The Best Questions You Can Ask in Sales

Every successful sale starts with uncovering your customer’s Gap.

As a sales professional, you must be able to ask the right questions at the right time, actively listen, and uncover the why behind the what so that you can tailor your solutions to meet your customer’s needs. At Carew International, we leverage the power of the Exploratory Process to do this.

The Exploratory Process is a question asking strategy that helps you uncover your customer’s “Gap”—the space between their current reality and their ideal situation. By asking five key types of questions—Overview, Focusing (Ideal), Realization (Actual), Insight, and Transition, you gain a deep understanding of your customer’s needs, motivations, and, ultimately, their Gap.

Asking questions allows you to:

• Build relationships
• Demonstrate that you know your customer’s business
• Diagnose customer issues
• Reduce objections
• Gain credibility
• Give the best recommendation that you can
• Close the Gap

Overview Questions

These are the questions that get the conversation started.

Overview questions are broader, general questions and focus on information gathering.

Pro Tip: Overview questions should NOT be questions that could easily have been determined through pre-call research and preparation.

• Last time we talked you mentioned_____________, has this changed?
• I was reading through your organization’s history. Can you tell me a bit about _____?
• How are the recent trends in the industry affecting your company/organization?
• Tell me a little bit about your background. How did you first get involved in (whatever industry they are a part of)?

Focusing (Ideal) Questions

These are the questions that get to the root; it is here that you start to find your customer’s Gap. ?

Focusing questions are used to establish aspirations, hopes for improvement, and the true needs of your customer.

Pro Tip: When a customer discusses “important” concerns, you need to determine the outcome to which they relate, i.e., profit, productivity, operating expenses, etc. “WHY is that important?”

• What are some of your key goals or plans for the coming year?
• What is most important to you in a resource such as us?
• What do you like about your current approach?
• How is success (yours or your organization’s) measured here?

Realization (Actual) Questions

These are the questions that establish customer awareness.

Realization questions help you understand your customer’s current reality—where they are with respect to their goals, aspirations, and situations.

These questions get customers to the point where they realize that if they don’t act, what will happen?

• Where are you in terms of goals/plans/objectives?
• What kind of barriers or issues are you running into?
• You’ve undertaken a number of efforts; how are they going?
• What’s the status today?

Insight Questions

These are the questions that allow for new possibilities that the customer may be unaware of.

Pro Tip: These questions are perfect for when you encounter a self-described, satisfied customer, whether it seems as if they should be or not. Use this opportunity to present more favorable approaches or options they may not have considered.

• That sounds good. Are there any areas where you could improve above and beyond where you already are?
• A lot has been changing with ________. Are you aware of some of the newer, different approaches?
• A number of our other clients have been considering _________. Have you ever considered that?

Transition Questions

These are the questions that transition into another conversation or shift the focus to presenting a final solution. ?

At Carew, we use these to transition from the Exploratory Process to the Presentation Process – the second part of our Positional Selling System?.

• Thank you for providing me with such a thorough overview of your goals. May I – “present to you now” or “schedule a time” – to share a solution with you?

Pro Tip: While flexible, the Exploratory Process generally flows from Overview to Transition. The key is to uncover the “Ideal” vs. “Actual” Gap and any insightful new dimensions that might be possible for your customer. This lays the foundation for a tailored solution.

Now, how do you know when to stop asking questions?

1. When you have uncovered and fully understand our customer’s Gap
2. When you know the decision-making process and who is involved
3. When you understand the criteria for success

Fill out the form at the bottom of our blog post to snag our Exploratory Process Sample Questions PDF and editable template today.

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About the Author: As a Client Partner and Certified Trainer with Carew International, I collaborate with clients to understand their unique business realities and develop training programs that are perfectly customized to their organizations.?I am one of many Carew team members who experienced the power of our training at client organizations and later joined Carew. When I'm not selling or facilitating memorable training, I cherish time spent with my husband, Kevin, and my son, Chay. I also love boating on the beautiful lakes in Maine!

Carew International is an award-winning sales and leadership training company, and I would love to be a resource for you!?Email: [email protected]