value most about doing business with us?

The "why" question. Getting information on motives:

• Walk me through the steps that led you to this conclusion.
• Share with me what is motivation your decision to...?
• What's in it for you to implemen this....?

Your customers' decision making criteria:

• How do you measure success with a current vendor?
• When it comes to price, quality, service, devliery, customer support, and ease of use, which is most important to you?
• Let's assume you are looking at three potential vendors who meet all of your criteria, including price. How would you then make a decision?

Three step qualifying process to a prospect's answer:

• Agree - Find something in the response to which you can agree.
• Clarify - After agreeing with some part, get as much detail as possible about the response.
• Legitimize -- determine if prospect is sincere or just trying to get rid of you politely. For example, before comitting to trip out there in person, say, "Let's just assume that I come out to your facility for a day. You're able to pull a group of people together, we do a demo, and everyone really finds value in what we have to offer. What do you see happening next?"
  • Other ways to begin legitimizing questions: "Assuming we can.." "What if..." "Let's just pretend..." "Just suppose..." "Imagine for a moment..."

Expansion Questions

Ordinary: Who is the decision maker? When will you make a decision? What is your time frame?

Expansion: Walk me through your company's decision-making process.

Ordinary: What do you like about your current vendor?

Expansion: Describe for me the qualities you look for when choosing a vendor.

Ordinary: Is price important to you? Is quality important to you? Is service important to you?

Expansion: Explain to me the criteria you use to make a decision.

Lock-On Questions

Customer: We have been trying to get this project off the ground for several months.

Lock-On: I noticedy ou said the word "trying." What has worked so far and what has not?

Customer: I am looking for a partnership rather than just someone to sell me a product.

Lock-On: Could you give me some specifics of what you mean when you say "partnership"?

Vision Questions - they have the word "if"

• If we could elimnate that problem you are currently experiencing, that problem that is costing you $1 M a year, what effects do you think that would have on your company?
• If those changes in your career were to happen now, how do you think your life would look five years from now?
• If this problem were solved, what would it enable you to do?

The Four Step Process for Handling Objections

1. Find a Point of Agreement. "Your price is too high" they say. Instead of arguing, say something like "I understand that money is an important issue to you."
2. Offer a Question of Clarity. Ask a question that gets to the heart of the problem.
3. Educate the Customer. Show concrete results from other customers, show examples, use comparisons / metaphors.
4. Secure a Comittment.

More questions to clarify price

• Who else will be involved in approving the budget?
• How will the funding be determined for this project?
• What kind of ROI are you expecting?