As business owners, we love doing the things we're great at - you know, serving clients and such.
Then sometimes, we have to throw on our 'salesman' hat and sell our stuff...which isn't always our strong suit.
What you want: make the sale
What you fear: being salesy, pushy, creepy, annoying, etc.
So how do you eliminate the awkward part and get on with your money-making mojo? I'll show you...
Here are 7 of my favorite questions that dig deep, uncover your prospect's real priorities, overcome objections, and get the sale.
Minus the awkward.
The first is a great question if the first question you’re getting right now is, “How much do you charge?”
Often times it means that people don’t know what else to ask- they may not know what they don’t know.
This first question you can ask will help put you back in the drivers’ seat of the sales conversation.
“Sure, I can help you with that. Is it ok if I ask you a couple questions so I can give you the most accurate information?”
Now you’ve taken control, and have an opportunity to ask them some really good questions, pull out some priorities other than price. There are always other buying considerations other than price and this gives you a chance to find out what those are for that prospect.
It also gives you a chance to articulate your value, to say some things that set you apart so that once you do get to the price question they know all the other factors that are important to consider when making this buying decision.
Here’s the second question:
“Tell me more about that?”
That’s a super simple one and a good fall-back question. Always keep it in your back pocket if you’re at a loss of what to say next. Ask them to expand on that, and they will. You can take a deeper cut, and sometimes find out what their real fears, concerns, and frustrations are.
Here’s the next question:
“So how do you want ___ to be different by [time frame]?”
The first blank is for the main benefit you offer, and the second is for the time frame is reasonable to expect a result for what you offer.
So if you sell marketing services, you can say, “So how do you want your lead flow to be different 12 months from now?”
Now you can find out what’s really important to the client and shift from selling on price or features you offer to selling on the benefit that they’re after.
Here’s the next question: “Suppose we were having this conversation x months from now, looking back, what would have to have happened for you to feel really happy with ___?”
This one is similar to the last, but takes it from a different angle. The first blank is the time frame and the second is the benefit of what you offer.
If I were asking this, I would say something like, “Let’s say we’re sitting together 12 months from now, what would have to have happened in your business in order for you to feel really happy with your progress?”
So it gets them to tell you what their priorities are.
Here’s the next question: “What factors other than price are important for you to consider when making this decision?”
This is a great question to overcome the price objection, as obviously price is a consideration, but it’s not the only one.
So if you’re getting the price objection further on in the sales conversation, this one is a great one to ask.
Here’s the sixth question:
“How does that fit with what you had in mind?”
This is one to ask when you’re moving toward the closing and it’s about time for the prospect to make a decision, or you’ve just presented your price, proposal, or solution you offer.
It’s super soft - not pushy, not salesy, and gives the prospect time to think and bring up any objections or areas of concerns that you haven’t addressed yet before you go in for the sale.
It’s a very comfortable closing question.
The last question is along the same lines when it comes to closing. “So what do you think we should do from here?”
Another very simple, low-pressure question that allows the prospect to tell you exactly what they want to happen next, or allows you to overcome any objections before offering the solution.
If you’ve done everything right up until that point, their next question might be something like, “When can we get started?” or, “How quickly can we get this done?”
Karie Kaufmann
San Diego Business Coach
ActionCOACH Business Coaching + Training Center
3111 Camino del Rio N STE 101, San Diego, CA 92108
(619) 321-9262
www.kariekaufmann.com