“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” -Tony Robbins
OK, so you’ve developed and adhered to your prospecting plan religiously. You’ve worked your way through the gate keeper. You’ve avoided voice mail hell. You’ve actually gotten the prospect on the phone, established some rapport, qualified him, gotten some personal information, uncovered some pain and he has indicated a willingness to take some time to talk with you. You’ve successfully set up that all important ‘face to face’ meeting. You’ve brushed your teeth, shined your shoes, brushed the lint off your shoulders, checked your ’gig’ line, made sure you have business cards, and you’re sitting down in front of the prospect.
Now what???????????
When you are in these early stages of the relationship it’s imperative that you have 10-15 good questions prepared, written down, and ready to go. All great sales people are smart and smart sales people ask smart questions. The quality of your questions will dictate the quality of the relationship.
Remember: you’re looking for pain and problems.
When I get a decision maker on the phone, here are some of the questions I ask; the goal being to get my prospect to think about his current situation and perhaps uncover some pain.
*How successful is your sales team in converting cold calls into face to face meetings? How do you measure their success ratios?
*What are you doing to insure the professional development of your sales team? How do you measure their progress?
*What percentage of your sales team made their numbers in 2009? How much new business did they develop?
*Are there things you are doing differently in 2010?
Below are some questions ( that I actually downloaded from sales training sites on the internet) that I feel you would want to avoid at all costs. See if you agree.
*Would you like some information on our company and what we do? (“Sure! I collect corporate literature as a hobby.”)
*If you thought our company could help you improve efficiency and quality at the same time, would you want to know more? (“Say what?”)
*Can you tell me a little bit about your business? (“Absolutely! I’ve been waiting all day for a pefect stanger to call and ask me that question.”)
*Can I quote on some of your upcoming projects? (!#@$%^&^%$#$%)(*&^%%!)
| Tweet |
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Leave a comment
Comments (0)
