I was working with a client on improving his qualification process. He’d already attended our Ei Selling® boot camp. Now, we were taking an even deeper dive into creating customized questions for each buying influence and industry.
One of his younger associates joined the coaching sessions and shared great advice learned from one of his mentors. Early in his career, this associate thought he needed to KNOW everything to look and sound like an expert. His mentor guided him to a better way of thinking.
“The questions you ask demonstrate your expertise without you ever saying a word about your products, services or experience.”
How good are the questions your salespeople ask?
There’s always a valuable place for needs-analysis questions. But once those questions are mastered, coach your sales team members to step up the quality of their questions to improve the quality of the sales conversations.
Hold a brainstorming session with your sales team and create questions demonstrate expertise without ever mentioning your company. Here are a few examples.
1. Trends. Note: Your salespeople can’t ask questions around trends unless they are reading the newspaper, journal articles and industry thought leaders.
“With the increased perception of commoditization created by ecommerce and XYZ technology, what is your company doing to sell value, not price?”
“With the boomers retiring, what is your organization doing to prepare high potentials to lead in a business environment that changes every six months?”
2. Customer Demands. What are the changing demands your customers are experiencing from their customers? Does your sales team know the new demands that may require new solutions?
“We’ve found that in a I-want-it-now, instant-gratification society, customers are becoming more demanding. What is your company doing to respond to those demands and still deliver high-quality services?”
“What are the changing demands you’re hearing from your customers in how they want to interface with your company? Are they requesting more face time or desiring more on-line support?”
3. Disruption. Note: It’s here to stay and it’s always going to be difficult to navigate because companies hire human beings, and human beings don’t like change. It’s Brain Science 101.
“What is your company doing to compete and handle the latest disruption of ______________.”
“What tools are you providing your team to accelerate through the change curve, the disruption curve more quickly, so you don’t fall behind the competition?”
Remember, the questions you ask demonstrate your expertise without you ever saying a word about your products, services or experience.
Good Selling!
