Peady’s Selling Engagement sponsored by IRD Prospector
Welcome to this week’s post on sales and selling success. I hope you’ve had a great Easter break.
Most salespeople will tell you that their selling conversations could be better. Not a little better, significantly better. And an important component of strong conversations is asking thought provoking questions; and in my experience great salespeople are great questioners. The French writer Voltaire said: “Judge a man by his questions”
What happens after you ask your questions?
This is the challenge because some salespeople only ask a couple of questions and having felt they have done that “bit” they quickly move onto recommendation and/or close mode. Often followed quickly by a “no” from the customer.
According to Gong IO (a US CRM company) who analysed a massive 519,000 “discovery calls”, there’s a direct correlation between the number of questions asked and the chance of success. They found that asking 15-18 questions over the course of your discovery call is optimal.
On the other hand, other sales people jump onto the first potential need or opportunity uncovered and stop the questioning believing the job is done. This too, is often followed by a “no” or a “let me think it over” (a code phrase for “no”).
It’s not over until it’s over
Let’s not fool ourselves. Too many “business conversations” are interrogations by another name! The salesperson asks a shopping list of questions, gets some responses (many of which are not the real answer) ticks some boxes and misses the big picture while conducting a one-sided interaction.
A genuine business conversation is exactly that – a conversation. There are gaps, one word answers, pauses, interruptions maybe even one or two disagreements the kind we have every day with family, workmates and friends.
The magic happens when you and a customer (or potential customer) align, then the real discovery process takes place. Whether its 30 minutes or an hour it takes time to really learn about the challenges or opportunities that exist.
A recent research piece from HubSpot “Buyers Speak Out” showed the top 4 things customers want in a sales experience:
- Listens to my needs (69%)
- Is not pushy (61%)
- Provides relevant information (61%)
- Responds in a timely manner (51%)
The only way that I know of to deliver all 4 is to ask relevant questions! Questions to uncover needs, how the buyer likes the process to flow, what information is required and the timelines.
Grow your sales conversations, take them to the next level by knowing what to do after you ask those questions. It’s the key to success.
Until next week, good selling!
About the author
Stephen Pead is a media industry veteran of 30 years with significant experience in direct sales, sales management and general management. He is based in Sydney and specialises in helping SME’s market their businesses more effectively and providing training for salespeople and sales managers.
He can be contacted at [email protected]
