What ARE the questions you ask and how do you develop your questions?

There are many questions that are generic in nature or that can be easily customized for

your specific meeting. You can start by generating a question database and/or use

questions below. Here are some penetrating and powerful sales questions that will help

you determine the true needs of your customer/prospect.

The higher up in an organization you sell, the more important it is to ask these types of

questions simply because executives are used to asking—and answering—tough

questions.

What goals are you striving to achieve this quarter?

How do those targets compare to last year’s results?

What, if anything, is preventing you from achieving these goals?

In addition you can create a list of “What We Don’t Know” and use that to

generate questions.

However, do NOT start your conversation with questions like this. You have to earn the

right to ask them, especially if you do not have an established relationship. It is important

to demonstrate your expertise, industry knowledge, and understanding of your

customer’s/prospect’s business and/or company. By doing your homework before the

meeting. Research, prepare, and plan for your meeting.

Are you targeting a certain company? Sign up for Google News Alerts, follow them on

Twitter, and/or follow them on LinkedIn. There is a good chance you may come across

information that that can trigger a great question.

We’ve noticed several trends occurring in your industry lately. The two that stand

out the most are… How are these affecting you and your business?

When I was doing some research, I noticed that your company is… What progress

are you making on that initiative?

They show that you have done your homework and executives appreciate that. Questions

like this also demonstrate that you know what is happening in business as well as a

particular industry.

Assuming you have captured your customer’s/prospect’s attention, you can move the

sales process forward by asking other questions that focus on a problem they may be

facing.

What are the 3 biggest mistakes being made by…?

What challenges or difficulties are you experiencing with…?

What two problems are giving you the most grief or taking up most of your time?

Once you determine the key problems that your prospect/customer is dealing with, the

next step is to determine the impact of the problem. Drilling down… You can do that by

asking:

What impact is that having on your business?

What is this problem costing you in terms of (money, profit, market share,

customer loyalty, time to market, etc.)?

What will happen if you don’t take action?

How will that affect your company?

How does that affect purchasing?

How does that affect production?

How does that affect You personally?

It is critical to understand that business people do not make buying decisions based on

your ability to spew out product specifications and information. Instead, they want to

know what result they can expect. In other words, your prospect/customer wants to know

how your solution will affect production, them and/or the bottom line.

Will it increase productivity? Will it reduce total costs? Will it reduce time and

paperwork? How will it be accepted by others in the company? Will it improve morale?

Will it save money? Will it make them look good?

That means you need to be prepared to ask questions that focus on the future too.

Consider these questions.

What is the ideal outcome you would like to see or experience?

How does this compare with your current results?

You mentioned that you want to improve employee morale and/or reduce cost

with this initiative. Can you tell me what that looks like?

You have stated that you want to reduce cost and increase productivity. How will

you know that you have succeeded?

You need to determine the priority of this decision, how the decision will be made, and

what potential roadblocks may prevent you from moving forward. Here are few

examples.

How does this project rank in priority compared to the others you are working on?

Walk me through the process you follow when you consider decisions of this

nature?

Who else do you normally consult with on decisions like this?

What potential roadblocks might prevent you from moving ahead with this?

What concerns, if any, do you have about moving forward?

Prepare questions based on the person you’re meeting with…

Go down a level. Receiving, warehouse, production, administration, or accounting can

provide excellent information about our competitors and the problems they face on a

daily basis.

There are also questions that seek to find out information about our competitors.

What are some of the qualities you look for in a vendor? Drill down…

I’m sure you have a favorite vendor. What do you like best about them? Drill

down…

If you could change one thing about your favorite vendor what would it be?

How do you measure success with a vendor?

Take the time to plan what questions you will ask based on your research and/or past

communications. Pick three or four good questions and customize them to your specific

situation. Ask penetrating open ended questions. And in doing so, you will separate

yourself from your competition and increase your sales.

Questions for present customers to discover potential

Do you have a preferred vendor/supplier list? (Are we on it?) Why/or why not?

Are we a secondary or back up supplier? We appreciate it! Can I get your help

with some brainstorming? If we were to become your favored vendor please help

me understand how we got there. What types of things would you need to see and

hear from us?

Do you have a list ranking your top suppliers?

What number are we?

If you were to write down your most important expectations of your number one

vendor what would that be? Please list as many as possible.

Negative reverse. And you’re probably getting these today? If not…

What do you want in order of priority?

Have a list of possible problems if they can’t answer.

1.

2.

3.

SWOT Analysis-Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

What does my company do to help the account?

Grow its business?

Increase its revenues?

Decrease its expenses?

Operate more efficiently or effectively?

What sort of relationship do we have with upper-level manager, Presidents, CFOs, COOs,

VPs, General Managers, Plant Managers, Engineering, Production Managers, and

Owners?

What sort of relationship do we have with the people who see how our competitors are

performing? (Receiving, production, purchasing, and accounting)

Can it/should it be strengthened?

Should I meet with others in the organization?

How?

What do you know about the accounts? (See about finding out “What We Don’t Know”)

Short and long-term goals and strategic plans?

Competitive position in the market?

Market share ownership for its product/service?

Identify Goals and Action Steps with timeline:

Company: How can you help your client grow?

People: How can you strengthen relationships with your customer’s people?

Process: What can you do to improve the processes of doing business?

Ask myself:

Are there people within my company who can provide technical, financial,

logistical, or other information that could help my customer improve their internal

systems and ultimately their bottom line?

Can we change the manner of interaction with our customer to make it easier to

do business with my company?

Are there people at my customer’s company with whom I should meet and

establish a relationship to strengthen the bond between the two companies?