Episode 124, Questions to ask that will get your prospects talking to you!

Simplify Your Sales meetings. Lisa Thal is an Author, Speaker, and Business Coach. She wrote the book "Three Word Meetings."  Lisa coaches leaders on simplifying sales and business meetings with fun and interesting 3-word  topics to get your sales team motivated and inspired.  She has over 34 years of marketing, sales, and leadership experience.

 

Episode 124, The best questions to ask that will get your prospects talking with you!

 

I just attended my Niece Gabrielle and Ryan's wedding! What an exciting weekend away, sharing in their special celebration of Love for each other! 

Although they are only 30, their journey together started 13 years earlier. Just like many of you listening that are in a relationship, you experience so many phrases. The first time you meet, the second date, time passes, and for some, you live together, and you decide to get married for others. A significant moment in your relationship centers around how you got engaged. How did they Pop The Question - "Will you Marry Me?"

 

It is this moment that leads you down the aisle months later. You proclaim your Love in front of family, friends, and those you want to share this special day, just as we did with Gabe and Ryan. As I was watching Gabe walk down the aisle, it brought tears of joy to my eyes. I was so incredibly happy for her. As the ceremony progressed, it was time for the exchange of the rings. This is the big moment we all came to see. The exchange of the rings, the intention, and vows they promise each other before their marriage is made official. 

 

It came to me as I was sitting in this beautiful church, thinking about the journey between them, all the experiences, and, more importantly, the questions they asked each other along the way to get to this commitment.

 

It reminded me of the conversation in episode 123 with Wade Kingsley on being more curious with your clients to help them solve their biggest challenges. Wade shared that when you become more curious, it shows the other person you care about and invest in their best interest.  

 

See, we, too, are setting intentions when we meet a new prospect. We intend to help them solve their biggest business challenges. And how do we do it? By asking questions that show we care. Many of us start with questions like we would ask when meeting someone we were interested in dating for the first time. So, where did you grow up? If you live in Ohio or Kentucky, you will likely ask where you went to High School or College. Most clients expect the typical questions: Tell me about your business? We can google some of those details before engaging in a discussion.  

 

Showing you care about them and their needs, whether a romantic or business relationship, includes asking more profound and open-ended questions.

 

In a relationship, you may go further asking:

What do you want out of a relationship? How do you feel about kids? How many do you envision? What makes you feel inspired? Share a time in your life that brought you such joy and happiness? Share a time that you struggled? Share more. We all have been there, wanting to go deeper in learning more about that other person. I would call it sharing is caring!

 

The same should apply to those you want to do business with or the relationships with your current customers. They deserve to feel the same level of care. Sales is a game of open-ended questions. Unless you ask the right questions, you won't uncover the right needs or understand the correct problems to solve. Not having that information could cost you the deal from the very beginning. We need to ask Open -End questions. A tremendous open-ended question will ensure your prospect answers with enough detail that you can create a follow-up that'll get you closer to solving your client's most significant challenges.

 

I decided to research the best 20 Open-Ended Sales questions to ask that will get your prospects talking to you. Tony Alessandra @TonyAlessandra from Hubspot wrote a great article.

 

Here are a few open-ended questions to get you started.

 

1. May I ask you some questions about your business?
2. You specialize in X. Why did you choose that niche?
3. What are your goals for the following [3, 6, or 12] months?
4. What does your boss hope to accomplish in the next year?
5. How does your company evaluate new products or services before buying?
6. What's holding your team back from reaching your goals?
7. Who are you doing business with now? Why did you choose that vendor?
8. What is the business problem you're trying to solve?
9. What are the priorities for your business/team this quarter?
10. Where do you see the most significant growth opportunities?
11. When is a reasonable date to follow up?

 

https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/10-tips-ask-sales-questions-si

 

So start Popping the Questions to your clients. The answers to the thought-provoking questions you will ask your new prospect or current customers will  show you care and have them saying, " I will do business with you."

 

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Learn more about how to Simply Your sales meetings using 3-word topics at http://www.threewordmeetings.com .