Your Most Powerful Sales Tool

Penny for your thoughts…

Did you enjoy what you had for dinner last night?

A random question, which doesn’t seem to have anything to do with sales but answer the question and I will explain why I asked.

Now consider what your thought process was when you read that question. You potentially flashed back to last night’s dinner, and how the sauce complemented the steak, but the meat was undercooked, before thinking about how you overall did or did not enjoy the meal.

The point of this was to realise that I could direct your thinking by asking you a question; you thought about what I wanted you to think about, and in the way that I wanted you to.

This illustrates the power in questioning; It directs an individual’s thinking.
When selling to a customer, the most effective thing you can do is to ask them a question. If it is well-phrased and appropriately timed, it can completely control the way they think.

The benefits of good questioning to your customer can:
1. Direct your customer’s thinking
2. Allow you to collect the information that will help you construct a sale
3. Build relationships
4. Convey the perception of your competence

1. Direct your customer’s thinking
By delivering a good question, or series of questions, you can direct your customers’ mind and thought process. It can allow your customer to realise the benefits of your product/service and why they need it. It is ingrained into humans’ minds to think of the answer when asked a question – whether it is genetic or conditioned from birth to do this I am not sure. For example, I’ll ask you a question but try and answer incorrectly; Do you have any pets? If you’re like most, you initially thought of the answer despite me telling you not to. If anything, it was more effort to not think or say the right answer.

When putting this into the context of selling your product or service, asking a question can get your customer to focus on what they’re looking for. For example, if you’re in an electronic store looking at smartphones, the salesperson may ask you “Which is more important to you, good battery life or a more sophisticated user interface?” Before being asked this question, you haven’t thought of it in that way, but you are now more focused on looking at the products based on your answer to the initial question.

Your sales technique will then become a lot easier and direct as your customer is now fixated on choosing the smartphone with the quality they chose before.

2. Allow you to collect the information that will help you construct a sale
The best way to find out how to match the benefits of your products/services is to question the customer on their wants, needs and desires. Without these questions, you may be making points and assumptions that do not meet the customers’ needs. For example, when selling a car, you may emphasize the quality of the stereo system, despite the customer being predominantly interested in efficiency fuel economy.

Asking about the customers’ needs and desires is crucial in order to personalise your pitch and receive a greater chance of making the sale.

3. Build relationships
Asking good questions shows you are not only interested in how to benefit the customer, but that you care about their wants and needs. This build up of a relationship between you and the customer can create greater trust and reliability that you can fulfil what they want and will be happier to wait and talk to you whilst you try to meet their demands. Have you ever been asked unexpectedly how your day was? That feeling makes you feel wonderful because someone is interested in how you are doing, and makes you want to reciprocate that same energy. Customers will respect and enjoy your company more if you show interest in how they are and what they require as it builds a stronger connection.

4. Convey the perception of your competence
Good questions can exemplify your competence and trustworthiness. You can instantly become more reliable by proving your knowledge in your questions. For example, when taking your faulty television to the repair shop, if the repair person replies with ‘okay come pick it up in a couple of days,’ you won’t initially be confident that 1. it can be repaired and 2. that he is able to repair it. Instead, if he was to straight away ask ‘does it turn on?’ or ‘does it make any noises?’ and tries to configure the problem straight away, you are instantly given a better idea that he knows how to sort out the issue and fix it.

The use of questions can give your customer the perception of your competence than anything else. No customer will go to/ back to a shop with the idea that the employees are incompetent, they will just lack trust and look elsewhere.

Master the use of good questioning to greatly improve relationships between yourself and your customers, and I promise that your results will dramatically improve. For more information on how to increase your leads and profits, contact us on admin@actioncoach.com