Get the Ball Rolling
Once the big day arrives and the meeting begins, these two basic steps will help you transition easily to the questioning stage and get your prospect talking:
- Introductions and pleasantries.
- The purpose of your meeting.
After you exchange brief pleasantries, make your transition with a remark such as “Before we get started, would it be helpful if I spend sixty seconds on exactly who we are and what we do?” Spend eight seconds explaining briefly what your company does, or highlight a specialty that’ll grab your prospect’s attention. Then introduce a recent client success story. Everybody relates to stories; they connect with a prospect’s emotions. Just make sure the story is relevant, specific, short, and results-oriented.
Keep it succinct and to the point. A great sound bite speaks results in terms of dollars, percentages, or numbers. It should also strike an emotional chord, illustrating how to overcome adversity and/or achieve greater success. Studies show that 98% of prospects want one or the other.
Once you’ve finished your sound bite, it’s imperative not to give in to your urge to sell. Ironically, if you seem anxious to sell, your prospect will pick up on that and get defensive. Desperation is never attractive, even in business. You don’t want to sound like every other salesperson trying to shove a solution down the customer’s throat. You’ll be more successful at establishing a relationship if you shift the focus onto your customer and keep it on her, not you.
Three Suggestions to Make the First Meeting Go Smoothly
- Ease into the conversation with warm-up questions. Asking about problems right off the bat is risky unless your prospect has volunteered the info beforehand. It’s tempting to ask your prospect questions about the weather, sports, hobbies, or a familiar object in her office. But these overused approaches only waste her time and yours; you can hear her foot tapping impatiently before you’re done saying, “Looks like rain today.” The best warm-up questions are open-ended, broad in scope, and focused on getting your prospect talking about herself — questions such as:
- “How long have you been with this organization? How has your job (or responsibilities) evolved since you started with the company?”
- “What would you say you like most about your work?” “Least?”
- “If your employees (team, co-workers, boss, etc.) were to describe this organization in five words or less, what words would come to mind?” (Listen to the words given, then respond, “The word ____ is a good one; could you elaborate on that one?”)
- “What would your best customers say are the reasons they enjoy doing business with you?”
Based on your prospect’s responses to warm-up questions, you will quickly be able to understand a lot about her interests, personality, beliefs, how she feels about where she works, and the company’s culture.
- “How long have you been with this organization? How has your job (or responsibilities) evolved since you started with the company?”
- Write down the information your prospective client gives you. Capture any and all critical info before it evaporates from your brain. For example, listen for certain key words and the emotions behind them. After you jot down those words, it’s much easier to go back and get your prospect to elaborate.
- Remove any assumptions you have about your prospect and her problems. Jeff, a rep who sold high-tech equipment in a complex selling environment, had been on the job only six months when he closed the biggest deal in his company’s history. Asked about his secret to success, Jeff admitted that he hardly understood the product. How did he control the sales process? By asking lots of questions!
“Beginner’s luck,” you say? More likely, Jeff’s fresh perspective and lack of assumptions about his client, her problems, and the product actually worked in his favor. His curiosity compelled him to ask questions that experienced salespeople would have skipped because they assumed they already knew the answers.
About the Author
Excerpted from Questions That Sell by Paul Cherry, published by AMACOM Books. Sales Leadership Expert Paul Cherry will shake up your sales team and motivate your leaders! By teaching executives to ask the right questions, Paul has helped over 1,200 companies turn their sales team strengths into profit and performance. Now, you can achieve success with his free Sales Motivational Discovery Assessment, guaranteed to help you discover exactly where mediocrity exists in your organization.
