If you're busy perfecting your pitch and polishing your sales presentation, you may be focusing on the wrong thing. Many sellers think they can differentiate their product by touting it's impressive features or capabilities. If they sell services, they're convinced that customers will be swayed by their well thought out methodology, full range of services or remarkable client list.
The truth is, corporate decision makers don't believe that stuff anymore. They expect you to say it.
Even if you are better than your competitors, they don't believe you'll maintain your leading edge for more than a few months.
The best way to demonstrate that you or your firm have an indepth knowledge of your customer (goals, critical success factors, strategies, challenges) and their industry is by ... asking questions.
Research shows that the use of insightful, powerful questions sets you apart from your competitors. In fact, no other sales behavior has a higher correlation to sales success than the ability to ask questions that explore the:
- Impact of your prospect's problems, issues and challenges.
- Pay-off for making a change from their current mode of operating.
When you ask these types of questions, your prospects perceive you as more credible and more concerned about them. For more info on this topic, check out these articles on my website:
Asking Provocative Questions
Soft, Unassuming Style
You may also be interested in my eManual focused on this most important of all selling skills: "Winning More Sales"
Excellent advice, Jill. Several years ago, I finally got to meet with a corporate prospect I had pursued for years. Before our meeting, he said: "Bill, this is just to get acquainted. I have already decided to use a staff member to direct our next training session." In our meeting, I asked Dave to describe the training session he was planning. What did he want to accomplish? What were the most persistent needs he was addressing? How was he going to make the seminar interesting? Occasionally, I would say something like, "Interesting. . .here's how I address that problem in the seminars I conduct." After awhile, Dave commented: "Bill, I really like your approach. Are you free on the date I mentioned, and what is your fee?" Dave hired me, and our seminar went very well. Why? Not because I delivered a slick, memorized pitch, but because I asked pertinent questions. Amazingly, the less we talk in a sales endeavor, the greater the chances of getting hired!
Posted by: Bill Lampton, Ph.D. | 08/11/2005 at 08:30 AM