In many sales scenarios, after a brief introduction, the attention is focused on the product, its features, benefits, and eventually its price. However, the best salespeople have a few questions to ask the prospect before going into their pitch. The right timing to talk about the product is in the middle section of the sales process. In the early phases attention should focus on finding information about the prospect that will help uncover their needs and find a match between their need and the vendor’s solution. Let’s take a closer look and follow along thinking how this applies to your reality.
Before your first call or visit with your potential client you have some homework to do. In today’s digital age it is very easy to find information about your prospect through online research tools and you must take advantage of these resources to come prepared to your first call. Look for information about your potential client that will help create a connection between them and your product or service. Research what they are currently doing and try to look for cues of what problems they may be facing or goals they may be pursuing. Also, find out relevant information from their line of business or industry and become familiar with the trends and patterns that others like them may be facing. More specifically, use tools like your prospect’s company website to find out about their business, LinkedIn to research the background of the person you will meet, and industry or association articles that speak about their market. Become familiar with the trends, current patterns, and the language that is common in their line of business. An easy example: in the medical field there are no “clients” or “customers”, only “patients;” at Chick-fil-A, they are called “guests” and they are not served by “employees” but by “team members.” This effort you are making to understand their business from their perspective will pay off in earned trust and appreciation.
Once you have learned a few facts about your potential client, prepare a list of three to five questions you want to ask them. The purpose of these questions is to give you a roadmap to guide the conversation towards their needs, the problems they may have, their vision of the future, and their urgency to act. A secondary goal is to build confidence that you are there to help them by first understanding their situation from their own point of view. The best way to get there is with well-thought, insightful, and meaningful questions.
Here I want to divert a bit to clarify that the type of questions you should be asking are called “open-ended” questions and they are answered with a description. “Closed” questions, on the other hand, are answered with one word and they are to be avoided at this stage. For example, a poor way to ask about their situation is: “Is your current process giving you the results you expect?” This can easily be answered with a simple “yes/no” but you didn’t gain any insight with their answer. A better way would be: “Tell me about the improvements you would like to make to your current process.” This open-ended question requires an expanded answer that may provide you insights into their needs.
Once you know the basics of your prospect’s projects, results, or industry, prepare open-ended questions that could look like this:
- Tell me about project ____ that I read in your website.
- Congratulations on achieving ____ in last year’s results, what’s the next big goal for this year?
- I noticed that ____ is a trending topic with consumers in your field, how are you addressing it?
- Other companies in your industry are being affected by ____ , how is this affecting you?
During this initial session you want to keep the conversation flowing and allow them to open up. Your meaningful questions will give them the confidence that you are interested in their business and their success, not to sell them a gizmo. As the conversation carries on, pay close attention to feeling words like “frustrated, convinced, committed, etc” that often reveal the urgency with which they must act. Try to go deep and find their core motivations. When you hear them talk about a need that points towards your value and differentiation, say “Tell me more about that” to go even deeper.
Once or twice in your meeting do a “pause and clarify” where you repeat back to them what you have understood so far, in your words, so everyone makes sure that the key items and factors are clear to all. You should be able to summarize their situation with something like: “what I understand is that your are facing ABC challenges that must be addressed so that you can reach XYZ goals, is there anything else?” When they agree that you have a full and clear picture, then it is time to go from asking to telling. Now you can open up your presentation about your company and finally talk about your product. Make sure you give them examples of similar situations that your company has solved in the past. When you pitch your solution, describe your product highlighting the characteristics that will solve their need using the terms and language that you heard them use.
There are some potential yellow flags with this approach. Early in the meeting, your future client may be rushing you to talk about what you have to offer before you have an opportunity to ask your questions. A good steering comment might go like this: “Yes, I brought information about our company and our product but I want to make sure that I provide the solution that matches what you’re looking for. Is it OK if I ask you just a few questions before I jump into my presentation?” You are agreeing to talk about your product, but you are also asking them for permission and thus honoring them with the driver’s seat.
Another potential yellow flag is that this could be the first time that you meet and there is a lot of mutual discovery between you and your prospect. If they don’t know you too well, they may be hesitant to reveal too much information because the trust has not been built yet. Demonstrate your interest in learning about them by asking about something you read in their website or about something you heard about them, but ask them for correction if you are mistaken. Make a brief comment about your success story in similar situations to theirs but keep the focus on them.
The more you know about their business and their industry, the more respect you will earn. When you truly care about their success and it is genuine, you will be on a path to build a long-lasting relationship of loyalty and trust.
