“As a rule, the person who asks questions has control. The individual who is answering the questions is controlled by the person who is asking them.
Whenever you ask a question and listen attentively to the answer, you are controlling the directional flow of the sales conversation, which is as it should be.”
– Brian Tracy, Author The Psychology of Selling
Ever heard the saying that telling is not selling? That’s right.
One way you know you’re losing control over the sales call is when the customer is doing all the listening.
Or, when you’re doing all the talking.
Unfortunately, there is still the erroneous perception that a good salesperson is the one who talks the most.
The fastest way to close more sales deals is to master the sales conversation.
The fastest way to master the sales conversation is by asking lots of quality questions.
In my experience, no customer has ever said to me, “you ask too many questions”.
But you don’t want to be asking sales call questions for the sheer sake of it.
In fact, when you ask poor questions, you risk losing the client’s interest.
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Sales call questions provides control
Asking questions helps to delve deeper into the underlying emotions and motivations of the customer.
And decipher a clever and meaningful way to align our sales propositions.
As it turns out, customers buy for different reasons.
And it’s our duty to identify these reasons and align our proposition.
Think of it this way: when you ask a question, you encourage the prospect to engage. To respond to your question.
The person responding is following the lead of the person asking.
So whenever you feel you’re losing track of the sales call, pause and ask a powerful question.
It sounds counterintuitive.
You may assume that you take instant control of a sales call by talking all the time. No.
I’ve never met anyone who has closed a deal without asking a question.
In B2B sales, asking the right questions is the key to making the sale.
We’ve put together 21 powerful sales call questions that can help you gain control of the sales call, and close more deals.
In the meanwhile, Here are five questions you can use immediately to gain control over the sales call:
1) Who has the power to stop this deal from moving forward?
What you’re seeking to achieve with this question is to identify the ultimate stakeholder.
Sometimes, the people who sign up for your demos or discovery calls are not decision makers.
They are interns or lower level executives without any decision making power.
It’s important to know early on in the call who else has the decision making authority. This helps you to fine-tune the sales conversation.
And also helps to address the concerns of all the different stakeholders involved.
If you’re using the Account Based Selling approach, this can help you tailor messages very well.
2) What results are you held accountable for?
Everyone wants to feel good about what they do. They want to feel they are making a contribution.
So why don’t you tap into this emotional component of this human nature?
By asking this question, you elevate your prospect as a contributor to the company she is working with.
And that respect you show in that question will pay off with an answer that can enable you to close the deal.
Remember that if you are able to show how this person will benefit, they will be on their way to becoming your product’s champion.
3) If something like this were to work for you, when would you like to get started?
This is one of my favorite questions. I learned it from my friend Bubba Page, CEO of Outro.
What happens when we don’t ask this question, according to Bubba is that
“…you have people who may have purchased your product, but they just don’t move forward because they were never asked to move forward.”
This allows prospects to show whether or not they are interested. And for you, it helps to gauge if it’s worth moving forward.
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