1: Rainmakers know that asking questions is one of the most effective sales tools.
Why? Because “customers love questions,” Jeffrey Fox writes in How to Become a Rainmaker.
“Customers love to talk,” Jeffrey observes. “Customers feel more secure with the salesperson who asks questions, listens, and takes notes.”
Jeffrey’s recommendation? “To the concerned customer with a need, there is no such thing as a dumb question. So, dare to be dumb. Assume nothing.
“Even if you have the perfect feel for a problem, ask questions so that the customer will know you understand.”
Asking questions also allows us to understand various perspectives within the prospect’s organization.
“Thus, if you are a lock salesperson calling on a university interested in new electronic safety card keys,” notes Jeffrey, “it is perfectly all right, in fact mandatory, to ask the decision-makers, “Why do you want a lock?”
What will we learn?
“The president of the university, and the head of maintenance, and the director of admissions, and the head of security, and so on, will each give us a different answer.
Each answer allows the Rainmaker to put together a compelling proposal that speaks to many stakeholders.
2: The sales pitch is concluding. The Rainmaker has asked a series of questions to understand the problem from the prospective client’s perspective.
The time has come, Jeffrey writes, to ask Killer Sales Question #1.
“What question should I be asking that I am not asking?” the Rainmaker asks.
Other versions include: “Is there anything I have missed?”
Or, “Have I asked about every detail that is important to you?”
3: Pausing for a moment, the Rainmaker then asks Killer Sales Question #2:
“You’ve looked at everything,” they say. “Your concerns have been answered. Time is of the essence. You’ve heard our recommendation. Why don’t you give it a try?”
Why is this such a powerful question?
Because to “give something a try” lowers the stakes. It suggests that the decision can be reversed.
“A super saleswoman,” Jeffrey notes, “sold a $1-million computer conversion that took eighteen months to implement by asking the customer, ‘Well, why don’t you give it a try?'”
More tomorrow.
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Action: Ask: “What question should I be asking that I am not asking?” And then: “Why don’t you give it a try?”
Reflection: Pay attention to what happens. Try it again.
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