sales training questions are the key

In almost any sales training, questions are touted as the best way to sell more effectively. But you are seldom told which questions to ask, when to ask them, or how to ask them. If you ask the wrong questions, or ask at the wrong time, or in the wrong way, you can do more harm than good. So what are the right questions to ask, and when and how should you ask them? I'm glad you asked!First of all, you should understand the difference between "closed-ended questions" and "open-ended questions". Closed-ended questions are ones that are simply answered with a "yes" or "no". They are best used for confirming information you already know, to clarify a specific point that you're discussing, oro lead a prospect to a commitment. They usually won't help you learn anything new that might help you close the sale, and they tend to cause awkward conversations, so you should keep them to a minimum.The better type of questions by far are open-ended questions. These questions cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, and usually begin with what, why, how, where, when, or who. The beauty of open-ended questions is that they get the prospect talking, and in so doing gives you information that you need to make the sale.One thing you must be careful of is to not come off as if you're interrogating your prospect. You need to be conversational, as if you're talking to an old friend, or you risk alienating your prospect. Ask them for permission to ask them questions. Let them know why you're asking, i.e. so you can better understand what they're looking for and focus only on the things that they're interested in, etc.Start off with questions that are easily answered and non-threatening, and gradually get into more specific areas. Ask questions about potential areas of concern that your prospect may have that your product or service can solve. When you find one, ask more questions to dig deeper into the issue, such as "tell me more about that?" Ask probing questions to get them talking about how often they have that problem, how long has it been a problem, what have they done to try to fix the problem, and what are the implications of that problem? By probing deeper into the problem, you will help your prospect realize the magnitude of the problem and they will feel more inclined to want to solve it.Try to find at least three problems that you know you can solve with your product or service, because people are much more likely to take action to fix multiple problems than just one. Go through the sequence "identification - probing - implication" with each problem one at a time until you have three or more. Just don't try to jump in and solve the problem yet, make sure you keep asking until you uncover all the problems and there isn't anything left hidden that might be important to them.Now that you've got all the issues out on the table, do a quick recap of each problem, and ask them if you've got it right? Then ask them if there is anything else that you've missed? This will keep them from blind-siding you later. Once you've done that, ask them if they want to fix the problems. If you've done it right, you should get a solid "yes!" at this point. If not, you need to go back and develop some more problems so that your prospect sees the situation as too big to ignore.Now you've got your prospect hanging on your every word, dying to know if you can solve these problems for them. It's time to ask the most important question of all: "Mr. Prospect, if I could show you a way to solve all these problems, is there any reason you wouldn't go ahead with it?" The answer to this question will tell you whether you're ready to present your solution or if you need to ask more questions.Now you know why sales training questions are so important. Put these techniques into action and watch your sales skyrocket!

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