The Power of Emotional Discovery: A Guide to Enhancing Sales Through Strategic Questioning

In sales, connecting with customers is crucial. How and when a salesperson asks questions is key to this connection.

Questions are not just a means to deepen understanding and empathy - they hold the power to boost sales significantly. By using ordered questioning, salespeople can tap into buying emotions and manage those reactions to make a dramatic difference to your sales performance.

Understanding the Emotional Core of Sales

At the heart of every sales transaction lies a complex web of emotions.

For the customer, these emotions include the fear of missing out (FOMO), the joy of new experiences, and the frustration with current circumstances. Understanding and empathising with these emotions can help you forge a deeper connection with your clients.

For the salesperson, there's usually a mix of emotions from anxiety at getting things right to excitement at winning the sale (and commission!).

Understanding and harnessing these emotions can transform a sales transaction from a mere exchange of goods to a meaningful interaction between two or more people.

The Power of Question Sequencing

As sales professionals, our goal should be to guide our customers through an emotional journey. The order of our questions significantly affects how customers go through this journey, process information, and make choices.

By asking questions strategically, we can help customers see their needs and solutions more clearly, reinforcing our integral role in the sales process.

Crafting Questions to Uncover Emotional Drivers

As salespeople, our aim is not just to sell but to understand and empathise with our customers. This understanding comes from asking the right questions at the right time and in the correct order.

For instance, a B2B SaaS salesperson may ask a prospect, 'How recently have you felt frustrated with your current software?'. This question brings up the customer's still raw frustration and disappointment in their current situation.

A personal trainer may ask a question such as, 'How recently have you felt out of breath when engaged in everyday activities such as gardening or taking the stairs at work?'

The recency of a problem begins to worsen the issue in a customer's mind. In turn, this is more likely to make them feel even more unsatisfied than they currently are. Emotional dissatisfaction in the customer, drives the need for a quick solution and might speed up the sale.

These types of initial, exploratory questions also begin to make the sales meeting more meaningful for the client. They help foster a deeper connection between the salesperson and the customer.

Understanding the Deeper Emotions At The Core of Sales

After exploring fundamental problems with a customer, it's time to start asking more reflective questions. These questions are designed to make the customer think more deeply about their issue and any feelings it generates.

For example, ask, 'Given these recent software problems and delays, how do you see them impacting your productivity and revenue?'

Or, 'What do you think could be the long-term consequences of your current weight and fitness levels?'

These questions encourage the customer to link recent irritations to more significant impacts. This deepening of their thinking further enhances the emotional impact of your questions.

Note, however, that these reflective questions are not designed to scare or pressure clients. Instead, they can help the customer see their problem more broadly. Indeed, in my experience, customers are aware of these deeper issues. They are anxious to address them head-on and find it almost therapeutic to open up to a salesperson who adopts this approach.

Practical Application: A Step-by-Step Approach

So, how can we put this strategic question into practice? Well, here's a simple structure you could follow:

• Pre-Call Preparation: Before you make the call or have the meeting, brainstorm what truly matters to your target audience. Prepare questions that take them from basic issues to deeper, more fundamental ones.
• Initial Questioning: Start with easy, direct questions. Ask about their recent experiences or problems.
• Deepening the Inquiry: Gradually move to your more profound questions. Ensure these questions help the customer see their experiences on a broader context.
• Customising Responses: Pay close attention to the customer's verbal emotions and nonverbal body language. Notice any mismatch between what they say and how they look and react. Be empathetic and ask thoughtful questions that match their feelings. Don't be pushy; avoid going over the top with anything you say. Your mature, reassuring approach will build the case for your solution and increase your client's engagement.
• Close with Strategy: Use the insights you have gathered in the meeting to position your product as their perfect solution.

Conclusion

Adding strategic questions to your sales process is more than just asking better questions. It involves creating an emotional journey for the customer, simultaneously managing your emotions as a salesperson, and not rushing ahead to close the sale.

Thinking carefully about the questions you plan to ask and the order in which you will ask them will help customers think AND feel the need for your solution.

Thus, strategic questioning boosts your effectiveness, enhances the customer's experience, and leads to more sales.

So, how do you feel about that?