What New Questions Will You Ask in 2022?

In B2B Sales, what do you think is more important: knowing the right answers or asking the right questions?

It's safe to say that both are critical to a successful sales process. But as you plan for the year ahead, and maybe even for a Sales Kickoff (SKO) where you'll provide fresh and impactful training to your sales team, have you thought about what new questions you should be asking your prospects and customers in 2022?

After all, questions are what create conversations. They generate invaluable insights and help us understand what is important. They surface priorities, values, and personal goals. They even help us learn what someone would name a new boat if they were to purchase one.

Does that last one really help? Maybe.

There's an infinite number of different questions you could be asking throughout your own sales process. You've likely already learned what some the most important ones are. But when was the last time you thought hard about what new questions you should testing out?

My challenge to you for the New Year is as follows:

Bring you marketing, sales, customer service, and product teams together for a cross-functional brainstorming exercise on new questions you could be asking your prospects to help identify new sales opportunities or stimulate more conversations. If you have large teams, break out into smaller groups, but ensure you representation from at least 2-3 different functional areas within each group. I bet your product team will come up with a bunch of good ideas that you had never even considered.

Have some fun with it, and try to walk away with at least 3-5 new questions to add into your repertoire. Because your success in 2022 may hinge more on what you don't know about your prospects than what you do know.

Something Less Deep

We got a bit philosophical there, and it's only January 5th! So for something a bit lighter, here's a 9-second clip of what happened on January 1st at 12:01am to all those decision makers out there who told sales reps to "call back next year"...

Oh, and this idea of asking new questions in 2022 came up in last week's episode of Full Funnel, the weekly Sales News and Tips show on the Sales Feed network. Check it out for a broader discussion on this topic along with tips on why and how to prospect on holidays, why every sales rep should go through a buying process, and how to handle a pushy prospect that threatens to report you to the spam police:

Most importantly, what would you name a new boat if you were to purchase one