iSnare.com - Free Content Articles Directory
Authors Contents [Advanced Search][Add OpenSearch][Job Search]
Distribute your articles to thousands of article sites for only $2 and below! Read more...

Index  Business
 

Questions Are The Answer

 
[ Contact the Author] [ Send to a Friend] [ Article Publisher] [Make PDF] [ Print] [ Bookmark & Share]
 
Read our Terms of Service before reprinting this article. The submitter specified above has claimed the rights to this article.
Tessa Stowe

Questions are the answer when selling. If you ask the right questions, your potential clients will sell themselves on your products or services. You will not have to sell at all. How great is that?

So why are questions the answer? Why will questions do the selling for you?

Questions will do the selling for you provided you have the "Question 3-legged stool" in place.

The 3 legs are:

1. You ask the "right" questions

2. You actively listen to the answers (obvious I know, but not always followed)

3. You have the intent to help your potential client get what they want.

Just suppose you ask the right questions but don't listen to the answers? Do you think your potential client will want to buy from you? Just suppose you're great at listening and you really want to help your potential client, but you ask the wrong questions. Do you think they will want to buy from you? I hope you get the picture. In order for the questions to do the selling for you, you need all 3 legs of the "Question 3-legged stool" in place. Let's look more closely at the "right" questions leg.

The "right" questions leg involves several types of questions.

Initially you need to ask questions to uncover whether the potential client has any problems that you can solve. Once you know a potential client has a problem you can solve, it is very tempting to start talking about how you can solve it for them. If you leap in at this point with your solution, chances are they won't become your client. You now need to ask more questions.

Now you need to ask questions so they will explain to you (and themselves) what the impact would be both personally and professionally if they don't get their problem solved. Often you will find that your potential client has not really thought through the impact of not solving their problem. They will appreciate that you care enough to ask.

It's still not time to jump in with your solution and to tell them you have the answer. Resist the temptation. You still need to keep asking questions.

Now you need to ask what difference it would make to them (from both a professional and personal perspective) if they solved this problem. What do they see as the benefits? This is the point at which they will start to sell themselves. They know the impact of not solving the problem, and now they (not you) are telling themselves the benefits of solving it. Your questions have done the selling and they will now be very receptive to hearing how you can help. Now is the time to talk about your solution.

So questions do the selling because they are the vehicle you use to get your potential client to tell themselves all the benefits and results from solving their problem. Via your questions, they tell and sell themselves on why they want the problem solved and what difference it will make.

But remember, this only works if you are really listening to the answers and your intent is to help. Keep remembering and practicing the "Question 3-legged stool" and watch the impact on your sales conversations, your relationships and your results.

(c) 2007, Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation. WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? Yes, you can, provided you make all links live and include this copyright and by-line below.

Important NoticeDISCLAIMER: All information, content, and data in this article are sole opinions and/or findings of the individual user or organization that registered and submitted this article at Isnare.com without any fee. The article is strictly for educational or entertainment purposes only and should not be used in any way, implemented or applied without consultation from a professional. We at Isnare.com do not, in anyway, contribute or include our own findings, facts and opinions in any articles presented in this site. Publishing this article does not constitute Isnare.com's support or sponsorship for this article. Isnare.com is an article publishing service. Please read our Terms of Service for more information.

Tessa Stowe teaches small business owners and recovering salespeople 10 simple steps to turn conversations into clients without being sales-y or pushy. Sign-up for her FREE monthly newsletter that is full of tips on how to sell your services by just being yourself at http://www.salesconversation.com.
Article Tags: client [See Dictionary], problem [See Dictionary], questions [See Dictionary]
Got a question about this article? Ask the community!
Article published on January 22, 2008 at Isnare.com
 
Rate [Ratings: 0 / 5] [Votes: 1]

Don't Write That Proposal Until You Ask The 'Magic Question"
Submitted by: Tessa Stowe

Have you ever had a potential client ask you to write a proposal or give a presentation only to respond with "Thank you for doing this and we'll get back to you at some time in the future if we decide to do something"...

Think And Grow Sales
Submitted by: Tessa Stowe

Just imagine for a moment that you have perfect sales skills You know everything there is to know about selling and you know what to do in every sales situation...

Are You Having Sales Conversations From Your Head?
Submitted by: Tessa Stowe

Are you having sales conversations from your head If you are, chances are that you are struggling with selling your services...

6 Sales Myths Busted
Submitted by: Tessa Stowe

There are a lot of sales myths that not only diminish your chances of success, they also make selling more complicated and harder than necessary...

What Has Matching Got To Do With Presenting?
Submitted by: Tessa Stowe

The secret to presenting to a potential client is "matching" Prior to presenting, you would have asked plenty of questions and uncovered the problems they want solved...

Don't Sell Your Services; That's Not What People Buy
Submitted by: Tessa Stowe

Believe it or not, no one actually buys your service No one buys coaching...

A Simple Sales Strategy: Define What Selling Is!
Submitted by: Tessa Stowe

How do you define selling A lot of people think of selling as persuading/convincing people to buy things they may or may not want or need...

A Simple Sales Strategy: Talk To Yourself!
Submitted by: Tessa Stowe

You are about to speak to a potential client, go to a networking meeting or give a presentation What should you be saying to yourself in those few minutes beforehand...

10 Essential Criteria For Choosing Your Target Market
Submitted by: Tessa Stowe

A specific group of people you will focus on selling your selling services to is your target market This is not to be confused with the problem you will be solving for this group...

Home Business Tax Advantages
Submitted by: Jason Kay

Nothing beats having a home based business to call your own that you can rely on to pay all the bills and let you have the freedom to say goodbye to the nine to five grind...

A Review Of Backpage Classifieds
Submitted by: Jason Kay

It used to be that if you wanted to sell your unwanted items in the classifieds that you had to go down to where the newspaper was printed and fill out all kinds of forms and pay money to run an advertisement; that has all changed with online classified sites such as Backpage...

Deciding Whether to Start a Business? Take Stock of Your Life First
Submitted by: K. MacKillop

The current recession has had an enormous impact on American workers Job security is quickly becoming obsolete and many are looking to make major changes in both their work and home lives...

Debt Collection Service - Top Techniques to Reduce and Contain Delinquencies
Submitted by: Daljeet Sidhu

Many businesses extend credit to customers to drive sales and improve customer relationships Though this strategy is successful in getting more business and retaining existing customers, it also creates the problem of bad debts...

PLR Articles: How To Choose A Good Service
Submitted by: Nicole Dean

Private Label Rights (PLR) articles are hot right now The only problem is that many people have tried them and been very disappointed...

Online Marketing Blueprint to Success- You Owe it to Yourself Part 3
Submitted by: Dan Atkins

From my past experience, it is difficult to build a business if you jump from one business to another...

Bushnell Range Finders: From An Award Winning American Company
Submitted by: David LeAche

Bushnell Range finders are well known amongst the golfing and hunting set where accuracy and ease of use in the outdoors are prime considerations...

Communications – the Heart of Leadership Effectiveness
Submitted by: Ryan Scholz

My process for developing outstanding leaders is built around what I call the Four Pillars of Leadership Success...

Overcoming the Tendency to Micromanage
Submitted by: Ryan Scholz

A vast majority of people at all levels of an organization will accuse their boss of micromanagement...

Printed Business Shirt For Uniforms
Submitted by: Maggie Johnson

Let’s say you are looking for an inexpensive way to find uniforms for your company and try to keep advertising costs down at the same time...

Shirts For a Business for the Right Image
Submitted by: Maggie Johnson

What are the appropriate shirts for a business This all depends on the type of business you have, who your customers will be and how you wish to present yourself...

Can You Really Get More Accomplished by Multi-tasking?
Submitted by: Loren Squires

Are you getting more accomplished when you multi-task One might thinks so at first, but with more consideration it has been found that it isn’t true, especially when dealing with electronic media...

Reviewing the Akiles DuoMac 431 Combination 4:1 Pitch Coil and 3:1 Pitch Wire Binding Machine
Submitted by: Jeff McRitchie

The Akiles DuoMac 431 is designed to provide businesses and organizations with a single machine that can produce up to four different styles of documents...

Why Having a Website is Good For Your Business
Submitted by: Desmond Leong

Why A Website This is a question that has been posed many times...

Kick Your Upline's Butt by Getting Fast MLM Leads
Submitted by: Guy & Michele Luminato

When you get started in an MLM, the first thing you hear from your upline is that you want to work fast, and build your business quickly with momentum...

Isnare.com Footer Divider

© 2004-2009. Isnare Free Articles - An Isnare Online Technologies Free Articles Project. All Rights Reserved.   Privacy Policy