CHAPTER 5
Asking High-Value Questions

PHONE SALES CHALLENGE – Maria, from IT staffing services, has a problem: “I would really like to get more information from customers, but over the phone they just seem to be distracted or clam up after I ask a question, like they aren’t even there. Sometimes all I get is monosyllabic grunts that don’t help me at all.”

Maria isn’t the only salesperson making mistakes that hinder her effectiveness. Look at what these other callers are saying:

SALESPERSON: Who makes the decision on your company’s IT staffing?

CUSTOMER: Not me; you’ll have to talk to somebody else.

The problem with this question is that if the customer says that he or she is the decision maker, then that’s an open invitation for what is perceived as a long “spiel” from an interrupting caller. The hand-off response gives you no information at all—if the person on the other end of the phone truly isn’t the decision maker, you need to know who is. This caller obviously hadn’t established a connection with the customer and had crossed a line, with the result that the customer felt invaded.

SALESPERSON: Why can’t your company change vendors since your fiscal year is just about up?

CUSTOMER: That’s our policy. Sorry I can’t help you. Goodbye.

Again, the caller asked an invasive question that actually sounds accusatory and argumentative. “Why” questions are generally dead ends.

SALESPERSON: Do you know what companies are on your IT staffing approval list?

CUSTOMER: Why would I have that information? Call purchasing.

Clearly this caller hadn’t done the proper background work and had contacted the wrong person. Although information was gained on this call, the salesperson lost this contact’s goodwill for the future.

SALESPERSON: Can you change suppliers anytime you want to?

CUSTOMER: No, that’s a lot of hassle and we just went through it with our current one.

Ouch! Instead of discovering the company’s process for purchasing (a valuable piece of sales information), this caller merely jabbed what already appears to be a sore spot. With this, the caller has no place to go with any other questions, so even if the supplier could be changed with an easier process and even if the salesperson’s products are indeed better, this call is pretty much over.

The point that you want to get to in your sales calls is a conversational harmony with an eventual joining of purpose, which leads to the sale. For this reason, every question should add value to your information-gathering strategy. High-value questions help you to get to the money more quickly. As a bonus, they are very effective in shortening the customer’s time on the phone, so that he or she becomes more likely to take future calls of yours. No chitchat or time-wasting questions from you! Your customers will appreciate your willingness to get to the point—their problem—by a direct route.

Establish or Deepen Your Relationship with the Customer

In a conversational sales approach you, as the sales professional and product expert for your company, begin by gathering information and establishing, or deepening, the relationship with your customer. However, customers don’t like the feeling of being interrogated or being “sold.” Customers like to buy. And that’s okay, because you aren’t selling in the old, strong-arm way. You’re building a relationship based on mutual respect, and conversing with a customer whose business or bottom line will be enhanced by a product or service you are offering. You just need to find out how the process to purchase will work, present the solutions your company offers, and then close. High-value questions are necessary in effective phone selling.

AVOID LEADING WITH PERSONAL QUESTIONS

What has been traditionally taught and what worked in the old days, for example, was asking personal questions to build rapport at the outset of the sales call. Today, this kind of chitchat sounds amateurish; it also jeopardizes the business relationship early on by wasting the customer’s valuable time. Today’s busy customers rarely spend time with their closest loved ones, so they don’t usually welcome making new friends over the phone. Why would you think a person would welcome being interrupted from the demands of a business day for a non-business-sounding call?

Customers may resent being pulled into a personal conversation at work and with strangers, but they will pay attention to information and questions about their business. You can become an integral part of the success of their business, but they don’t necessarily want to be involved with you personally. A solid, reciprocal business connection is all you need, and all that your customers want until you’ve reached an appropriate point in your relationship.

That is not to say that a business/personal relationship never occurs. Many of us likely have personal friends we met through work. (In fact, the two authors of this book first met professionally, then developed a personal and business relationship.) But if this sort of relationship does occur, it will grow naturally with people to whom we are attracted; it will not be created by artificial plays at friendship with customers.

Today, a warm opening is followed by a cogent question in a businesslike tone. Avoid: “Hi, how’s the wife and kids?”

AVOID OPENING WITH TRANSACTIONAL QUESTIONS

On the other hand, the sales conversation is not merely a transaction either. Transactional selling says, “I’ve got a product; you’ve got $5. Let’s do business.” This is why we avoid questions like, “Are you the decision maker?” or “Do you have a $50,000 budget?” To the customer, these questions sound like this: “Do you have any buying-decision power or are you just the flunky, because I’m after the big dog.” Or, “How much money do you have, so I know what I can go after?”

Can you see why these questions generally fail to produce cooperation? As openers, they rarely earn you the chance to complete the call or get a callback. They aren’t relationship-building questions. In transactional selling, the situation is clearly about you and what you want. Customers get enough of that treatment from their bosses and from other salespeople. Questions that make it clear that you are interested in what the customer might want will take you a long way toward the close.

Every contact with a customer is a relationship. Whether it’s a one-call close or long-term business, some form of relationship must exist for you to make a sale. To achieve sustained sales, the relationship must be positive.

Use Questions as Tactics

If you are in sync with your customer, you are questioning and learning, and then becoming part of the input for the purchase decision. This makes you a partner. Customers will rely on you for information, and you’ll be able to rely on them for sales you can close over the phone. When you understand the way questions can help (as well as how they can hurt) your sales calls, then each time you use one, you can feel more secure in the outcome.

Your goal is to get your customer singing off the same song sheet with you. How do you do that? By using a specific process of qualifying that builds rapport, establishes your credibility, and maximizes your opportunities for closing the sale.

QUESTIONS QUALIFY

Let’s take a slightly different look at the qualifying portion of the sales call. If you fail to qualify well, you dramatically reduce your ability to close. You begin the qualifying process by guiding the customer to making his or her own buying decision, because today’s customers don’t want to be told what to buy. This process involves you leading the customer to make that decision through strategic qualifying questions. Your goal is to gain the customer’s attention by asking the right high-value questions.

Your strategic qualifying tactics should do the following:

Establish your credibility as an expert in the customer’s situation.

Uncover your customer’s real needs.

Deepen your customer relationships.

Lay out a foundation for how you are going to present your sales solutions.

If you don’t qualify well, you won’t get the customer’s attention. Remember, customers are busy and are not really thinking about buying your product or service when the phone rings. The way you ask questions indicates to customers whether you are interested in their business and whether you are listening— reallylistening.

QUESTIONS ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY

If the customer does not already know you, your strategic questioning will establish credibility if the questions have been well thought out in advance. The presentation that follows qualifying is where you share your idea of a solution, so it’s critical that your credibility already be established. Qualifying must be done both early and correctly because your intelligent qualifying differentiates you from other salespeople, and that’s what we all want—differentiation. If you are unable to differentiate yourself from the others who call on your customer, you won’t get the sale. Remember that “intelligent” (as a credibility definer) means “directly relevant to the customer’s business.”

For example, if you are selling to someone in the newspaper or printing business, you might ask, “Can you tell me how you handle your wasted paper?”

This is an intelligent question because wasted paper is a concern in those industries, and by asking a relevant question you have shown that you know the customer’s business. Note that we used the word “tell” at the start of the qualifying, and we used the second person, “you” or “your,” twice in one sentence.

QUESTIONS UNCOVER CUSTOMER NEEDS

You uncover needs by asking questions to help lead the customer to making his or her own decision to use your product or service. Think of yourself as a detective. Here are some examples of questions you might ask:

“Tell me about your existing situation.”

“What is the application (purpose or use)?”

“Where is the installation?”

“Tell me, how is this going to be implemented?”

“Who will be using these products?”

“What other products are you currently using?”

Sometimes your questioning can help customers uncover needs they didn’t know they had. When this happens, you confirm your position as a consultant who can contribute in a meaningful way to the success of your customer’s business. Thus, product or service recommendations you make after that point will be well received, and you are on your way to longer-term business. The reason is that the customer is being led down the path of buying your solution—not by you talking about all your great products, but by assisting the customer in making his or her own decision. The added advantage of this strategy is that once customers make their own decisions, they rarely renege on a commitment.

QUESTIONS DEEPEN RELATIONSHIPS

As your questions are well thought out, your customer will most likely be impressed with your ability to pin down the challenges that your product will solve. In addition, customers are used to being “talked at” by your competition regarding how great their products are. You will rise above the fray by deepening your customer relationships and asking more strategic questions. But you need to ask the right questions—not the wrong ones!

Avoid Asking the Wrong Questions

If you ask the wrong question or ask a too-personal question too soon, customers will cut you off, and you’ll never get back in again. Think of it like this: If you were to purchase a new refrigerator and the salesperson asked you how much money you had as an opening question, wouldn’t you feel a bit put off?

In the qualifying stage, note that asking, “How are you?” is not a good opening question because we truly don’t care, and the customer knows we don’t care. Plus, the customer’s immediate thought is “Oh, no! Another inexperienced salesperson!” By taking this approach, you can open up yourself for failure from the beginning.

If, for instance, the customer answers your “How are you?” question with “Terrible!” or ignores the question altogether, he or she has taken control of the call and your game has been thrown off. Such a routine and potentially damaging question can also cause you to be seen as flaky when you want to be perceived as knowledgeable and in control. Break this habit if you have it!

You want to ensure that each of your qualifying questions is well thought out to maximize interaction with and information from your customer. When questions are too personal too quickly, customers freeze. You hear it in their hesitation to respond. If your customers freeze on a question, consider your timing (read on for more on this).

There are other questions you should not ask as well, even though you may have heard them from other sales sources. After each of the “freeze” questions that follow, note the better alternatives to use in sales calls.

FREEZE QUESTION #1: “WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT US?”

This is a “me, me, me” question and assumes that knowledge of your company will make the sale. Probably not. In addition, you have put your customer on the spot. Making your customer feel uncomfortable isn’t a good way to build a relationship leading to sales. Also, it sounds like a test question. No one likes those. Alternative qualifying questions will build better rapport and get a more honest answer:

“Tell me about the products you are currently using.”

“What type of buying patterns do you typically have each month?”

“Can you tell me about your situation?”

FREEZE QUESTION #2: “WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GET YOUR BUSINESS?”

Asked as an early question, before needs or credibility or relationship are established, this is a sure dead end. The answer you will invariably force from the customer is, “Uh, nothing.” The implied message in your question is that you will do anything to get their business. Think through the logic here: Are you willing to drive to Montana and personally deliver the goods, or provide free service for a year, or lower your price to less than cost? If you aren’t willing to make these types of commitments, don’t ask your customer this question. Plus, it sounds cheesy because the customer knows it’s insincere. At any point, even later in the call, it can create discomfort, so why use it? Alternatives might include:

“What is your time frame for making a decision on this project?”

“What else might you need to take this recommendation to your colleagues?”

“How can I make your decision-making process easier?”

FREEZE QUESTION #3: “HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU WANT TO SPEND?”

For customers, the ideal for this is “nothing.” Perhaps this question is intended to establish budget, but instead it just reminds the customer that he or she is probably spending more than desired—even if it’s on something that is needed. Such a question might also be taken as an insult, leading the customer to respond with, “None of your business.” In any event, any customer answer would be misleading, because there is no buying relationship yet. And for that matter, why would a customer tip his or her hand that early? Alternatives could include:

“Tell me about your budget range.”

“What are your price expectations for this installation?”

“When you purchased last time, what was the price range?”

FREEZE QUESTION #4: “WHO MAKES THE DECISION?”

There’s nothing like insulting the customer with a frontal attack. This question implies that the customer you’re speaking with doesn’t have the authority or the intelligence to make a decision. So, not only have you insulted your customer but you have set yourself up for failure because the insulted customer’s response may or may not be true. The main problem is that you have risked alienating the customer, and the likelihood of making the sale is reduced or eliminated. You also don’t know who the decision makers really are. Alternatives are:

“Tell me about your decision-making process.”

“What method of selecting a vendor do you use?”

“How are you going to make your decision?”

How do you know what a good question is? If a customer is responding and offering information, then it is a high-quality question. If you feel that the energy on the other end of the phone is going well, then your qualifying questions are most likely on the right track.

Guidelines for High-Value Questions

The basic concept behind high-value questions is: the four Ws and H and T.

W questions include who, what, when, where, but never why. Why questions put customers on the defensive. Think of it this way: All small children ask, “Why?”—16,000 layers of “why.” Also, children are chastised with “Why did you do that?” and “Why can’t you get it right?” The word “why” is all too often used in an accusing way. It’s an annoying question as well, so drop it from your vocabulary!

Good W questions include:

“ Who is going to be using the product at your company?”

“ What departments are involved during installation?”

“ When is the ideal time for implementation?”

“ Where are you planning on storing the extra stock?”

H (how) questions are great for understanding a process and application:

“ How is the workload distributed?”

“ How are the two departments involved in the decision?”

“ How are these materials applied?”

“ How many do you anticipate needing in the next twelve months?”

The very best, though, are the T (tell) questions. Okay, for all you grammarians out there, we know that a sentence that starts with “Tell me” is technically a command or request, not a question. But since questioning is the part of the phone selling process that gathers information from the customer for the purposes of helping us meet needs with our products, we’re going to take a little license here and group the “Tell me …” phrasing in this question section.

The reason for this is that after twenty years, I realize the tell-me questions are the most effective because they encourage customers to talk. (Remember, when the customer is talking, he or she is selling him- or herself to you because you are listening, right? You are listening, aren’t you?) When asked the right questions, customers enjoy sharing experiences, telling stories, and relating needs. Also, you will find that by asking more T questions, you can often learn more about your customer’s needs in less time.

When you learn what is on the customer’s mind, you are most likely to solve the customer’s problem. Of course, you can’t use “Tell me …” for every sentence, just as you wouldn’t use a single one of the Ws or the H before each and every qualifying question (gotta mix ‘em up, of course—but you already knew that!). The T is golden because once you get in the habit of asking more of these questions, you’ll find the necessity of asking too many questions—which may sound like an interrogation—eliminated. We want to ask only high-value questions.

Finally, remember never to interrupt your customer after asking a question, even if the phone silence is uncomfortable. Respect your customer’s communication style by being quiet after asking a question and resisting the urge to either answer for the customer or prompt an answer.

Your P and K customers are most likely to hesitate after hearing a question. Remember, these personality types are generally more passive and don’t blurt out information quickly. They are used to being interrupted by less professional salespeople. Differentiate yourself by letting these customers process the question and respond—without you interrupting them!

Just as an experiment, make a list of as many of your qualifying questions as you can think of that you use regularly. Then go back and change them (if needed) to who, what, when, where, how, or tell (but not why).

It is not enough, however, just to get the right questions. The real test of merit for the professional salesperson is to know when to ask each question. A money question is necessary at some point for a sale, but asking it at the wrong time kills the relationship. Qualify—but in the right order.

Ask Questions at the Right Time: The Trust Scale

The secret to getting a customer responding and eating out of your hand is to begin with easy, broad, nonthreatening questions to put him or her at ease in the call.

Instead of asking, “When did you last finance this equipment?,” try, “How are you handling payments now?” Keep it simple; become more specific as you go along to bring in focus. Whether your product is running shoes, insurance, building supplies, or help desk services; whether you are dealing with a new customer or it’s the fiftieth call, the pattern is the same. Simple, non-invasive qualifying questions always come first, more complex ones come later in the call.

What so many salespeople forget is that the questions most important to them are the most personal to the customer. For this reason, the typical salesperson jumps the gun and sabotages the call. The most personal and most potentially unsettling for the customer are questions about money or time because people’s values (in business and in their personal lives) are determined by how they spend their money and time. As a sales professional, whatever product or service you are selling has either a money or time (or both) component to the close.

Think of your qualifying strategy as a trust scale (see Figure 5-1). The more detailed the question, the more it belongs after the customer has relaxed during the call. After all, customers don’t want to feel like the call is an interrogation, and you don’t want to feel like an interrogator!

To avoid this type of adversarial situation, ask your easy, non-threatening questions first. Think of these as level 1–3 questions.

Your mid-level questions—for example, those relating to issues with existing conditions, the competition, and so forth—should be considered level 4–7 questions on the trust scale. These questions require that the customer is more relaxed before he or she will answer honestly.

Your most personal or threatening questions—those requiring trust before your customer will answer candidly—fall on the high end of the trust scale—between levels 8 and 10—and generally involve money. Think of it like this: If you ask me how much money I have to invest, I may tell you, but I won’t do it at the beginning of a phone call. I’ll need to know that I can trust you before providing that level of information.

Figure 5–1 Trust Scale

Level 1–3 questions produce little anxiety for the customer. These are broad and nonthreatening questions, ones that make the customer feel at ease so he or she will offer more information:

“Can you tell me about your existing situation?”

“Tell me how you’ve handled this challenge in the past.”

“Who will be using the product?”

“When are you considering implementation?”

Level 4–7 questions usually have to do with competition. These questions provide some frame of reference on decision-making process:

“What’s worked for you using your existing supplier?”

“If you could change the current process, what would you do differently?”

“Tell me a bit about your decision-making process.”

“What is your decision date?”

“How many copies/versions do you expect to use?”

“What other solutions are you considering?”

Level 8–10 questions are more detailed or specific relating to time and/or money. These questions should never occur in the qualifying or discovery part of your sales conversation:

“Can you tell me your expectations for your contractual budget range?”

“You mentioned your insurance will pay part of the cost; what is your deductible?”

The latter is a prying question that will be received well only if you are already considered a partner in the relationship. If this is your first question, the customer might perceive that price is conditional on insurance. However, if the customer has already offered some specifics about his or her situation, then it is a natural question.

Let’s look now at how the trust scale applies to second and third contacts with the same customer. Every engagement with the customer requires that you start at the low end of the scale, even if you feel that the relationship has progressed. Your call structure should not change. It’s just like getting dressed: Regardless of what you are wearing or how you are feeling, the routine remains the same—underwear before pants, pants before belt, etc. Repeatedly practicing this process will take some stress off you as the salesperson because you will have an expectation for every call—and your customers will respond because the process and structure put them at ease with you as well.

Here’s a call following up on a proposal that was sent:

Question 1: “Since we last spoke, has anything with your buildings changed?” (Level 2 question)

Question 2: “What are your thoughts about the proposal?” (Level 5 question)

Question 3: “We can arrange for you to take a tour of some of the buildings we maintain close to you so you can see our work. How does that sound? (Level 8 question)

Occasionally you might sense that the customer is not listening or is backing off in some way. This can happen at any time in your dealings with a customer, even a long-standing one. You can’t know all the boundaries your customer may have, nor can you anticipate or control everything that happens to your customer. Always be on the alert for tension in your customer’s voice or wording.

When you sense this tension it can mean that you have asked a question out of order. At these times, interrupt yourself with, “Oh, just let me back up a moment and ask you something else I think I missed earlier.” Be sure your tone is much less excited and your pace somewhat slower. You can salvage the call sometimes with this tactic, but there are some questions that you cannot really come back from. These are sales-stoppers.

SERIOUS SALES-STOPPER QUESTIONS

The following situations and questions are guaranteed to stop any conversation with a customer:

A Level 8, 9, or 10 question asked too soon: “What’s your budget?” Or, “Will you buy today?”

A self-serving question or a threat: “My quota ends today, will you buy?” This is a self-serving question. An example of a threat would be, “Do you know that if you don’t make a decision by tomorrow, you’ll have to pay more since the price increase will take effect?”

Disaffirming questions: “Should I contact your boss?” The implication is that the customer cannot possibly have the authority.

Clichéd or overly restrictive questions: “Is there any reason you can’t buy from me today?” Or, “What will it take to get your business?”

Stupid questions: “How much money do you have?” Or, “If I can show you how to save 50 percent on your bill, will you make a commitment today?”

Your goal should be to make the customer feel that he or she wants to buy rather than that he or she is being sold to.

QUESTIONS FOR PERSONALITY STYLES

Different personality styles require some customization of your questioning strategy to allow you to choose the most effective approach.

The Precise Customer—Ps respond to questions monosyllabically. They give limited information in a monotone voice without elaboration. Seven questions from you might elicit only twenty-four words in response. Ask process/procedural and fact questions. This person, you can be certain, will know the number of stations that will need the software, the users and their levels of expertise, the purchasing procedures, the time for the decision making, and more, much more.

The Energized Customer—Es will be thinking about self and effect on self. These customers want to talk more. “How important to you is ease of use?” “How quickly do you need this to be implemented?” “How do we make this easier for you?” “Tell me your impressions of being first in your city to have this product.”

The Assured Customer—As will give you the same number of words, but will be more emphatic. They are interested in their goals and like to have their authority recognized:

“When do you expect to make this decision?” (authority)

“Can you tell me about what you need this software to do?”

“What do you need to accomplish with this new system?”

“When are you planning on making the decision to move forward?” (goals)

The Kind Customer—Ks will give you a lot of answers relating to the people around them. You can ask them the following type of questions:

“Can you tell me about what your team has been looking at so far?”

“Would you share with me how the people in your organization see these products?”

“How will upgrading your software affect the workers’ time?”

“What training might your employees need once you implement a new product?”

“How can we help you with a successful installation at your office?”

Sometimes an Assured or an Energized will hit you with a question first. You need to take control and return to questioning yourself. For example, the customer may say: “So, what do you have that’s new today?” or “Can you just tell me about your specials?” or “What do you need?” (on a return call).

Answer by first putting a smile in your voice so that you sound friendly. This is a very important point because it allows you to control the tone of the message: “I’m happy to tell you what we have. But do you mind if I ask you a couple of quick questions first?” Emphasize the words “couple” and “quick” so they know it’s not a lengthy process. Then take control of the call by asking a question such as: “What’s changed since our last conversation?”

Although there might be some variation in what each type of customer—or even each individual customer—considers a Level 1 or Level 9 question, you still need to remember that a continuum is necessary, because customers are not prepared to answer a Level 9 question without a warm up.

The Payoff

Notice how high-value questions accomplish three important goals:

1. They help you gather information about a customer’s situation.

2. They establish a more trusting relationship between you and your customer.

3. They also guide the customer’s thinking toward the direction of your service.

Keep your questions low-key and noninvasive, and let them set the stage nicely for the next step in the process: your customized presentation. Remember that attempts to rush the process by attempting Level 9 or 10 questions too early will not get you to the close more quickly. In fact, the opposite is more likely to happen and, worse, you may not be received well on later, follow-up calls. You can increase your close percentage and turn more calls into sales by respecting the customer’s need for process.

Now, let’s listen in on Maria’s calls to see where she has improved in securing useful information from her customers.

MARIA: Can you tell me about your company’s decision-making process when it comes to IT staffing needs?

CUSTOMER: Well, because we operate on yearly budgets we have to submit our project needs and involve human resources. Then we get approval and can start looking for people.

MARIA: When you’ve established your needs what’s the timetable for changing vendors?

CUSTOMER: We work on fiscal year here, regardless of when we really need people.

MARIA: That must be difficult considering some projects. Can you tell me how the IT staffing approval list is working for you?

CUSTOMER: It’s creating a problem. What can you do for us?

It looks like Maria has opened a door to dollars by asking the right questions in the right order.