5 Questions to Never Ask in a Sales Call
Stop Talking, Start Listening: Why Some Questions Silence Sales Success
This was initially sent out - prematurely - it has been improved!
Questions are the glue that tie together the sales process and help close deals. For a long time, I thought persistence was a really important quality in salespeople, but over the years, I've come to the conclusion that it's curiosity.
Curious reps get to the bottom of issues because they want to understand what is going on with their prospect (for the pure sake of understanding). I've found curious reps tend to ask better questions.
Better questions are questions that are focused on the prospect and understanding the prospects needs and uncovering if there is a mutual benefit to work together.
They are also open-ended and encourage the prospect to elaborate.
On the flip side, there are lots of questions that you should avoid. Here are 5 questions never to ask in a sales call:
Is this a good time?
Are you the decision-maker?
What do you like about your current vendor?
Can I send you some information and follow up next week?
Why… followed by any sentence…
Why these are bad:
"Is this a good time?" Most are pretending to be considerate. If someone answers the phone or shows up to a demo or appointment, I think it's safe to assume they are interested in a conversation if there is value. Bring value.
"Are you the decision-maker?" Cringe. This isolates the person you are talking with - and if the answer is no, what's your next move? Hard to exit that question without some damage. A better question: If this problem is able to be solved, who, including you, is involved in the decision? Who would be the most excited?
"What do you like about your current vendor?" Understanding the answer to this is helpful, asking this question is not. I've seen it lead to chasing the things your competitor does that may not be relevant to the issue you and your company are trying to solve for that prospect. What if they said, "I really like that my current vendor gives me a 70% discount"? Now you are in a race to the bottom. Again. Bring value.
"Can I send you some information and follow up next week?" The goal, I believe, if we are asking this type of question, is to have the prospect see value in our services (or product) to want information to help them make a decision. I've seen MANY ask this question, to send an email then never get the prospect on the phone again. A better question: What information would you need to see to help you make a decision whether we are the right company for you or not? Or, what problem that if we were able to help solve, would make it a no-brainer to work with us?
"Why?" This is a tricky one that can be controversial. I've found that asking "Why" can sometimes put people on the defensive. "Why" can often question the reasoning behind a decision they or the company has made. I've often avoided "Why" in sales calls and swapped it out for the magic phrase: "Tell me more…"
Eliminate these questions from your sales conversations and swap them out with open-ended, discovery-focused questions, and you'll be surprised at some of the sharing people will do. Here are some bonus phrases to avoid:
"Does that make sense?" - if you don't know the answer, it doesn’t make sense. It's your job to be clear.
"To be honest with you…" - I typically assume people are being honest with me - if you have to say it, I start to wonder…
Any question where the answer is Yes or No - this really doesn’t help you in any way unless you're taking a survey. This merits its own article… coming soon.
Happy Selling!
-Joe