The Selling Power of The Provocative Question
The Selling Power of The Provocative Question
If you're like most people, you try to tell as much as you can, as quickly as you can, in order to give your prospect as much information as possible in the hopes that something will trigger some interest. After all, you've got excellent credentials to describe, great case studies, impressive expertise and a gazillion years of experience, (especially if you combine all the experience of each of the partners of the firm) - and you really, really know what you're talking about, right?
(If you don't think this describes you, I challenge you to put a tape recorder in the room next time you have a new client meeting.)
If you never seem to get people as interested as you had hoped they would be, here's why: the person you're talking to simply can't process all the information you're overwhelming him or her with, and consequently he or she tunes out.
Instead of making statements, try asking questions.
Questions Force The Other Person To Think, Relate to the Problem, and Visualize
Does your Essential Message get the person to turn off auto-pilot, relate to the problem, and create a mental picture? These are three of the most effective ways you can use to get your prospects interested in what you have to offer. Questions are powerful tools because they incorporate all three techniques in one fell swoop, fully engaging him or her in your conversation.
Here's an example: Imagine that I want to sell you conference facilities. Let's say that one of the advantages of the room is the flexible lighting capabilities it offers. Perhaps another advantage is sound system, and how it allows you to patch into it or even bring your own equipment.
The typical sales approach would be to list all these features and benefits. The problem with this approach, however, is that extolling the room' features and benefits is exactly what you'd expect me to do. As a result, you'd be subconsciously ready to find the holes in my arguments in order to resist 'being sold'.
Besides, you may not even understand how these features and benefits make a difference to you.
Alternatively, I could ask you a few very simple questions: First I ask, 'would it make your event better if you can light different areas of the room in different ways?'
If the answer is yes, then I can probe more about what kind of lighting would be best. If the answer is 'I thought I had to bring an outside lighting service to do that," it opens the door for me to describe the unique advantages of this room compared to others that you might have already seen. If the answer is no, I can simply move on, and ask, 'What about the sound system - do you have your own system by any chance?'
All I am doing is asking questions about your needs, and as a result, I am forcing you to think about the answers. Even better, I am getting you to put yourself in the situation and relate to the problem about how long it takes in a very personal way.
We're off to a good start.
Questions Force You To Listen, Helping You to Qualify Your Prospect and Discover What's Really Important
No doubt you've heard the maxim that sales is more about listening than talking. By asking the question, you put yourself in a position where you have no choice but to listen. And, what you are listening for are clues that you are on the right track.
Continuing the example above, I have to be prepared for any answer I might get. Let's say that in the course of the conversation, it comes out the you are most concerned about maximizing the experience.
Bingo! Our facilities give you lighting and sound flexibility to customize the ambiance as the evening progresses.
OK, so now let's say that experience isn't an issue but costs are.
Bingo again! The room saves you the cost of hiring an outside lighting service or additional sound equipment.
And what if the answer comes back that I am totally on the wrong track? No problem. I'll simply move on to another line of questions.
Whatever happens, you win - in fact, we both win - because I am demonstrating a sincere interest in your needs, which boosts my credibility and helps me avoid wasting time on issues that aren't important.
Questions Force You To See The Links Between Features, Advantages and Benefits.
The end goal of pretty much every single product or service in the business world can be linked to one or more of the following five business decision hot buttons: grow the business; increase customer loyalty; reduce costs; improve productivity; and gain a competitive advantage.
On the consumer side - and since you are always dealing with an individual, these play a role for businesses as well -- your customer will be more concerned with emotional issues such as prestige, acceptance, respect, or pride.
All the steps between what you offer and one of these hot buttons is what we call a 'Conversational Thread'. The shorter the thread, the quicker you can show the value of what you offer.
By taking the other person through a line of questions that ultimately lead the hottest hot button, he or she will see the value of what you offer without any overt 'selling'. In other words, all you are doing is creating the environment in which your prospect convinces him or her self.
Here's how it's done.
Now, if all this sounds like a manipulative sales 'technique' to you, then you might have missed the point. The bottom line is that questions help you to be a better listener, while still maintaining control of the flow and direction of the conversation. They allow you to probe and uncover the other person's needs.
And that is simply a prerequisite for effective communication.
"What question can I ask, such that the response allows you to say, 'well, that's exactly what I do.'"
But how do you get your message across by asking questions? Simple. Write your main points down on a piece of paper. Next to each one, write a question that elicits an answer from the person you are speaking to, that allows you to say, 'that's what I do.'
In The Essential MessageTM Workshop, people learn how to 'ask' their way through their story. It's a process of initiating each key thought with a question, and paying attention to the conversational 'doors' that open up for you. According to the feedback forms they complete at the end of the workshop, this by far is one of the most valuable and useful insights they get out of it.
So next time you have something that you think is really important or compelling to talk about, try turning it into a question.
It really works.
The Selling Power of The Provocative Question - To learn more about this author, visit Michel Neray's Website.
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When you tell prospects and clients about what you can do for them, how much do you 'tell' your way through your story, and how much do you 'ask'?
If you're like most people, you try to tell as much as you can, as quickly as you can, in order to give your prospect as much information as possible in the hopes that something will trigger some interest. After all, you've got excellent credentials to describe, great case studies, impressive expertise and a gazillion years of experience, (especially if you combine all the experience of each of the partners of the firm) - and you really, really know what you're talking about, right?
(If you don't think this describes you, I challenge you to put a tape recorder in the room next time you have a new client meeting.)
If you never seem to get people as interested as you had hoped they would be, here's why: the person you're talking to simply can't process all the information you're overwhelming him or her with, and consequently he or she tunes out.
Instead of making statements, try asking questions.
Questions Force The Other Person To Think, Relate to the Problem, and Visualize
Does your Essential Message get the person to turn off auto-pilot, relate to the problem, and create a mental picture? These are three of the most effective ways you can use to get your prospects interested in what you have to offer. Questions are powerful tools because they incorporate all three techniques in one fell swoop, fully engaging him or her in your conversation.
Here's an example: Imagine that I want to sell you conference facilities. Let's say that one of the advantages of the room is the flexible lighting capabilities it offers. Perhaps another advantage is sound system, and how it allows you to patch into it or even bring your own equipment.
The typical sales approach would be to list all these features and benefits. The problem with this approach, however, is that extolling the room' features and benefits is exactly what you'd expect me to do. As a result, you'd be subconsciously ready to find the holes in my arguments in order to resist 'being sold'.
Besides, you may not even understand how these features and benefits make a difference to you.
Alternatively, I could ask you a few very simple questions: First I ask, 'would it make your event better if you can light different areas of the room in different ways?'
If the answer is yes, then I can probe more about what kind of lighting would be best. If the answer is 'I thought I had to bring an outside lighting service to do that," it opens the door for me to describe the unique advantages of this room compared to others that you might have already seen. If the answer is no, I can simply move on, and ask, 'What about the sound system - do you have your own system by any chance?'
All I am doing is asking questions about your needs, and as a result, I am forcing you to think about the answers. Even better, I am getting you to put yourself in the situation and relate to the problem about how long it takes in a very personal way.
We're off to a good start.
Questions Force You To Listen, Helping You to Qualify Your Prospect and Discover What's Really Important
No doubt you've heard the maxim that sales is more about listening than talking. By asking the question, you put yourself in a position where you have no choice but to listen. And, what you are listening for are clues that you are on the right track.
Continuing the example above, I have to be prepared for any answer I might get. Let's say that in the course of the conversation, it comes out the you are most concerned about maximizing the experience.
Bingo! Our facilities give you lighting and sound flexibility to customize the ambiance as the evening progresses.
OK, so now let's say that experience isn't an issue but costs are.
Bingo again! The room saves you the cost of hiring an outside lighting service or additional sound equipment.
And what if the answer comes back that I am totally on the wrong track? No problem. I'll simply move on to another line of questions.
Whatever happens, you win - in fact, we both win - because I am demonstrating a sincere interest in your needs, which boosts my credibility and helps me avoid wasting time on issues that aren't important.
Questions Force You To See The Links Between Features, Advantages and Benefits.
The end goal of pretty much every single product or service in the business world can be linked to one or more of the following five business decision hot buttons: grow the business; increase customer loyalty; reduce costs; improve productivity; and gain a competitive advantage.
On the consumer side - and since you are always dealing with an individual, these play a role for businesses as well -- your customer will be more concerned with emotional issues such as prestige, acceptance, respect, or pride.
All the steps between what you offer and one of these hot buttons is what we call a 'Conversational Thread'. The shorter the thread, the quicker you can show the value of what you offer.
By taking the other person through a line of questions that ultimately lead the hottest hot button, he or she will see the value of what you offer without any overt 'selling'. In other words, all you are doing is creating the environment in which your prospect convinces him or her self.
Here's how it's done.
Now, if all this sounds like a manipulative sales 'technique' to you, then you might have missed the point. The bottom line is that questions help you to be a better listener, while still maintaining control of the flow and direction of the conversation. They allow you to probe and uncover the other person's needs.
And that is simply a prerequisite for effective communication.
"What question can I ask, such that the response allows you to say, 'well, that's exactly what I do.'"
But how do you get your message across by asking questions? Simple. Write your main points down on a piece of paper. Next to each one, write a question that elicits an answer from the person you are speaking to, that allows you to say, 'that's what I do.'
In The Essential MessageTM Workshop, people learn how to 'ask' their way through their story. It's a process of initiating each key thought with a question, and paying attention to the conversational 'doors' that open up for you. According to the feedback forms they complete at the end of the workshop, this by far is one of the most valuable and useful insights they get out of it.
So next time you have something that you think is really important or compelling to talk about, try turning it into a question.
It really works.
The Selling Power of The Provocative Question - To learn more about this author, visit Michel Neray's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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