66 questions to navigate any sales process

Asking questions is a powerful tool to easily catch your prospects attention and lead them into a certain direction. It also helps you to discover your prospects needs and to connect with them. But which questions should you ask? Have a look at our 66 questions to win any sales conversation!

Transcript

1. Liinea.com to navigate a sales process and to close any sale fast 66 Questions www.liinea.com/worshops
2. Liinea.com “asking questions is the most powerful way to communicate to others to persuade and influence them!”
3. Liinea.com Why questions drive sales forward more effectively than any other form of dialogue? Liinea.com
4. Liinea.com Sales is a process and you are a project manager in this process. Like a sherpa guide leads you through the rocky Everest to arrive to the top, you need to lead your prospects through the sales process. How do you do it? By asking the right questions! Liinea.com
5. Liinea.com I have been leading hundreds of complex sales with contract values of up to $1bn, I observed my colleagues doing the same, I’ve read hundreds of books on effective selling and followed opinions of the experts. All these allowed me to create a unique sale process map driven by the right questions. Following these steps and asking the right questions will help you navigate and close any sale! And remember, asking questions is a skill, and the only way to improve and become a master at it is by constant practicing, at work but also at home! Regards, Karina Collis, MBA Founder of Liinea Sales Advisory
6. Liinea.com Create value and offer a trial Identify decision making process
7. Liinea.com Frame (Introduce the topic, build credibility and establish rapport) • Give a business justification, company story • Talk about market trends and share insights (”Are you aware of a recent study that…”) • Set up agenda, for example ”let’s go through what is relevant to your firm and were we can add value” Qualify (Understand if this prospect is suitable for your solution) • Let me ask you few questions to better understand your business so we can determine how you can benefit the most from our solution • What […] are you currently using? • How is your process organised? Questions to guide a buyer thorough the sales process
8. Liinea.com If the prospect asked for a meeting (Estimate how fast you can close the deal) • What motivated you to invite us to talk about …? • Have you researched the question extensively? • Have you used products like this before? • Do you have a list of evaluation criteria? Could you rate them in terms of importance to you? • What are your decision criteria? • Are you talking to any other vendors? • Is it something you are looking to do now or later? (and why do you want to do it now?) Questions to guide a buyer thorough the sales process
9. Liinea.com Ask about the future goals: • What are your future goals? Are you planning to scale? Where do you want to be in a year’s time? >> Does the current set up allow you to achieve this goal? What is lacking in the current process that might slow down your growth? Questions to guide a buyer thorough the sales process Find the problem (Uncover your prospects’ needs in order to provide them with a useful solution) State the challenge: • Many companies we are working with are facing this challenge [state the challenge]. Are you experiencing this too? • A recent study by […] highlighted that the biggest challenge of businesses similar to yours is […]. Would you say that it is true for your business? Ask about the desired performance: • In an ideal world, how do you see this process being organised? • If improvements were possible, what are the first things you’d like to see changed? • What would you like to see improved about what you are using now? Ask directly: • Are there any issues you face with respect to […]? • Have you experienced any challenges with […]? • Are you ever concerned that […]? • How satisfied are you with […]? How much time on average do you spend per month on […]? Is it right to say that this time could be minimised? Is it a challenge for you?
10. Liinea.com Questions to guide a buyer thorough the sales process What is the cost of the issue? • How much is this issue costing you? • Is it leading to increased cost? • How much time do you spend on this? How else could you spend this time if it wasn’t an issue? • How much of your time or money is it going to take to fix it? Understand urgency • How would you describe the importance of fixing it here? • What happens if you don’t address this [problem] now? • What could you accomplish with an extra [time] gained each week? • How would you use extra [ money/time..] saved/gained? Expand the problem Make the problem bigger by showing its consequences, create a “burning platform” Estimate the scope of the challenge: • How big of a problem is it for you? • How important is it to you that […]? • How long has that been going on? • Have you tried to do something to fix it? Find out the root of the problem: • Why do you think it is happening? • Where do you think the cause is coming from? How the problem affects the business: • What effect does that have on […]? • Is it slowing your growth? • Have you ever missed any opportunities because of […]? • How does that affect your revenue (or productivity
11. Liinea.com Questions to guide a buyer thorough the sales process Identify the decision making process (Identify the key decision makers and the required steps) • If we could offer you a solution that could resolve all the discussed issues, what would be our next step? Could you sign the contract yourself or do you need to involve other people? • Could you explain your decision making process please? • How does the approval process normally work? • Have you bought a similar type of products before ? What was the decision making process? • Who is in charge of the purchasing decision? • Is there anyone else that you would want to include in this conversation who might be involved in this kind of a decision? • Who else would benefit from learning about the product? • What are the steps we need to go through for you to become our
12. Liinea.com Confirm value and offer a trial (Hear from the prospect how useful the solution would be) • Would this help? / Would it be useful if […]? • If you could […], would that be a big benefit to you? • What benefits do you see? • Why is making a change a priority for you now? • Why is it important? • Is there any other way it might help? • Will it save money? • Can you see how our solution can help you to solve […] ? • Do you see yourself using it? • Why don’t you give it a try? Close a trial (advance and close the deal) • What is your impression so far? • Based on what you know so far, does this sound like something you can benefit from? • Based on what you know so far, what do you think about the the product? • What questions and concerns do you have (that we need to address before making a decision)? • What are outstanding questions that should be covered? • What do you need to see from us to make you feel confident about the platform? Questions to guide a buyer thorough the sales process
13. Liinea.com Questions to navigate a sales process Identify objections (Reveal roadblocks to advance the deal) • Do you have any concerns about […]? • You seem a little worried about […]. What are your thoughts? • Can you see any roadblocks that might stop you from buying […]? • How confident do you feel about achieving your objectives from implementing our solution? Why? • Other than [objection], is there any other reason you would not go ahead now? If […] wasn’t a problem, would you go ahead? • If we find a workable solution for [objection], will you go ahead? Questions to guide a buyer thorough the sales process
14. Liinea.com Questions to navigate a sales process Chase the answer until the contract is signed Advance the deal (And close it!) • Where do you want to go from here? • What do you think we should do from here? • What information can I provide you to help you advance internal conversations? • Is there any information I can provide to support the internal conversations? • At this point, do you need more validation or evidence of the benefits to support your internal conversation ? • Should I send you the draft contract for review? • How fast could you make the decision? • If this decision was only up to you, where do you stand? Are you ready to get this? Questions to guide a buyer thorough the sales process
15. Liinea.com Scale up smart Liinea.com Join our sales workshops to create a winning sales playbook and to master the art of sales liinea.com/workshops