What is the easiest way to find out what a person wants?  You ask them.  A great mentor taught me this when I was a young pup in selling:  “If you don’t ask, you won’t get it.  If you ask, you might just get it”.

Get information before you give it.  How could you ever make an effective presentation otherwise?

Always know where you will go with answers.  Regardless of the answer, you need to be mindful that your goal in any presentation is to get to the next step.

You should quantify the problem whenever possible.

"In your experience, can you tell me how often that happens here?"

"How much do you think that is costing you?"

"How much time does that take when you’ve done it in the past?"

Resist the tendency to present too soon.  Some reps get so excited when they hear the slightest hint of an opportunity that they turn on the spigot of benefits.  Hold off, ask a few more questions, get better information, and you're able to craft an even harder-hitting description of benefits, tailored precisely to what they're interested in increasing your credibility.

Again, you should only talk about your product/service after knowing specifically how it will solve the problem, meet their need, etc.  Then you can tailor your remarks specifically and personally because you already know what interests them.

Avoid the question, "Anything else?" when attempting to up sell.  Just like when a fast food clerk asks the same question, the answer is usually, "No."

Instead, give them a suggestion, and help them answer.  For example, after they agree to buy an item, or a service, say, "Many of our other clients who purchased _______ also find that ________ is also something that makes sense for them.”

The concept of “buyer fingerprints” is one of the simplest yet profound techniques that were ever taught to me by Dr. Donald Moine.

One of the questions that I teach to my clients in the real estate industry is, “Tell me, are you looking for the ideal home in a nice quiet neighborhood?”

This question opens up the floodgates of information when you have helped them created a picture of the ideal home in a nice quiet neighborhood.  The follow-up question is “Can you tell me what that looks like?”

The key to persuading your prospect is motivation.  Every human being is motivated by something.  Your job is to find out what motivates your prospect and then to fulfill that motivation. 

People have two major motivations: the desire for gain and the fear of loss.  The desire for gain motivates people to want more of the things they value in life.  They want more money, more success, more health, more influence, more respect, more love and more happiness.

The fear of loss appeals to the selfish aspect of people.  They do not want to lose out on losing something that they have already.

Human wants are limited only by individual imagination.  No matter how much a person has, he or she still wants more and more.  When you can show a person how he or she can get more of the things he or she wants by helping you achieve your goals, you can motivate them to act in your behalf.

When you ask your prospects questions, you should already know the answers to their questions.  How is that possible Chris?

As a sales professional, you should already know who your customers are, the needs that they have, the challenges they face and what they should be looking for.  Your job is to draw out their need and to present yourself as the solution.

You do this by asking your prospects questions.

You will learn more by asking rather than telling.   ###

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