Questions are the meat and bone of Selling. Without asking questions and good questions you will not sell much. Remember the favorite radio station for all human beings is WII-FM ( What’s in it for me). People buy for their reasons, not yours. It is therefore imperative to find out what the customer wants. The way to do that is by asking questions. As simple as this sounds. There is a little bit more to this. How do you go about asking effective questions in a sales interview?
Closed and Open Questions
There are primarily two types of questions: closed and open questions.
Open questions allow the prospect to expand on their answer. Questions in this format include What, Why, When, Who, Where, and How. When a person is asked a why question? An explanation is expected and given by the prospect.
Closed questions allow the prospect to give a specific answer such as a yes and no. Do you like the product? Is this correct? Was it done? All these questions lead to a yes or no answer.
A tie-down is a variation of the closed question. It is an extremely useful technique when looking for agreement in a sales presentation. An example is, isn’t it? Aren’t they? Can’t You? Don’t we? Wouldn’t You? Don’t you agree?
The use of the tie-down question to elicit agreement is endless. Remember prospects buy for their reasons and yours. You have to make sure there is an agreement in their minds. So you say “these shoes are beautiful, aren’t they?” You deserve it, don’t you?
Now that we have gotten most of the technical bits of questions out of the way. Let’s get to the fun part how do we use questions to sell.
Stages in a sales interview
There are 4 main stages in selling a product or service.
The first stage is building rapport with the prospect. The second stage is the discovery stage where you find what the customers’ challenges or problems are. The third stage is presenting a solution to the customer’s challenge. The final stage of the sales process is closing the sale.
Building Rapport in a sales interview
The first stage is really about getting to know your prospect as a person, not a buyer. So you would want to ask open questions and listen. I would say it again ask open questions and listen. These are the only two activities you need to build rapport. To make another suggestion listen twice as much as you talk. Examples of open questions
- How are you?
- How are things going?
- How is your day?
You can get as personal as it is allowed by the client. Now you have moved your prospect from cold to a warm audience. It is a crucial step. Don’t skip it. Human beings buy from people they like.
Discovery stage in sales interview
Now you have a warm prospect. But you as Aristotle you cannot convince anyone of anything. You have let them convince themselves. It is time to ask open questions again this time to find out
- What the customer’s challenge or problem is
- Why the want it resolved (Emotional reasons)
Again very little talking and more listening.
Presentation stage in a sales interview
After the customer has exhausted his discussion on challenges and problems. You have to ask. Is that all or do you want to add something? If the answer is No. Then you proceed to provide benefits of your product or services to your prospect. Remember the prospect is not buying your product but buying the End results. Another way of saying it is this. The prospects want to move from their current state to the desired state using your product or service as the vehicle. The product or service must deliver the end results. Your presentation must highlight the benefits of your products.
Closing the Sale in a sales interview
The final stage of the sales interview is closing the sale. At this stage, you use closed questions. After making your presentation, you ask the question about their purchase. Most sales are lost because the salesperson never asks the customer to buy. Yep. This is mainly due to their fear of rejection. But there is no need for that. If you have listened to the prospect’s problems and your products or service solves their itch, they will scratch around for the money.
So the question here are mainly closed questions. You like the shoes, don’t you? You deserve it, don’t you? How do you want it delivered now or we ship it?
My thoughts
Questions are extremely useful in a sales interview. A person that asks questions sells a whole lot more than their competition. The trick is to have good judgment on when and how to use closed and open questions.
Hope you find this useful in your entrepreneurial journey.
Until next wealth builders, let’s build wealth
