| There's no better way to improve the
quality of information you receive from a potential customer than by asking short
questions. We all can recall far too many times when we've sat across the table from a
customer we're trying to help – and we know we can help, if they would just provide
us information about their needs and goals.
The problem is that no matter what question we ask, we get
the same response: a big fat "I don't know" (or something along that line).
Then, almost without thinking, we put on our super salesperson cape and start telling the
person everything they need. Unfortunately, when it comes to agreeing to the sale, the
person turns cold.
Our problem in dealing with this type of customer is we
need to find a better way to engage them and to get them to think about what they want and
need – and then share that information with us.
The answer to this dilemma?
Short questions. I believe that short questions get you
long answers (while long questions get you short answers). What too often happens is we
are talking to a customer and asking them what we believe are simple questions, but in
reality, those questions are simple only to us. To someone unfamiliar with our product and
services, the questions are complex.
For example, we ask a question that has a couple of facts
wrapped up in it. As a result, it winds up being more of a statement for which we are
simply looking for feedback or agreement. No wonder customers can give us the cold
shoulder and the blank stare.
What we want to do is ask short questions. In their
simplest form, they are questions like "why" and "how." Or possibly
they look like this: Could you give me an example? Could you explain that again to me?
The shorter the question, the more likely we are to get a
long answer. The next step is to ask them another short question, following up on what
they just said. The beauty about this is it allows the customer to do all the talking. By
doing the talking, they'll tell you their needs and desired benefits. They'll tell you
their goals and will reveal a level of information you need to determine how to best serve
them.
When using the short question approach, there are only two
things you need to remember. First, ask the customer a soft easy question to which you
know they'll respond. Then after they have given you a response, continue with the short
questioning approach by asking, "Could you give me another example?" You then
pause and allow the client to give you more information, upon which you follow up again
with another short question such as, "How?" or "Why?" Basically, you
want to do whatever you can to get them talking more.
The second rule to remember is to not keep asking the same
short questions. If you do, you'll come across as an inquisitive 3-year-old rather than
the professional salesperson you know you are. You can avoid this best by picking up on a
single item they shared with you and drilling down on just that one item.
When you drill down on a single item, you demonstrate your
listening skills and your ability to truly discern information. The beauty of this
approach is when it works, the customer will many times share with you exactly what they
want and will begin asking you questions about features and benefits.
Short questions get you long answers. Long questions get
you short answers. It is up to you as to the approach you want to take, but if you want to
actually learn something about the customer's needs, you will get there quicker by asking
short questions.
© 2011 |
