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Bill Brooks |    |
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The Brooks Group Imagine what it would be like if doctors acted like many salespeople. You might walk into a doctor’s office one day and be greeted with a scenario like this. “Boy, are you in luck today!” he’d greet you.If you are like most of us you would run – not walk – to the nearest exit! I don’t want to belabor the point by stretching
the scenario further, and I don’t want to leave the impression that salespeople
are really that insensitive. But sometimes it helps to look at a ridiculous
example in order to detect a fatal flaw in our own selling patterns.
The Fatal Flaw In SellingAs one who trains thousands of salespeople every year, I have observed that most salespeople talk their way out of more sales than they listen their way into. People who subscribe to the “jawbone theory” of selling lost many sales they could make because they focus more on what they want to happen than on what their prospects want to happen.Probing Gives You More Selling PowerQuestioning skills are at the very core of any successful selling strategy. When you question correctly, you look beneath the surface to discover and reveal what’s really going on in the prospect’s mind and heart.In our terminology, we call it “probing.”
The dictionary defines a probe as an instrument used to penetrate, usually
for the purpose of measuring or investigating. As an action verb, to probe
means to interview, to ask questions and listen, to observe, to study,
and so on.
Probing enables you to do two very important things. First, it enables you to discover what the prospect wants and the conditions under which the person will buy what you’re selling. It keeps you from wasting a lot of time on prospects who won’t buy what you’re selling under any conditions. But, more importantly, it enables you to discover needs you can meet and suggest ways to meet them. Second, probing enables prospects to identify, clarify, and express their wants or needs. Many people have only a vague feeling that they want something but don’t have the foggiest idea what it is. Others may have a deep desire they’ve never even admitted to themselves. Some may think they want one thing, when what they really want is something entirely different. Still others know exactly what they want but don’t know how to go about getting it. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that if you can’t get a prospect to discuss and somewhat extensively verbalize specific needs, desires, wishes or alternatives you likely don’t have a qualified prospect! It works like this…if a prospect would reveal conditions, terms or circumstances around a purchase decision to you, then they are not going to feel confident enough in you to go ahead and commit to a major decision that involves time, money, emotion, commitment or risk. It’s as simple as that. By skillfully and sensitively probing,
you can take the guesswork out of selling – and buying. You can avoid the
amateurish technique of holding up one product after another and asking,
“Is this it?” You can become a highly respected professional who renders
a valuable service to your customers, a service for which you can expect
to be paid very well.
How To Listen People Into BuyingGet yourself a leather binder, a really nice one, that contains a legal pad. Treat it as if it were the most valuable piece of equipment you have, for it may very well prove to be just that.Once you are ready to start the questioning, open it up as the prospect watches, take out a pen, and say, “In order for me to be of service to you, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Then stop! Don’t say another word until
the person gives you permission to ask those questions. We can’t emphasize
enough how important this waiting interval is; it really sets a pattern
for everything that follows throughout the course of your sales interview.
©2000 Bill Brooks, The Brooks Group, Greensboro, NC. All Rights Reserved. For almost two decades Bill Brooks has
been one of America’s most in-demand sales speakers. The reason
behind Bill’s tremendous popularity is that he has successfully accomplished
what other sales speakers merely talk about. He enjoys real-world,
legitimate sales success, executive experience, in-depth topic expertise,
academic preparation, as well as the highest speaking and consulting accreditations.
Bill has been a sales executive and marketing manager, an international
sales award winner, CEO of a 300 million dollar corporation and successful
college football coach with a 70% winning record. He has managed
a national sales force of 4000. Bill is author of over 100
video and 200 audio programs, and 9 books. He has hosted over
300 satellite television shows. For more information about
Bill Brooks’ speaking, training and consulting services; or learning tools,
call 800-633-7762 or e-mail
sales@thebrooksgroup.com
or
visit his website at www.brooksgroup.com.
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