Asking the Right Type of Questions
“If you want a better answer, ask a better question.”
Asking the right questions, at the right time, can make or break your sales and can help you get the answer you want. Asking your customer questions during the prospecting (and beyond) phase helps in a few ways such as:
Showing them that you’re interested in what they need
Sets the foundation for the story you will tell during your presentation or pitch phase
Drastically help you to overcome their objections
Help you to identify a good fit and lets you know when it’s time to move on
TWO TYPES OF QUESTIONS
Discovery Questions, which help you to gain information and knowledge.
Validation Questions, which help confirm what you think you understand what it is your prospect is saying.
DISCOVERY QUESTIONS
Discovery questions will likely occur during one of the first interactions with your customer or prospect. This interaction will set the tone for the rest of your relationship. Be sure to make a great first impression. This interaction will be crucial for you to understand the details of your client's situation.
It is vital to have a natural level of curiosity and a true interest in understanding why something works, or how someone thinks, and why it's important. This time is all about your customer. You are learning about them as a person, their company, and the problems that your product or service will solve.
It’s important to be fully engaged and present in the conversation, you will likely do a lot of (active) listening here so it’s imperative that you take notes during the conversation to refer to later. Discovery questions can include questions like “Why is that the case for your company?” or “How are you addressing this problem today?”
VALIDATION QUESTIONS
Validation questions can be used to validate your understanding of what your client is saying. You want to use these questions to validate your understanding and/or to validate that something hasn’t changed. You can use the validation questions and the discovery questions simultaneously, if you’re well prepared. This will also show your client that you have done some research.
Validation questions can be asked such as “Based on discussions with a couple of clients within ABC Company, I understand that A is a priority. Would you agree and if so where does this fit in your list of priorities?”