Should You Use a Sales Question Guideline?
Having been involved in sales and business development for the better part of 20 years, I certainly know the benefits of asking questions during a sales meeting. I believe that asking questions is the only way to get to the true needs of your customer.
The focus of this article is whether or not one should use a questionnaire or guideline during a sales meeting with a client. My answer would be a resounding....YES !!!
Although I agree that no client should have to sit through a sales rep reading questions from a page, I do think that having a list or a framework of questions to ask benefits both the rep and the client.
Having a framework of questions accomplishes 3 things:
1. Provides A Road Map - All of us are very busy and may have our focus split into many areas. The road map keeps us on track and focused on the task at hand.
2. Refreshes Our Memory - Even though we ask similar questions of many clients, we often times forget to ask certain things. Using a guideline helps us to keep track of pertinent information to be gained from the meeting.
3. Provides Value - I have been a party to sales presentations that were extremely unfocused. This does not instill confidence in a client who is choosing whether or not to use your business as a solution. Often, the more thorough the questions, the more comfortable the client will be that your company can be the solution to their particular problem. This adds tremendous value to the presentation.
We all know that asking questions is a huge part of the sales process. Let's take the next step as sales professionals and put together a framework of questions to ask during a client meeting. Tailor these questions to the pre-planning that you have already done for this client.
Using a sales question guideline will add value to your presentation and may just be a huge step to gaining the business !!!
Please feel free to leave your questions or comments regarding this post. I look forward to learning from other professionals in our industry....