As a professional salesperson I invariably find myself gravitating towards books, tapes, audios and videos that allow me to improve my selling skills. Perhaps I should read more novels, thrillers or even books about history. Unfortunately, I am a real sales and personal improvement junkie – in fact I own over 2,000 books related to sales and personal growth! I was recently browsing my personal library and came across a book that is, truly, one of the absolute best I have ever read on sales.

Originally published in 1992, it is titled Questions That Make The Sale and the author is a good friend of mine, Bill Bethel.   In this little jewel (196 pages) Bill reveals all the secrets. A true sales genius, Bill Bethel believes what I, too, believe. And that is this – questions make the sale. Not flashy presentations (remember the movie Robocop?), not scores of “closing skills” (remember the movie Tinmen?)…instead, the sale is made with questions.

Bill breaks questions down to 5 basic types. Here they are:

·         Open-ended questions – “What do you think?”

·         Reflective questions – “Let’s see if I’m clear on this.   You’re saying that…”

·         Directive questions – “Where do you think this would help you the most?”

·         Multiple Choice questions – “Red? Blue? Green?”

·         Closed-End questions – “Do you understand what I mean?”

This initial breakdown may look familiar to you. But let me ask you this. How often do you utilize them in your day-to-day selling? How often do you find yourself telling, presenting, selling and overcoming objections instead of utilizing just the right type of question at precisely the right time?
 

Bill goes on to explain that there are 8 classifications of questions. They are:

·         Motivation questions – “What do you think you need to get the job done?”

·         Prospecting questions – “May I see the owner?”

·         Qualifying questions – “What is your organization’s position in the market?”

·         Probing questions – “What problems do you absolutely want to avoid?”

·         Presentation questions – “How much time would this save you?”

·         Objection questions – “You say it’s too complicated. What do you mean by that?”

·         Closing questions – “What do we have to do to get started?”

·         Follow-up questions – “Is it performing up to your expectations?”

It is my belief that if every salesperson could simply master the art of questioning, products and services would be sold at increasingly higher volumes and at increasingly higher margins within every organization from coast to coast.

Here’s my challenge to you. I would like you to do two specific things first, make a conscious effort to observe sales interactions around you and keep a mental log of what you see. How many questions are being asked? Is there a lot more telling and selling than asking? I believe you already know the answer.

Next, I’d like you to take Bill Bethel’s advice. I’d urge you to learn the masterful art of questions. Professional selling is all about asking. Not telling. It’s about working just as hard on the questions you ask as the product you sell. It’s all about discovery and determining needs, motivations, objections, problems, challenges, clarification and more from prospects.

There is little doubt that sales education is sadly lacking as it relates to what really (and I mean, really) does drive the success of a sale. Think about your sales education. How many of Bill Bethel’s questioning skills have you been taught? How many do you use?

Better yet, how could your productivity improve if you learned them. I urge you to think more about the questions than the answers and you, too, like Bill Bethel, will become a top flite, first class sales professional, who others respect and look up to.

©2000 Bill Brooks, The Brooks Group, Greensboro, NC

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.