Never Ask These 5 Silly Sales Questions
Marcus Chan
?? Stop losing deals to the status quo | Sales Training + Coaching for B2B Sales Teams and AEs That Gets Results | 4X Salesforce Top Influencer | WSJ Best-Selling Author | Feat. in Forbes & Entrepreneur
Top sales professionals know the power of well-crafted questions that can lead to the prospect telling them everything they need to know to close the deal down. Top sales professionals ALSO KNOW there are certain questions you simply don’t want to ask as they can cause you to lose the deal! As I spend time with sales professionals, I continually see the same rookie questions getting asked that ultimately hurt the sales rep’s credibility or trust with them…If you want to close a lot of business, never ask these 5 silly sales questions…
- What do you do here? In your first meeting, when you ask a silly question like this, does it frame you up as a professional? No way! It shows you didn’t do any research and shows a lack of professionalism. If you don’t know their business, how will your value proposition help their business? Avoid this question by doing research online before meeting with them. The more prepared you, the faster you’ll gain their trust!
- How’s your current vendor doing for you? Unless they called or requested information, 99% of the time the prospects see RIGHT THROUGH IT and will say, “Everything is fine.” They KNOW you are trying to find pain points to sell to! In fact, when you ask it and their auto-response is above, that will further drive another defensive wall between you and them that you’ll need to overcome. Avoid this question like the plague!
- What do you like about your current vendor? This is very close to the #2 question – if they were already resistant to meeting with you, when you ask this type of question you are only asking them to reinforce what they like about their current vendor! This will only add additional walls of objections between you and the prospect. Instead, ask a different type of question that helps them think objectively in a way that can help you craft your value proposition. Ex: “What are three things they can improve upon for you?”
?4. Would you be interested if I saved you money? Who would say “no” to this question? This is incredibly old school and literally EVERYONE sees right through this. It is literally laughable when you hear someone ask this question as it is equivalent to, “If I gave you a $1 billion dollar check, would you say ‘yes’?” Avoid this question and other cheesy questions along this line as they will see right through it.
5. How much do you currently spend on ___? This question will trap you. Once you ask this question especially early on in the process, you are trapping yourself into a price-based sale. If your solution costs more, you are out of luck. When you ask this question, you are creating mental parameters and a COMPARISON of what they are now expecting to spend with you. This question makes it challenging for you to create value as what they are spending is irrelevant if your solution is BETTER!
So there you have it – 5 questions you need to stop asking in your sales process! If you ask these questions, is it the end of the world? No – however, these types of questions hurt your ability to gain trust and credibility quickly. Remember that all people gauge two things when they first meet you: 1) Are you trustworthy? 2) Are you competent? The above 5 questions do not help you gain trust or competence when asked. Avoid these questions by being strategic with your question-asking and see your results skyrocket!
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Marcus Chan is an award-winning results and people-driven executive sales leader. Over the last decade, Marcus has been promoted 10X in 10 years and has been ranked in the top percentile of every company and every role he has been in. He is passionate about helping others reach their maximum potential. You can follow him on Instagram here for daily motivation! Please re-share this article if you found value in it.
Speaker, Writer, Sales Ninja, Black Belt in Momming
5 年Painful to hear those. But so right. So very right. It takes courage and investment to ask the high gain questions. Other rookie mistakes - nervous chatter to just fill in silence. Why are people so scared of silence? It’s such a powerful tool. Ask a big, high-gain question - then be quiet. The customer should be talking more than you. Great insights Marcus.
Store Sales Manager at Victra - Verizon Authorized Retailer
5 年This was a great article. Thank you for sharing.
Regional Manager with a focus on helping clients achieve their goals.
5 年Always have great tips Marcus, thanks!
Marketing Manager and Business Consultant
5 年Yep! Had someone come in yesterday, shocked that I was the marketing manager where I work, a.k.a. also the decision maker for any marketing related purchases... which is what he was selling. But yeah... definitely lost that sale!
Area Business Manager, DERM| 2X Presidents Club Winner
5 年Great read!