You know you’re supposed to ask questions during your prospect conversations, and yet you may wonder…
- “What questions should I ask?”
- “Is there a number of questions I should ask?”
- “Is there an order to which I should ask them?”
Those are all good questions for you to think about. Yet these aren’t the questions that will allow you to get the best information from your prospects. They aren’t the best questions to ask yourself to surface the concerns and priorities that are going to help the prospect be confident in taking whatever the next step is.
So, here is one “do” and one “don’t” to guide you toward asking better questions in your prospect conversations.
DO Help Your Prospects Gain Insight to Connect the Value of Your Services
First start by knowing what information you need to learn, and what they need to learn, for them to feel comfortable to move forward.
- What do they need to discover, clarify, and verbalize?
- If they have a partner or spouse, what do they need to get on the same page about for their situation?
- What is the impact of this situation?
- What is their commitment to do something about the situation?
- What is their willingness to pay for a service to help them with their situation?
Once you’ve determined the information that needs to be identified, it’s up to you to identify the questions that will yield productive responses. It’s up to you to ask the questions that help them gain the necessary insight to recognize the value of the service you’re providing to help them with this situation.
So, the “DO” of asking the BEST questions in your prospect conversations is to start by identifying what the prospects needs to hear verbalized, and then create the questions that get you there.
Next, create 8-to-10 anchor questions that get the topic started. During the conversation, your follow up questions to whatever they’re telling you is what will give the depth, context, emotions, and motivators that help you attach the best value.
So that’s the “DO.” What’s the “DON’T?”
DON’T Make the Sales Conversation Feel Like an Interrogation
The “DON’T” is: Don’t prepare dozens of questions and ask them one by one. The questions should be your anchor to starting topics within the conversation (information exchange) that is necessary to keep it from feeling like a question bombardment or an interrogation. Neither of these are going to help you earn the trust and engagement needed to move that opportunity forward.
So, when you prepare your sales conversation questions, DON’T start with the question; DO start by identifying what it is that needs to be learned.
Financial Advisor sales training doesn’t have to focus on pushy tactics or high-pressure pitches. Genuine Sales teaches the fundamentals for sales success that allow you to be genuine, ethical, and successful!
