How to Upgrade the Quality of your Questions

By looking at him, it was obvious the lesion along Rodger's lower jawline needed to be cleaned, dressed and time to heal. That was until his doctor decided to take an x-ray. The radiograph revealed a dramatically different picture of Rodger's condition-a 4cm cyst was hidden in his lower jaw. The only tell-tale sign of its presence was the external abscess-- that looked like an ordinary lesion.

Sometimes our sales approach is like treating that surface wound. We tend to deal with only the obvious symptoms of a prospect's condition and offer Band-Aid® solutions instead of getting to their real but hidden needs. The poor quality of the questions we ask are to blame. Our inabilities to get to underlying needs of prospects not only undermines our intent to be of service, but limits the number of people who could benefit by our offering. Consider some of the common mistakes sales people make in asking questions:

Crafting Questions on a Whim and a Prayer

Let's face it, as sales people we pride ourselves on our nimble ability to think and act on our feet. Unfortunately, creating questions that cut quickly and efficiently to customer needs, wants and expectations cannot be done well on the fly. Asking questions off the top of your head causes your selling efforts to be too inconsistent. What if you are distracted or having a bad day? Your ability to penetrate prospect resistance and get to the real issues will be reduced and you might miss a critical opportunity to position your offering against their needs.

Hitting Road Blocks, Dead Ends and Danger Zones

If you have ever attempted to "open the dialogue" with a prospect by asking 'Are you satisfied with your current supplier?' then you know how this approach falls flat when you get a satisfied, "Yes!" Now what? Where do you go from there? Or, in an attempt to uncover disappointments, you ask, "What is it about your current product that you like?" and find your efforts backfire when the prospect recites the many advantages that are keeping them a customer! Now, you are at the end of the road, how do you spring board to create a need for your product?

Treating Prospects Like Puppets!

If you've been to one or one hundred sales training programs there are good chances you've heard the speaker tout the value of asking questions. They will teach you how to get the prospect comfortable answering little 'yes's', only to lead him to the BIG yes -- buying your product. Another common approach is to ask the customer questions of choice where either way, he buys! And, surely you have learned to lead the prospect by asking "If I can provide that item in the color and size you want, are you willing to sign the order, today?" Well, I've got only one word for this age-old wisdom spouted by the many unenlightened, uninformed and clueless consultants who are teaching it-GARBAGE! If you have attempted to use these tricky techniques you already know they are the fastest way to being escorted to the parking lot by your ear! These manipulative maneuvers don't work!

Before you are ready to dump the idea of asking questions altogether, know that the key to getting to the real issues with prospects is what you ask and how you ask that matters. If you don't get anything else out of this article, get this: The quality of your questions determines the quality of your presentations. Asking effective questions in a sales presentation is as important as the patient history your accounts require before they will administer care. In fact, this critical fact finding stage is so closely tied to our success selling in healthcare we have labeled them "Diagnostic Questions." By thinking of questions as the tools you need to make a 'diagnosis' you will improve your ability to position your product or service as the treatment of customer needs. This shift, alone, will make significant improvements in your sales results and your effectiveness asking questions.

How to craft good Diagnostic Questions

Many reps refer to asking questions as "probing". I believe probing is something that doctors do with gloves on! Instead use Diagnostic Questions to uncover the prospect's real needs, wants and expectations. It is important to seek to understand the buyers perspective in order to sure up your diagnosis and the likelihood he will buy from you. Diagnostic Questions should reveal valuable insights in three basic areas WHAT, WHY & HOW MUCH.

WHAT: ...are they using?
You should create questions that determine what product the Prospect is currently using.

WHY: .. Are they using this product?
The next set of questions allows you to obtain the most important information. Dig a little deeper to create questions that reveal why a particular product or service is currently being used or was selected by this account. You must find out:

- What is their experience with this product?
Wouldn't that be helpful in knowing how to position your offering?

- What motivated him to buy this product?
If you find out what interested the prospect to begin with--that would give you some leverage to sell your product-wouldn't it?

- What the prospect's expectations are for his current product and one he might consider buying in the future?
If you can determine the Prospect's product expectations --this will give you some leverage to sell your product.

- What are the "soft spots"in the product he is currently using?
The sales advantage of exposing soft spots is obvious and it is where you get to use your strong competitive product knowledge. A recent survey conducted by ANSIR International revealed, buyers place a high value on sales representatives who can provide detailed information about their products and those of their competitors.

Finally, you will want to find out: How Much.
How Much of their current product are they using and How Much are they paying?

Knowing the prospect's current consumption rate and purchase price are critical pieces of information to position your product as a better alternative.

Good questions make a good diagnosis. Take a few minutes and create several questions that will get to the What, Why and How Much of your prospects. Creating effective questions in advance will deliver exponential rewards in your sales results. If you would like a complimentary copy of our Diagnostic Questions template that includes sample questions, contact our office. Tune in next month when we'll deliver some super success strategies on how to use Diagnostic Questions effectively in your sales presentations.