Today, we will continue with the topic of sales process. We’re going to cover probably my favorite part of sales, and that involves asking questions.
Think through for a moment, what are the questions you ask your potential client during your sales process? Asking questions is a part of the BASS selling model. As a reminder, BASS stands for:
B – Build a relationship with your prospective client.
A – Ask great questions.
S – Solve a need and provide a solution.
S – Secure the next step.
We are going to focus on the A today, which stands for asking great questions. Why is it important to have great questions? Well, there are many reasons, but here are a couple of them to think about:
1. As we talked about before in a post on the mindset of sales, many people have a fear of being that stereotypical pushy, annoying, and aggressive salesperson. Now, if you have great questions to ask, it’s much more unlikely that you’ll fit into that unappealing role.
2. Consider the first S in the BASS selling model, which stands for solving a need. Unless you ask great questions to uncover what your prospect’s true needs are, it’s going to be more difficult to solve those needs.
Next, let’s talk about the biggest problems people have with asking questions.
1. Most people have functional or okay questions, but not great I’ve been guilty of this myself. Many of us think we have great questions, when in fact we’re asking the same old questions as our competitors.
2. You might end up talking way too much. Always remember that when you ask questions, you need to stop and listen. Many people have a hard time with this. So if you’re ever in that predicament, here’s a little acronym to think about: WAIT. Imagine someone with a huge megaphone yelling “WAIT” into your ear, which stands for “Why am I talking?”
And finally, when you’re creating questions, remember to make them open-ended. Don’t give your prospect the option to answer with “Yes”, “No” or other one-word responses. Here’s the strategy: if you begin each question you ask with any of the following phrases, it automatically becomes an open-ended question. It gives your prospect a chance to respond in more detail. Here they are:
“Describe to me…”
“Explain to me…”
“Elaborate to me…”
“Tell me more about…”
There’s a variety of others, but you get the point. So in the next week, really think through the questions you ask during your sales process. Go out and create great questions, ask them, and listen as people give their answer so you can solve their needs.
