Sales Tip: The Most Important Sales Question
When I started consulting I met with Harvey Meier (www.harveymeier.com), a 30 year veteran to management consulting and asked him, “If you were to give me one tip to help me in consulting, what would it be?” He responded, “Ask one more question.” He explained, when you are ready to begin sharing a solution to your prospect, stop and ask another question. It has been one of the best business and selling tips I have received.
Once you find out what someones problems or goals are, dig a little deeper. You can ask questions like, “How will fixing your problem impact the company?” or “What will achieving your goals allow the company to do in the future it is not doing today?” Don’t be in a rush to “sell”, take your time learning about your customer and their needs. Buying is an emotional process, help your buyer get in touch with their emotional need and then present your solutions to it.
Practicing this skill is easy, you can do it during any conversation. When you are ready to say something, don’t. Ask another question. Practice learning more about others rather than sharing more about yourself. The more you understand about a customers problems the more valuable your solutions become. The extra question you ask will become the most important sales question for that situation.