Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

It's Only Common Sense: The Sales Call

Editor's Note: To listen to Dan's weekly column, as you've always done in the past, click here. For  the written transcript, keep reading...I've written quite a bit recently about the sales call. For many years I've been advising the salespeople I work with that they cannot just "wing it" during a sales call and expect it to be successful. All good salespeople choreograph their sales meetings with their customers and perspective customers. They know what they want to accomplish during the call and they know exactly what to say to get it accomplished--to move the client down the sales channel to that next critical step in the sales process.

One of the most successful methods of producing a successful sales call is to establish a questioning process. A salesperson should develop a series of provocative questions that will lead the client down a path to the sale.

Last week, wanting to know more about this process, I went in search of a book that would help me to do just that. I came across a little gem called The Secret Language of Influence: Master the One Skill Every Sales Person Needs by Dan Seidman. The book is about communication skills: How to learn them, how to get good at them, and how to apply them to the sales process.

The chapter that I found particularly interesting was the one that revealed questions that advance the sale. In the chapter titled “Five Rules that Lead to great Questioning Practices,” I found exactly what I was looking for in terms of the right questions and how to ask them during the sales call.

For the sake of time and length, I have listed the five rules below and summarized the author’s words when it comes to elaborating on each of them:

Rule 1: Evoke Emotion with Your Questions

Get the buyer to respond with feeling. Strike a nerve, ding the thing that he or she really cares about and hit it hard. Whether their emotion is positive or negative, they will be revealed to you and also help you solve their problem.

Rule 2: Lead with Softening Statements

These statements are designed to create conversation. They should move the conversation along into a dialogue that keeps the buyer talking about something that interests her and provides you with very valuable information.

Here is an example:

Prospect: “Your price is too high.”

Seller: “Help me out here, please. You’re saying it’s too high, but is it too high compared to other options or do you mean you may not have the budget for this amount?”

Or:

Seller: “I just thought of something. Let’s work some through some numbers so that we know for sure what the best decision is for you.”

In each case, we avoid the open and shut statements and move into a productive dialogue that is good for both the buyer and the seller. A great bonus with this method is that it brings the two entities closer to the point that, instead of working across the desk from one another, they are now working together to solve a problem.

Rule 3: Dig Deeper

The best questions give you the opportunity to not only evoke a deeper emotional response, but also to understand more details about the prospect situation. By digging deeper, you get a much greater understanding of the issues and challenges the prospect is facing which, of course, puts you in a much better position to offer a better solution.

By digging deeper, you can take the conversation down a path of your choosing. You can actually encourage the prospect to head in a direction that will meet your solution. As the prospect talks about his problems, encourage him to elaborate, to give you more details while also showing that you are interested in what he has to say.

Rule 4: Identify the Types and Times for Questions

Identify the types of questions to ask during the different phases of the sale. First, qualify the customer in terms of budget: Do they have the money for this project or product? Urgency: Are they in trouble right now, what is their timing? And finally, authority: Who is the real decision-maker and who can approve this project or buy?

Second, handle the objections: What is keeping you from making the sale and how can you overcome that obstacle?

Third, gain the commitment. What is it going to take to make the sale? Ask the prospect to define success. Work with them to define and prevent any obstacles that might come up and finalize the sale by getting their permission to take that final step by asking a question like, “What would you like to do next?” or “May I start right now, by preparing you to acquire the solution?” or “When can we get started with implementation?”

Rule 5: Select Your Five Power Questions

Here are examples of power questions offered by the author:

1. Could you tell me more or be more specific?
2. How long has that situation been going on and what has it cost you?
3. What have you done in the past to solve this problem and how is that working out?
4. How is that problem or situation affecting you personally? How does that make you feel?
5. Have you considered just leaving things the way they are or what would you do if you couldn’t find a solution?

Of course, you have to craft your own questions in your own words to fit your situation and you have to have the discipline and skill to get your power questions answered.

I know this is not easy stuff and I know that winging it seems like a heck of a lot easier way to go, but this is sales, ladies and gentlemen. If you want to call yourself a true sales professional, these are examples of the things you have to do. Success does not come easy and definitely does not come to those who wing it. It’s only common sense.