34
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Questions Do Make the Sale
by Bill Brooks
Anyone who has ever sold anything to anybody,
studied sales or persuasion, managed salespeople
or has even passingly read an occasional book on
sales knows the simple truth that questions really
do drive the sale. Why is that? Here are just
three to get us started.
minimum, master the ability to:
1. Questions allow the salesperson to control
the pace, direction, tone and structure of the
sales interaction.
2. Questions allow the prospect to verbalize
problems to be solved, issues to be resolved,
needs to be met and wants to be satisfied.
3. Questions allow the salesperson to present a
solution that is 100% on target for the
prospect’s needs or wants.
•
Ask the right questions.
•
Ask those questions at the right time.
•
Ask the questions of the right people.
•
Be quiet and actively listen.
We will examine the right questions in this
article. We will also address the timing issue.
However, the subject of making sure salespeople
are in front of the right person is quite another
topic. And concentrated listening warrants its
own article of this length or longer. However,
suffice it to say that those right people will have
all, or most, of the following characteristics:
•
They will have a need for the salesperson’s
product or service and know it.
•
They have a true sense of urgency – they
legitimately want or need the product or
service within a relatively short time frame.
•
They have both the authority and ability to
pay for it.
•
They trust the salesperson as well as the
organization they represent.
“I continue to have trouble asking the right
questions.”
•
They are willing and ready to listen to the
salesperson.
“I still tend to interrupt the prospect.”
Now, let’s look at the right time for the questions.
They will fall inside of 8 specific frames or phases
of the sales process. Here they are:
Here, however, is the real problem. Why is it
that salespeople are taught all about questions,
and how to ask them, understand their
importance and still have trouble with their
implementation and use in the field? In our
consulting and training work we consistently
find that the biggest single problem salespeople
continue to have even after extensive training (612 months) always centers around questioning.
Here is the feedback we get in case after case:
“I need more help or training in asking
questions.”
What does all of this mean? What is it that
salespeople actually need to do? They must, as a
Northern Illinois University
•
Positioning of the salesperson in the mind of
prospect and to the marketplace in general
Application Article
Winter 2007
35
•
Prospecting for business opportunities
•
How am I actually perceived?
•
Pre-Call Planning
•
•
Probing for opportunities
How would I like my organization to be
perceived? How is it actually perceived?
•
Presenting with power
•
What should I/we do to be viewed the way
we need or want to be perceived?
•
Proving claims
•
How is my product/service perceived?
•
Pinpointing objections
•
How should it be perceived?
•
Posturing the transaction
•
With whom do I need to be properly
positioned inside this organization?
•
Who are my toughest competitors in this
market? In this sale?
Salesperson positioning is an often overlooked
skill that many sales managers and salespeople
discredit, yet is essential in successful selling. It
is not unusual for salespeople to believe that
positioning is strictly a function of the brand,
organization or “marketing department.”
However, in the highly competitive world of
today’s selling, the difference between marketing
and sales has become increasingly blurred and
more intertwined than ever before. And the role
of positioning just as critical for the individual
salesperson as it is for any department or the
entire enterprise. For our purposes here we will
define positioning as the relative perception you
(or your product/service, enterprise, sales team
or salesperson) possess in the mind of your
prospect or customer in comparison to all other
options they have for your type of offering.
•
How are they positioned vis-à-vis, me/us?
•
How well am I positioned with related,
strategic markets?
Now, let’s look at questions that are relevant for
each of the “P’s” that go into making the sale.
Positioning
Failure to determine the answers to these eight
questions can put any salesperson and their
organization at great peril. Why is that? Among
the many potential problems are these:
•
Not being positioned in the light that the
prospect/buyer feels to be the most
desirable for a supplier (least risk, low price,
known quantity, quality provider, etc.).
•
Not positioning yourself properly against
your competition.
•
Positioning yourself with the wrong internal
constituency.
Here are the key questions a salesperson should
ask both of themselves and of others during this
early phase of the sales process:
•
Failing to position your product/service/
solution in the most valuable way with the
right market.
Positioning Questions
Clearly, all of these scenarios are not good.
However, proper positioning is, among other
things, a great way to create more “pull” than
“push.” And that difference is critical in the
•
How do I personally want to be perceived
by this prospect or account?
Vol. 7, No. 1
36
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
•
When is the worst time to contact them?
•
How will I track my data?
•
How many contacts will it take?
•
Am I calling on the right person? At the
right level? At the right time?
•
What is my unique selling proposition?
•
Is this truly a qualified prospect?
•
How do I define a qualified prospect?
•
How will I stay in touch?
•
Do I have an automated system?
Here are some of the most salient questions a
salesperson needs to ask himself or herself in
order to have a successful and profitable
prospecting system in place.
•
Is it usable?
•
When should I give up?
•
Have I identified an internal advocate?
Prospecting Questions
•
How well do I understand the formal and
informal structure and influence dynamics of
the organization?
•
What should I say to leave an effective
voicemail?
•
Do I have a strong prospect nurturing
system in place?
•
How often should I contact them? Through
what format do they prefer to be contacted?
next plan of the sale. It simply makes the
salesperson’s life a lot easier.
Prospecting
Prospecting is, for many sales organizations, the
most essential part of any sale. It is also not
unusual to find salespeople prospecting
infrequently, intermittently, sporadically,
improperly or not at all. For many sales
organizations the science of prospecting does,
however, reach an art form. And those few
organizations who do prospect well have the
luxury of applying tighter qualification standards
to leads, saving time, maximizing resources and
consistently having fresh, new prospects.
•
What is the best way for me to get in front
of the right prospect(s)?
•
Where do they work? Socialize? Gather?
Attend meetings? Network?
•
Who knows them best?
•
What must I do to get a referral?
•
Where are the best available lists?
•
How will I use the lists I obtain?
Pre-Call Planning
•
To what would those prospects be most
responsive?
•
To what would they be least responsive?
•
What is the best vehicle for getting in front
of them?
•
When is the best time to contact them?
Along with Positioning, Pre-Call Planning is a
vastly overlooked phase of any sales effort.
Failure to pre-call plan is not unlike launching a
military campaign with little or no strategy or
entering a football game with no game plan.
Neither one of these scenarios is very good –
particularly if you’re one of the assault troops or
players.
It is, therefore, not good for a
salesperson, either. Now, let’s take a look at
Northern Illinois University
Application Article
essential questions for proper Pre-Call Planning.
Pre-Call Planning Questions
•
What materials will I need?
•
How will I organize them?
•
What time do I need to leave in order to
arrive at the prospect’s site ahead of time?
•
How should I dress?
•
Do I have directions?
•
Have I double-checked prospect’s website?
Reviewed other, on line data?
•
Have I planned my questions?
•
Am I mentally prepared?
•
Has my internal advocate briefed me?
•
Have I completed my checklist relative to
the tools I need/promised?
Winter 2007
37
provides. But…every salesperson knows that,
don’t they? Here’s the problem. Again, after
observing thousands of salespeople over the past
25-30 years, very few do it.
What are the most common mistakes that
salespeople make when they Probe? Here are 10
that we have observed time and time again:
1. Failing to have sufficient information about
the prospect and/or their organization
before the sales call. Therefore, it becomes
impossible to ask meaningful questions.
2. Asking questions and then not really
listening to the answers.
3. Asking one or two questions and then
prematurely making an off target, inaccurate
recommendation to the prospect.
4. Interrupting the prospect in the midst of
their response.
5. Failing to ask questions related to problems,
needs, wants or situations that are most
relevant to the prospect.
•
How well do I know the prospect’s process?
•
How much competition do I have?
•
From whom have they been buying? Why?
6. Failing to ask permission to keep a written
record of the prospect’s answers.
•
Do I have some idea of budget range? Time
frame? Budget cycle?
7. Failing to record or write down appropriate
answers for further application.
•
Why are they agreeing to see me?
8. Failing to ask appropriate follow-up
questions (“Tell me more” or “Could you
explain what you mean by that.”)
Probing for Opportunities
Let there be no doubt, it is Probing during the
face-to-face portion of the sale that demands the
most time, attention, concentration and care.
Here is where salespeople must learn to seek
permission to ask questions, must have earned
the right to do so and have secured the trust of
the prospect so their answers will be open,
honest and direct. Salespeople must also be
totally focused on the answers that the prospect
9. Not following up closed-ended questions
(questions for which the answer is “yes” or
“no”) with clarification questions (“Why do
you say that?).
10. Asking enough of the right questions and, in
spite of good knowledge, launch into a sales
presentation that in no way reflects the
solution the prospect is seeking.
Vol. 7, No. 1
38
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
Now, let’s look at some of the most critical
questions to be asked when Probing:
•
What impact have these had on your
business/profits/morale, etc.?
Sample Primary Probing Questions (ones that a
salesperson must first ask of themselves):
•
What, if anything, are you looking for from
an organization that you haven’t found?
•
Do I know the problems they’re trying to
solve?
•
What do you like most about your current
supplier?
•
Do I know which questions to ask in order
to facilitate the prospect’s discussion of
these problems?
•
What kind of budget range, if any, are you
working within?
•
Do I know the needs I fill? Problems I
solve? Issues I resolve? Benefits I provide?
•
What kind of a time frame do you have in
mind?
•
Do I know how to ask questions that will get
them telling me what they need, want or
have to have solved?
•
What have you seen that’s particularly
appealed to you?
•
What process do you use to make this type
of decision?
•
Who else, other than you, of course, is
involved in this decision?
•
What is it in your current situation that you
absolutely do not want to see changed?
•
If you could change anything about your
current situation, what would it be?
•
Do I know how to ask objection testing
questions to determine if I can avoid
objections or anticipate them?
What is the single thing that’s most
important to you about this decision?
•
If we were able to solve your problem what
would this mean to your organization?
•
Do I have a set of proven, tested questions
to ask?
•
What would it mean to you personally?
•
Do I have those questions written down for
easy reference?
•
Do I know the benefits the features of my
product or service provide?
•
Do I know how to ask questions that will get
them telling me if they legitimately need
those benefits before I list them in my sales
presentation?
•
•
Do I know the most common objections I
hear?
Sample Secondary Probing Questions (questions a
salesperson should ask of the prospect):
•
What are some of the major challenges
within your business in the past 6 months?
Northern Illinois University
Presenting With Power
Isn’t it interesting that the presentation phase of
the sale also requires questions? Isn’t that the
phase of the sale where the salesperson earns his
or her pay? Don’t they sell their product or
service with great persuasion? Create value?
Present their story? Tell instead of ask?
Application Article
Winter 2007
39
Here’s the hook. They need to know exactly
what story, which benefits, which features,
which components and in which context to
make the most effective presentation. How is
that configured? Again, by answering the right
questions.
•
How does this look?
•
Are we on target?
•
Does this look like it will work for you?
•
What do you think?
Among the many questions that a salesperson
needs to ask of themselves before they ever even
think about making a presentation are these:
•
Does this make sense?
•
Does this look like it will solve your
problem?
•
Do I really understand what the prospect
wants to accomplish with my product or
service before I can present it intelligently?
•
In what format do they want to see it?
Based on the response, the salesperson will then
know exactly how to proceed. Bottom line,
there are only four possible responses to any of
these questions. Here they are:
•
How soon do they want to see it?
•
“Yes.”
•
Who are the people who must see it?
•
“No.”
•
How simple or
presentation be?
•
“I’m not sure.”
•
“I need to discuss it with ‘X’.”
complex
should
the
•
What benefits should I stress?
•
How will I create great value for what it is
that I sell in the mind of the prospect?
•
What must I do to minimize potential
objectives?
•
How and when should I present price?
Create value? Minimize perception of cost?
Only after these questions are asked and
answered is it time to make any formal
presentation.
Key to this presentation is to make sure that the
prospect provides feedback relative to how “on
or off target” the presentation is. The only way
to do this is with feedback or course correction
questions. Here are samples of those types of
questions:
•
Does this look like what you’re trying to accomplish?
If the response is positive, the salesperson should
proceed with confidence, knowing that, at least to
that point the presentation is on target. If the
response is “no” to any of these questions, the
salesperson needs to ask a form of this question,
“Why do you say that?” Once the prospect tells the
salesperson why he or she feels that way, the
salesperson needs to ask, “Is there anything you’ve
seen that isn’t on target?” Once any or all issues are
exposed, the salesperson needs to ask, “What is it
about what you’ve seen that causes you concern?”
Now, the salesperson can address each issue and
continue to ask feedback or course correction
questions as a newly formulated solution is presented.
In the case of an “I’m not sure” response, the
salesperson needs to ask a form of this question,
“What is it that you’re unsure about?” Once that
source has been clarified, the salesperson can go
ahead and present the modified solution based
on the prospect’s answer. If the answer is “I
Vol. 7, No. 1
40
Journal of Selling & Major Account Management
need to discuss it with X”, what does the
salesperson ask at this point? Some form of the
following question is totally appropriate. “I
understand. Would it help if I helped you
present it?” or “Would you mind if I helped you
prepare the presentation?”, “When do you plan
to discuss it with them?” or “What part of it will
require the most explanation?”
What this all means is that even making a
presentation is all about questions. It’s not just
about the answers. The quality, depth, breadth
and consistency of questions will determine the
quality, depth, breadth and consistency that the
prospect and his or her product or service will
perceive that the salesperson has.
Proving Claims
It is a fundamental sales truth that prospects
expect salespeople to make claims for their
product or service. It is also a truth that they
will more likely believe what someone else claims
to be true about that product or service. What
does that mean to a salesperson? Simply this.
Again, it’s all about the questions. Here are 5
that can tell a salesperson exactly how to
corroborate their claims.
•
Would you like to talk with several of our
happy customers?
•
Would you like to see a list of happy clients?
•
Can I show you our book of testimonial
letters from happy users?
•
Would you like to review third party
research?
•
Would you like to see some powerful articles
written about us in trade journals?
•
It is also true that people believe what they
experience, not just what they are told. Some
Northern Illinois University
questions here?
•
Would you like to try our product with no
obligation?
•
Would you be interested in trying our 30 day
no questions asked return policy?
•
Would you like to go into the field, talk to
some users and see our equipment in action?
Pinpointing and Overcoming Objections/
Posturing the Transaction
Contemporary selling requires far more than the
old school memorization of “canned” ways to
deal with objections. In the final analysis,
objections can really be surfaced all the way
through the face-to-face process. Just a quick
review of the various questions outlined in this
article will clearly reveal that reality. For
example:
•
What is your budget range?
•
How does this look?
•
How are we doing so far?
However, the best way to surface any last minute
objections is to ask some form of this question,
“Based on what you’ve seen so far is there
anything that would keep you from going ahead
with this?” Perhaps this question is your
preference, “Would you like to get started?” Or,
how about this one, “Would you like me to place
an order?” The flavor of this question will be
driven by the salesperson’s appetite for
assertiveness.
The answer to these questions will, of course,
take us to posturing the transaction. In reality,
the raising of objections and the finalization of
transactions are, in fact, totally intertwined.
However, the salesperson really does need to ask
himself or herself several questions prior to even
Application Article
isolating the objection in anticipation of
finalizing the transaction with these questions:
•
How receptive is this prospect, at this time,
to reaching agreement?
•
How much value have I created?
•
How successfully have I asked feedback and
course correction questions?
•
How confident do I feel that this prospect is
ready to buy?
•
What process should I use to handle all the
details correctly?
Winter 2007
41
Bill Brooks has been a sales consultant, speaker and trainer
for over 25 years. He is founder and CEO of The Brooks
Group, a sales and sales management consulting firm based in
Greensboro, NC. The author of 18 books, he is a former college
football coach, dean and faculty member. Bill is a Certified
Management Consultant and member of The Speakers’ Hall of
Fame. An honors graduate of Gettysburg College, he holds a
masters degree from Syracuse University. Bill is also a military
veteran with 23 months of duty in Southeast Asia. He is the
author of literally hundreds of articles on sales and sales
management. Three of Bill’s books have been national bestsellers.
He is the former CEO of a firm with more than 3,500
salespeople and has worked with over 2,000 firms from 450
industries during his career in consulting and training. He can be
reached at: The Brooks Group, 3810 North Elm Street,
Greensboro, NC 27455, by phone at 800-633-7762, or via
email at bill@thebrooksgroup.com
However, you’re not done yet! Salespeople need
to ask themselves these questions after they
finalize any transaction.
•
What should I do to guarantee that this new
customer will not change his/her mind?
•
What details do I need to handle with regard
to paperwork, delivery and commitments?
•
What have I promised during the sales
presentation that I must deliver? When must
I do so?
•
With whom, inside of my organization, must
I coordinate with to ensure that my new
customer is handled correctly?
•
What do I need to do to thank this new
customer for their purchase?
There you have it. Question after question. In
fact, this short article contains no less than 100
different questions that need to be asked at
various stages of the sale. Yes, it is true. It’s
really all about the questions because the right
questions give you the right answers, don’t they?
What do you think?
Vol. 7, No. 1