5 Reasons to Ask Sales Prospects More Questions Asking genuine and caring questions is the number one way to build trust with anyone, including prospects.
By Marc Wayshak Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
What do your sales prospects care about? Certainly not your product or service. In fact, all they really care about are the daily challenges they face and how you can help solve them.
Understanding this is key to crushing your sales goals. If you continue to focus on yourself, talk about your product and service and ignore your prospects' top concerns, you'll be stuck at the bottom of the sales ladder -- forever.
Related: 6 Infallible Sales Strategies for Beating Even the Toughest Competition
The solution? Ask more questions. That sounds simple, because it is. Check out the top five pillars of questioning you should be addressing to sales prospects:
1. You'll learn what motivates prospects.
When you ask your prospects questions to discover their deepest frustrations, you'll know exactly how to craft a solution they actually want to invest in. You can't find out what key challenges will motivate your prospects to buy from you unless you simply ask them.
Hone in on the obstacles and problems in each prospect's world and look for ways you can present your product or service as a solution to those problems.
2. You'll be able to disqualify prospects.
The only way to disqualify prospects is to ask the right questions, right away. You may not be used to the idea that you should disqualify certain prospects. But, when you don't disqualify, you only waste time and energy chasing down prospects you'll never, ever close.
Value-based questions that tap into your prospect's top challenges and goals allow a sales rep to discover if the prospect is a fit for your product in the first place. When you adopt this approach, prospects will pick up on the distinction, and your reps will ultimately close more sales.
3. You'll be less likely to sabotage your sale.
Far too many salespeople sabotage their own sales by talking too much about themselves, their products and their services. Asking questions can actually save you from this kind of self-sabotage.
Instead of rambling on about your offerings to the point when your prospect says, "I think I need to think this over a little more before I say yes," focus exclusively on questions you can ask. Then listen to what the prospect has to say. Finally, carefully craft your responses to speak to your prospect's top-of-mind concerns.
Related: 5 Strategies for Entrepreneurs to Improve Sales
4. You'll connect better with prospects.
In order to close any prospect, you have to make sure that there is a connection. You have to build more than rapport; you have to build trust. Asking genuine and caring questions is the number one way to build trust with anyone, including prospects.
When you take the time to dig deep into your prospects' world, they'll be far more likely to buy from you. In the end, you'll be able to close more profitable sales.
5. You'll start to craft unique presentations.
When you ask numerous questions, you get a lot of information. You can use that information to craft unique and compelling presentations for your prospects. If you simply jump into a sales presentation before asking the right questions, your entire presentation may be totally off base.
Take the time to discover as much as you can about the prospect. Then, fill your presentation with concrete examples of past clients who faced similar challenges and saw real results with your product or service.
Related: 7 Psychological Strategies for Mastering Sales Negotiations
For even more great tips, check out this special report on three closing questions you must ask.
