Good Salesmen Are Good Listeners Who Are Good at Questioning

I was watching Professor Conor Neill from IESE Business School in Spain on Youtube, when he started talking about asking great questions. He emphasized how important it is to listen to other people, try to connect, understand others point of view, and build a rapport. But in order to listen well one must start by asking great questions that build a conversation. Conversations make or break every sales transaction. Many salesmen struggle to engage potential customers in conversations that lead to influencing their decision-making and leading them to take a specific action. A conversation can be an opportunity turned into finding more opportunities, connecting with new customers, and increasing sales. This can be achieved if you engage potential buyers in powerful conversations and influence them to buy your products.

Mike Schultz, President of RAIN Group asserts that by asking great sales questions salespeople can get informed about the buyer’s world. Great questions help salespeople connect with buyers, understand their needs and important things they care for, and help them progress and create a better future with the products and services that salespeople can offer. RAIN Group is an award-winning and industry-leading sales training company which headquarter is in Boston and has offices across the US and internationally. At RAIN Group, and during sale trainings, salespeople learn a great framework to question. The framework identifies six keys to succeed in sales conversions and include:

Rapport, that consists of building strong and trust-based relationship that extends beyond merely connecting.

Aspirations and Afflictions of the buyer, that can only be discovered by asking the right revealing questions.

Impact of the sales that consist of demonstrating in numbers the before and after-sales situation to the buyer and the impact it’s going to have on their business, life, and surroundings.

New Reality that consists of the new picture of the buyer’s situation after the sales as a result of the change.

Advocacy and Inquiry is the way the salesmen steers the conversation by questions, discovering the buyers Aspirations and directing him to understand the Impact of the product being proposed.

Influence subtly direct the buyers to act and decide on the path of the win-win situation that salespeople have planned for and are aware of it to bring a sustainable and loyal relationship based on trust and delivering the best products and services.