Sales Training: The Power of Questions .

By Kelley Robertson

Sales training participants often ask how they can better control the sales process. Although most have been trained to spend the majority of their time talking about their product or service believing that telling is selling, it is an ineffective approach. The most effective way to control the sale is to ask more questions.

Selling is like driving a car: The person who asks the questions sits in the driver's seat and controls the direction of the sale, while the passenger—the person who answers the questions—goes along for the ride. Unfortunately, many sales people feel that they are selling when they respond to their prospect's questions. They mistakenly believe this will demonstrate how smart or knowledgeable they are and will help their prospect make a buying decision. In actuality, the customer takes control of the sale whenever he moves into the driver's seat by asking questions.

Your sales reps can also lose control of the sale if they aren't asking the right kinds of questions. Many sales people have learned to ask questions, all too often they sound like this:

"If I could save you money, would you be interested?"
"Is this the one you want?"
"What will it take to earn your business?"

The problem with questions like these is that they do not help your reps gain the knowledge they need to effectively present a solution.—and these questions only demonstrate a lack of sales ability that will quickly cause the prospect to lose interest in the call or discussion.



Instead, your reps need to ask high-quality questions that will make your prospect think and will demonstrate your company's knowledge and expertise. For example—if your reps sell advertising—have them focus on learning more about the prospect's goals and challenges instead of asking standard questions that focus on current advertising campaigns and budgets. This approach helps you gain more insight to your prospect's business which means your reps will be able to present an attractive solution.

Here are three tips to developing good sales questions to pass on to your team:

1. Determine your key objective.
What information do you require in order to move the sales process forward or determine the best solution for your customer? You questions will vary depending on the customer.

2. Consider the person you will be speaking with.
The higher up you go in an organization, the more strategic your questions need to me. Questions about the company's goals and objectives and the challenges and barriers that are preventing them from reaching those targets will give you valuable insight.

3. Use "what" questions.
What caused that problem? What action are you taking to achieve your goals? What specific challenges are preventing you from reaching your targets? What results are you expecting? By determining the cause of their problems, you will be able to better tailor your presentation and show your prospecs how your product or service is a solution.

Another mistake sales reps make is that they tend to move backwards through the sales process. Oftentimes, reps start a sales pitch to a client with their presentation or demonstration followed by a Q & A session. This is a recipie for failure and sets the prospect up to ask questions and take control of the sale. Instead, train your reps to ask questions about their prospect's needs first and then adapt their presentation to address those needs. If you can offer a prospect a difinitive solution, closing the deal will be a certainty.

In today's ultra-competitive business world it is actually easy to stand out from the competition. Most sales people are so focused on trying to get the sale that they don't learn anything about their prospect's situation. If you truly want to control the sales process and positively influence the outcome, you must teach yourself and your reps to ask questions instead of talking. Contrary to popular belief, telling is NOT selling.