How do you handle tough IT sales questions from prospects?

1 Understand the question

Before you answer any question, make sure you understand what the prospect is asking and why. Sometimes, tough questions are not really about the product or the price, but about the prospect's pain points, goals, or objections. By clarifying the question, you can show that you are listening, empathizing, and addressing their concerns. You can also avoid giving irrelevant or inaccurate answers that might damage your credibility. To understand the question, you can use techniques such as paraphrasing, asking open-ended questions, or confirming assumptions.

2 Provide value

When you answer a tough question, you want to provide value to the prospect, not just information. Value means showing how your product or service can help them solve their problems, achieve their goals, or overcome their challenges. To provide value, you need to tailor your answer to the prospect's specific situation, needs, and interests. You also need to use stories, examples, or testimonials that demonstrate the benefits and outcomes of your solution. Avoid using jargon, technical terms, or generic features that might confuse or bore the prospect.

3 Handle objections

Some tough questions are actually objections that the prospect has about your product or service. Objections are not necessarily bad, as they indicate that the prospect is interested and engaged. However, you need to handle them effectively to move the conversation forward and overcome any doubts or barriers. To handle objections, you need to acknowledge them, empathize with them, and address them with facts, logic, or emotion. You also need to ask for feedback, confirmation, or commitment from the prospect to ensure that you have resolved their issues.

4 Use the S.T.A.R. method

The S.T.A.R. method is a useful framework to help you structure your answers to tough questions. This method encourages concise, relevant, and impactful answers that will positively showcase your product or service. When using the S.T.A.R. method, it is important to describe the context or background of the question or the problem that the prospect is facing in the situation section, explain the goal or objective that they want to achieve in the task section, detail the specific steps or features of your product or service that can help in the action section, and highlight the benefits or outcomes they can expect from using your product or service and how they can measure them in the result section.

5 Practice and prepare

The best way to handle tough IT sales questions from prospects is to practice and prepare. You can anticipate some of the common or likely questions that your prospects might ask, based on your research, experience, or feedback. You can also use tools such as role-playing, scripting, or recording to practice your answers and improve your delivery, confidence, and persuasion. By practicing and preparing, you can reduce your anxiety, avoid mistakes, and impress your prospects with your knowledge, expertise, and professionalism.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?