By Troy Harrison – Sales Navigator
A few weeks ago, I attended a sales conference in Las Vegas that was a real eye-opener. Not because I saw revolutionary stuff (other than an AI app that I’m continuing to research), but because what I saw was pretty retrograde. The keynote speaker gave us the mind-blowing revelation that we should….wait for it…ASK QUESTIONS before giving a rehearsed pitch!
I’ve been saying for 25 years that, in sales, our success hinges on understanding our customers’ needs. In fact, 80% of our chances to win the sale hinge on the questions that we ask. Yet, too often, salespeople fall into the trap of asking leading questions that serve their own agenda rather than their customers’. Honestly, I can’t blame the salespeople – many of the sales trainers that I saw in Vegas were still preaching the “don’t ask a question that you don’t know the answer to” nonsense. This approach not only fails to uncover valuable insights but can also breed suspicion and distrust. I don’t have to tell you that suspicion and distrust are the enemy of good selling.
The key to meaningful customer engagement lies in mastering the art of open-ended questions. And when I say “open-ended,” I mean more than just “questions that can’t be answered by yes or no.” I mean “questions that create an open and honest forum for dialogue – even if those answers might harm my chances of making a sale.”