qualifying Archives - Page 4 of 5

Open ended sales questions are a powerful qualifying tool. However, a typical prospecting conversation begins this way:

Salesperson: "Are you in the market for a new CRM?"

Suspect: "No."

Game Over.

This how nearly all initial prospecting conversations are carried out.

Seems normal enough, doesn't it.

The salesperson *is* qualifing. But it's on a very literal, black or white, this or that level. Can you do this? Yes. Will it take you a long time before you reach a suspect who says "Yes," and becomes a prospect? Probably.

Why is a closed ended sales question a poor way to begin a prospecting conversation? Because you haven't gotten over the trust hurdle yet. Saying, "No," is an all too easy choice for your suspect. Even if it's not the truth--even if they badly need what you offer--the instinct for them is to err on the side of caution and send you on your way.

This is Problem #1 with asking closed ended sales questions. The conversation never gets started in nearly all cases. And the reason is usually not because of lack of fit! Fear, plain and simple, is taking over. So as the salesperson you must sort through many suspects to find one prospect who will overcome the gulp factor and tell you the truth.

And now where have you gotten yourself? Into a conversation with a prospect who is already actively looking for the solution you provide. Sounds good? What does it also mean? That they are already in conversation with other providers of whatever it is you do.

So Problem #2 with beginning using closed ended sales questions is when you succeed, you end up inviting yourself into competitive bidding situations. Terrible? Not necessarily. At least you're talking to prospects who have the first component of Fit: Need for what you offer. But is this the best way to prospect?

How To Use Open Ended Sales Questions to Effectively Start Prospecting Conversations

What if you could begin conversations with prospects who weren't aware they needed your product or service, but in the process of you starting that dialogue came to that realization? What position would you be in then?

Being in a crowd of vendors is nowhere near as effective as being the trusted advisor who came along and helped the prospect 'wake up' to the fact that they needed the thing. And open ended sales questions will help you do that.

Let's go back to the beginning of our CRM prospecting conversation, and use open ended sales questions:

Salesperson: "Would it be okay if we spent a couple quick minutes finding out if we're a fit at all? If we're not, that's all right."

Suspect: "I guess so."

We do need permission to speak. And when the suspect commits to the process this way, they're much more likey to give honest responses.

Salesperson: "I appreciate that. Could you share with me how you go about keeping track of prospects and customers now?"

There's the first of our open ended sales questions. The suspect can answer any way they please. And the usual thing is for them to start describing the process of how they do what you asked about.

From there, we can Read, Feed and Lead with more open ended sales questions:

Read their feedback by listening carefully to what they say;

Feed it back to them by asking for confirmation that what we heard was correct ("So just to make sure I understand...you're saying that the salesperson has to navigate through six screens to enter all the information about a new prospect?");

Lead them to further detailed responses and realizations with follow-up questions ("Do you think that's about right, six screens, or too many and too long?").

Beginning a prospecting conversation with a close ended sales question frequently shuts off your suspect and even when it does succeed puts you in a room with competitive vendors.

Starting a prospecting conversation with open ended sales questions results in deeper answers and better understanding of the suspect's world. You are viewed not as a product pusher but as a problem solver. Your objective is to find out whether what you offer is a fit or not for this suspect's situation; that attitude carries across to your suspect. When prospects qualify In, you may discover needs for other services or products you can provide, that you never would have found if you had begun with a Yes/No question. This way is far more effective.

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Starting a sales conversation can be tough. You'll hear people say, "Selling is part art, part science." My experience has made me believe it's far more science.

And the very beginning of selling, starting a conversation, is like the science of chemistry. In fact, it's a lot like baking a loaf of bread.

My background happens to be in operations management. The same discipline Peter Drucker hails from. Continuous improvement, process reengineering, flowcharting, systems analysis and more. My program had a 40% failure rate. It was hell. Really. Double the recommended maximum university courseload. Total commitment. No partying, no time off. All about cutting processes up into little steps, and determining which steps should stay and which should go. And the instructors beat into our thick skulls this maxim:

"To manage we must measure."

To manage we must measure. To understand and be able to control our results, we must have a consistent process.

Take this idea to making a loaf of bread.

This is chemistry. You mix certain ingredients in certain known proportions, and in a certain order. If you don't follow the recipe, your bread doesn't turn out. Fail.

Makes sense, right?

So why, then, when it comes to starting sales conversations do people see a process...and then "get smart"? Decide they can cut out steps in the process where it suits them? Or start flying by the seat of their pants? And believe they'll still get the same result?

To manage we must measure.

If you are taught a consistent sales process for starting conversations, and it works, don't "get smart" about it. Other trainers in other fields tell me about similar experiences: their students learn a method, and then decide they don't need to do steps 1 through 5. They can cut 2 and 4; after all, they don't look necessary for their unique situation.

And then they scream when their bread doesn't rise!

Start messing with the process, especially in a disorganized manner, and you'll get crazy results.

A programmer I worked with some years ago reminded me of this vital point when I was changing some website coding:

"Stop. Change one thing at a time. See what happens."

Yes, I had been running along, trying to get things done quickly by making several alterations at once. And if an unexpected result had appeared, what then? How would I know which change had made that outcome?

The voice of my OpMan program head from a decade and a half before instantly intoned in my still-thick skull, "To manage we must measure." Oh yeah. Whoops.

When you learn a consistent process for starting sales conversations, follow it. Don't change it. There's more going on than you think. Some of it is invisible.

Remember, the two biggest problems I have encountered so-called professional salespeople at companies having are:

1) Inability to get the decision maker available to speak, whether in person or on the phone, and

2) Inability to start a conversation so that there IS a 'rest of the discussion'.

An effective process for beginning sales conversations will accomplish both these things, and more. It will get you over the initial trust hurdle.

The beauty of baking is that you don't even have to understand why the bread rises. You just have to follow the recipe.

A clear parallel to sales training: you don't have to understand why the consistent process to start conversations works. You just have to follow it.

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FrustratedCaller2 One of my personal favorite rebuttals about making prospecting calls--frequently made by experts in fields other than sales training--is: "Cold calling puts you in a bad position."

It does? I must have missed that memo.

I guess if you don't know how to get the decision maker on the line, begin badly, and try to sell right off the bat, yeah, cold calling would put you into a pretty bad spot. Those three issues are conversation killers.

Funny. Those are the same three basic problem that companies bring me on board to fix. So-called salespeople with two decades of experience don't know how to do those simple-sounding things.

You'd think they would. But they don't. They're actually order-takers. When the phone rings, they're on it. Product knowledge, features and benefits, maybe even a little checking for budget...they can do that. But give them a handset and a dial tone and oh boy do they freak out.

Starting a conversation?

No way.

See, here's the problem with nearly everyone who makes a cold call: they're trying to sell immediately. As soon as they get past the awful, "Hi, how are you today?" that trumpets "Here Comes a Salesperson!" Shields Up, Garage Door Down.

No, this isn't going to work.

Consider these steps for effective prospecting calls instead:

1. Get the decision maker on the line. Save your 'good stuff' for those who have the power to buy.

2. Start a conversation effectively. This means getting the prospect out of whatever they were doing and onto the call.

3. Quickly find out whether this prospect has a NEED (or urgent Want; same thing) for what you offer.

By accomplishing these three steps, which most people never even think of, you will begin your calls well. You will get real conversations. You will use your time efficiently because you can screen out those who are Not A Fit within a very short time.

And you will definitely NOT be in a bad position, because YOU are doing the rejecting. If they're Not A Fit, you end the conversation politely and move on. You're not trying to sell immediately. You're qualifying. It's not about price, because price hasn't entered the picture. It's far too soon for price.

In every prospecting call, one person is in control of the proces. Either you or the prospect. Start thinking about this in your business.

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qualifying

The Power of Open Ended Sales Questions In Starting Conversations

How To Use Open Ended Sales Questions to Effectively Start Prospecting Conversations

Starting a Sales Conversation Is Like Baking Bread

Does Cold Calling Put You In a Bad Position?