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To Get More Sales Orders, Ask These Questions

You will never make a sale if you don’t ask for the order

By Binay SrivastavaPublished 2 years ago 7 min read
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To Get More Sales Orders, Ask These Questions
Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Hi my buddies out there,

I hope you are doing well!

In our previous session, we shared “Is Diabetes Type 2 Drug INSULUX Here Right Now? Your Attention Is Invited”. This was included in Jobs & Careers Newsletter on purpose considering its importance in the wellbeing of everyone, including salespersons.

Now, we are returning to what we were doing - talking about Sales.

Remember, You will never make a sale if you don’t ask for the order.

Today, we will discuss the value of asking questions in sales and the different types of questions to figure out the needs of your customers.

1. Open-Ended Questions

2. Closed Questions

3. Follow-Up Questions

4. Value of Asking Questions

5. Best Practices In Asking Questions In Sales

6. Why Asking a Good Question in Sales Is Important

7. Asking Incisive Sales Questions is Vital For Sales Success.

The questions you put to the buyers help you discover their needs and desires, connect with them, so as to smoothen the sales meeting.

By asking questions, you can discover the buyer’s buying process.

A lot of sellers talk too much but when they ask the buyer questions, it’s always the same old “What keeps you from buying?” clichés.

The questions you ask provide you important information. The questions also differentiate you from the rest of sellers competing for buyer’s attention.

To help you get the best out of your buyer meetings, let me talk about the different types of questions you can ask and why they’re important to use in your sales conversations.

Open-ended Questions

1. Using thought-provoking open questions during sales conversation allows buyers to open up.

2. Open-Ended Questions can’t be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”: require further explanation to be answered.

3. Open-ended sales questions need buyers to talk. These are the most often used types of sales questions.

4. You need to understand what’s going on in the buyer’s company, their needs and desires, and their expectations so that you can propose the best solution.

5. Asking open-ended questions is a great way to get vital information. The problem is, too many sellers rely on these questions alone to conclude sales.

Closed Questions

1. Closed-Ended Question is a type of question that can be answered with a “yes” or “no”.

2. Closed-ended questions are not often used in sales since your goal as a seller is to get the buyer to open up, right?

3. Closed-ended questions are particularly helpful for diagnosis and ruling things out (or in).

For example, when talking, you can ask them the following:

1. Are you convinced that all your salespeople maximize the revenue and business you can capture from your existing accounts?

2. Have you ever thought your sellers might not be knowledgeable enough to be comfortable or credible talking about the other products or services your company offers?

3. Do you think your team leaves opportunities on the table by not uncovering needs that are actually there?

4. Are your salespeople able to recommend the right solutions?

5. Do your people waste their time and energy on leads that aren’t likely to pan out, or provide the revenue or profit that you need?

6. Do your sellers get lost and cave during negotiations?

As you can see, asking closed-ended questions can help you determine what’s going on in the buyer’s mind.

It also makes the buyer aware about the different areas they were missing out that could affect their sales team’s performance. They might not have thought about these types of closed questions before.

Asking questions like these will provide you lead to ask additional questions. If you want to turn these into open questions, simply ask, “How so?” after they answer. That is one of the many follow-up questions you can use.

You’ll be able to discover which ones are good once they answer questions. You’ll then be able to evaluate client’s situation and offer them the product that best fits their needs.

Follow-Up Questions

1. Don’t take what your buyer says at face value. Ask them to come out with greater detail.

2. Ask them why they think in a certain way. Ask them how they plan to accomplish what they intend.

3. Follow-up questions let you reach to the genuine causes of a problem so you can address the root of the issue rather than the symptoms.

4. It’s extremely important that you understand the full picture of what’s going on in order to craft the most comprehensive and impactful solution.

5. You can only do this by asking follow-up questions and gaining greater insight.

6. Follow-up questions also push buyers to think in a different way. They may be basing the direction they want to take on a different set of assumptions.

7. Only by digging into the topic can you understand why they’re thinking the way they are, then you can steer them in the right direction.

Lastly, follow-up questions show that they’re listening and are engaged in the conversation. You can build your credibility by sharing insights on how you’ve seen other companies address a similar problem.

1. All these are important elements to win the sale.

2. Asking useful questions for better sales conversations

3. The purpose of asking questions isn’t only to uncover needs, though that’s a major part of it.

4. Think about the questions you need to ask for leading sales conversations:

5. The “needs discovery” questions are always essential to find out the buyer’s aspirations and afflictions.

6. If you don’t uncover the buying process, you will have trouble qualifying the sale, facilitating the purchase, and actually getting a win.

7. These confirming types of questions ensure that you and the buyer are doing the right things at any time in the sale so that you’re “on the same page.”

At different times during the meeting, you should ask questions to check the buyer’s perception about how things are going. Sample questions include:

1. Is this discussion meeting your expectations?

2. Does this solution make sense to you?

3. How is the process progressing on your end?

4. Does anyone seem to be hedging, and do we need to get them on board?

If you like this post, please support my effort. Your encouragement will help me to take you past the Golden Gate. You can become a master seller.

Ways to Ask Better Sales Questions

1. Ask Open and Closed Questions in the Right Order

When Do You Ask an Open-Ended Question?

Asking an open-ended question is best during the beginning and in the middle of the conversation. That way, you can keep the conversation with your potential customer going.

When Do You Ask a Closed Question?

Given the nature of a closed question, it can depict a sense of finality to the conversation. If you’re not careful, it can make the conversation seem cut and dry.

Therefore, if you plan on asking closed questions, you should probably only do it if:

1. You ask them in succession, like a diagnosis.

2. You’re nearing the end of the conversation.

That way, you don’t end up closing off the conversation sooner than you’ve planned.

2. Ask Questions One at a Time

Sometimes, salespeople end up asking probing questions all at the same time. They justify that the questions are somewhat related to one another.

However, this can be frustrating for your prospect because they wouldn’t know which question you want them to answer. Thus, it’s more ideal to ask questions one at a time.

Just make sure you ask related questions within a close range of one another. In that way, the conversation is cohesive and you don’t make things difficult for your prospect.

3. Adapt Your Questions to the Conversation, Not the Other Way Around

You know you’re asking great questions but only if the prospect also feels like you’re leading up to a sales pitch.

This conversation is also an opportunity for you to find out whether your products or services fit them and whether they fit you.

Overall, you’re there to give your prospects a solution to their problems.

At its very core, it’s still a conversation between two people.

4. Ask Even Unrelated Questions to Strengthen Your Sales Pitch

If you’re not used to talking to your prospects in a free manner, then you may tend to only ask questions related to your product or service. This isn’t the most effective way to ask questions in your conversations.

To make the conversation more engaging, you need to have a genuine curiosity about your client. Be curious about anything they’re involved in.

Ask their opinion on something that’s unrelated to your sales pitch. That way, you can get a better understanding of who you’re talking to.

When asking questions, let them think about their answers.

The Value of Asking Questions

Sometimes, all you need to do is ask one question, and the buyer will share all the information you need.

More often than not, you’ll need to lead several lines of inquiry to get the full picture. Don’t limit yourself to one type of question.

Asking questions is a vital part of a salesperson’s job. This will help you, and the buyer, find out if you’re a good fit for each other.

Knowing what kinds of questions you need to ask will help you better understand your buyer and their needs. Armed with this knowledge, you will be able to serve your client, your company and yourself in the best way.

That’s all for today!

If you need any help, please write to me at [email protected]

Your Buddy,

Binay

P.S. Please respect my time and support my effort. I am ready to take you past the Golden Gate. You can become a master seller.

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