{"id":526,"date":"2011-12-02T15:00:26","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T21:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/?p=526"},"modified":"2011-12-02T15:00:26","modified_gmt":"2011-12-02T21:00:26","slug":"dont-ask-dont-sell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2011\/12\/02\/dont-ask-dont-sell\/","title":{"rendered":"Don't Ask, Don't Sell."},"content":{"rendered":"

Salespeople often tell me that their biggest frustration is with the\u00a0seemingly unnecessary time it takes to close a sale. Some salespeople\u00a0complain that their prospects are “indecisive,” or that their prospects\u00a0“lead salespeople on, give all the buying signals, but fail to pull the\u00a0trigger for months and months.” I have yet to meet a single salesperson that\u00a0does not want to speed up his\/her sales cycle.
\nCustomers today are guarding their cash. They’re slower to react than they\u00a0used to be. And they expect more of you than ever. In today’s economy, all\u00a0of the power has returned to the customer\u2014and the customer has become\u00a0impervious to closing techniques. If you’re still “selling through telling,”\u00a0and you’re finding that your words are not as persuasive as they used to\u00a0be\u2014you might want to try using your ears.
\nI ask salespeople regularly, “What’s the most powerful question in sales?”\u00a0The common response is, “The most powerful question is when you ask for the\u00a0sale.” Dead wrong. Asking for the sale is the most avoided question in\u00a0sales, but it is not the most powerful.
\n\"\"<\/a>Salespeople\u00a0elude asking for the\u00a0sale out of fear of rejection, out of what they perceive as being polite,\u00a0out of\u00a0wishful thinking, out of negligence, but mostly because they’re\u00a0unprepared.
\nActually, there is no one most powerful question\u00a0in sales. There are, however, specific characteristics of what makes up the\u00a0most powerful question for your specific sales situation, or a particular\u00a0sales call. For example, during one call you may use a question to answer a\u00a0customer’s question. “When can you deliver?” the customer asks. “When do you\u00a0require delivery?” the perceptive salesperson responds.
\nOn another call, you may choose to use a powerful question to begin the\u00a0conversation. “Mr. Prospect, how did you get started in this business?” I\u00a0have yet to meet a single businessperson who does not like to talk about\u00a0him\/herself.\u00a0If you can get your prospect talking, you will find all\u00a0the\u00a0opportunities you need to\u00a0uncover buying motives.
\nUncovering buying motives is best accomplished by asking powerful questions,\u00a0which must be prepared in advance to be effective. Here are five tips to\u00a0help you prepare powerful questions for your next sales call:
\n1. Questions must be open-ended.<\/strong> Anything that would result in a “yes” or\u00a0“no” answer leaves you doing most of the talking. The goal is to get the\u00a0customer talking so you can listen for opportunities.
\n2. Start with friendly, personal questions.<\/strong> Most salespeople foolishly\u00a0begin with small talk: “How’s the weather? How about those Yankees? How are\u00a0the kids?” Save the small talk and ask something that will allow your\u00a0prospect to connect to something on an emotional level. My mentor always\u00a0begins with “Where did you grow up?”. Take a moment and think about where\u00a0you grew up. Where was it? I’ve been there! Remember that great restaurant\u00a0on Main St…? Got it?
\n3. Facts and figures often go unheard, but questions require thought.<\/strong>\u00a0There’s a significant difference between the statement, “83.7% of all\u00a0business professionals fail to properly save for their children’s college\u00a0education,” and the question, “What are you doing to ensure your child will\u00a0be able to attend the college of his\/her choice?”
\n4. There is such a thing as a dumb question.<\/strong> Your elementary school\u00a0teacher lied to you. Actually, she didn’t lie\u2014she simply forgot to qualify\u00a0the statement. What she should have said is, “There’s no such thing as a\u00a0dumb question IN SCHOOL. In real life, however, you will be judged by the\u00a0questions you ask.”
\n5. Don’t look to uncover the pain; find the opportunity.<\/strong> Instead of\u00a0asking questions about problems, pains, or challenges, focus on your\u00a0prospect’s dreams, hopes, and aspirations. Get your prospects to connect\u00a0with what life would be like if and when they do business with you. “How\u00a0would my product help you to achieve your goal? How would our software\u00a0increase your productivity, your efficiency, your profit? What will you do\u00a0with the additional cash flow my company will provide?”
\nHere’s the lesson:<\/strong> Invest your time preparing powerful questions, and your\u00a0customers will spend their money with you. It all boils down to these four\u00a0words:
\nDon’t Ask, Don’t Sell.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Salespeople often tell me that their biggest frustration is with the\u00a0seemingly unnecessary time it takes to close a sale. Some salespeople\u00a0complain that their prospects are “indecisive,” or that their prospects\u00a0“lead salespeople on, give all the buying signals, but fail to pull the\u00a0trigger for months and months.” I have yet to meet a single salesperson that\u00a0does […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[51,33,52,14],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDon't Ask, Don't Sell. - REMANU<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2011\/12\/02\/dont-ask-dont-sell\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don't Ask, Don't Sell. - REMANU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Salespeople often tell me that their biggest frustration is with the\u00a0seemingly unnecessary time it takes to close a sale. Some salespeople\u00a0complain that their prospects are “indecisive,” or that their prospects\u00a0“lead salespeople on, give all the buying signals, but fail to pull the\u00a0trigger for months and months.” I have yet to meet a single salesperson that\u00a0does […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2011\/12\/02\/dont-ask-dont-sell\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"REMANU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-02T21:00:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2011\/12\/money_question_mark.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"317\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"379\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Captain Reman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Captain Reman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2011\/12\/02\/dont-ask-dont-sell\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2011\/12\/02\/dont-ask-dont-sell\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Captain Reman\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/#\/schema\/person\/213b286da986bf1999373572e4164d5a\"},\"headline\":\"Don't Ask, Don't Sell.\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-02T21:00:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-02T21:00:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2011\/12\/02\/dont-ask-dont-sell\/\"},\"wordCount\":732,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"asking questions\",\"better business practices\",\"listing\",\"sales\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sales\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2011\/12\/02\/dont-ask-dont-sell\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2011\/12\/02\/dont-ask-dont-sell\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/etereman.com\/remanu\/2011\/12\/02\/dont-ask-dont-sell\/\",\"name\":\"Don't Ask, Don't Sell. - 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