Most salespeople ask prospects wrong questions at meetings

Even experienced old hands at sales often make the rookie mistake during meetings of either asking the wrong questions or asking too few. According to the 80/20 rule, you should only be talking 20% of time, and the client the rest. By asking appropriate questions, you achieve much more than by just having a monologue worshipping your product.

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Here are serveral tips on what questions you should ask, and how you should ask them, during a meeting with prospects.

Overwhelming them with information doesn't work

According to Forbes, unfortunately too often we see a situation in which a salesperson comes to a meeting and tries to pour out as much information as possible that's supposed to prove that their product is superior to all others. The salesperson thinks the more is said about it, the better, but that's a big mistake.

The less information, the better. Don't overwhelm the client with data and numbers, it will only paralyse them, and keep them from making a decision, as they aren't capable of grasping all the information.

Ask open-ended questions

You should ask open-ended questions, i.e. not just with yes/no answers, but so the client has to talk on their own. What the prospect decides to tell you based on an open-ended question will tell you a lot about their priorities, what they consider essential and what they have on their mind. Then use this information to present the product.

Open new horizons to the prospect by asking suitable questions

When asking questions, use the „Socrates method“. This means that through provoking questions you influence the customer's viewpoint about the situation, and you lead them to their own solution that corresponds to what you offer. The benefit of this method is that the client arrives at the decision by themselves, without pressure on the part of the salesperson.

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Article source Forbes.com - prestigious American business magazine and website
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