7 Questions is all you'll ever need to ask your prospects/leads.

We have all heard about asking the right questions to qualify leads, help buyers uncover their hidden needs, offer the right solutions, etc. Chances are most of us have read about asking Open-ended questions first followed by Problem Identification, Implication, and Need pay-off questions aka SPIN Selling methodology.

But what are those questions that you always need to ask if you wish to make your solution a hit with the buyer? Discovery calls should be designed to uncover this invaluable information which will help you invest your time with the right prospects.

I have tried to list out the 7 most important questions you'll ever need to ask in your discovery sessions below:

1.Please tell me about your role.

Make sure to research your prospect before posing this question. You should not come across as lazy and a good amount of information is already available about what a person does in his role. The idea is to understand more about what he cares for in his role.

2. What are the metrics that you are responsible for along with your goals for this year?

This is a tricky one because you are asking something which they might not be comfortable sharing. Practice this question very well, as you should not sound intruding or rude when you bring up this question.

3. What is keeping you from achieving them?

Again watch if you are getting the information you asked for in your earlier queries before posing this question. In some situations, you may need to skip this question altogether if the prospect is not opening up.

4. What happens if they go unresolved?

The idea is to get to the bottom of the pain chain and see whom all are affected and whether there is motivation enough to change. This will help you map the stakeholders and ascertain the value to solution holds to the buyer.

5. How do you buy such a solution?

This helps you understand if this person has bought such a solution, what is their buying process and whom all are involved in which stages which helps you prepare in advance for objections.

6. What is your timeline for this implementation?

You can use this timeline to create urgency during your follow-ups.

7. How will this make your life better?

This helps you align with the vision that you have shared with the prospect. The buyer should see you as the one who can deliver on that vision and use this in your future communications of the promised land.

There can be a bunch of follow-up questions that should be ready with you as well like-

Why are you having those problems? Are you ready to begin solving this today? What are your other options for solving this problem?

The follow-up questions can give you more details into where your prospect is in her journey and other areas that were not very explicit in the first instance of answering.

I hope these questions will give you a better understanding of your prospect's plans and help you focus on the right leads, which is paramount to using your time efficiently.

Please share any other questions that you have been using during your conversations, which helped you uncover critical information needed to progress in your sales process.

Take it easy!