29 Consultative Questions to Help Increase Your Sales
Written by Tony Cole, Chief Learning Officer & Co-Founder of Anthony Cole Training Group, LLC.
What is the best way to stand out in today’s high-tech, fast paced world with limitless information at our fingertips, social media and highly informed prospects? Make sure that you are prepared and skillful at asking the right questions at the right time!
The best way to cultivate a trusting relationship is to focus on your prospect and be genuinely curious about their business challenges. That is what will differentiate salespeople from everything else that can be found online. According to the #1 sales evaluation we utilize, the most important skill of successful consultative salespeople is asking enough of the right questions.
So, we gathered 29 consultative sales questions for you to use to skillfully help your potential prospect through their decision-making process.
29 Consultative Sales Questions:
- I know you are a very busy person, what caused you to invite me out?
- What has to happen today so that you at the end of the meeting, you say, this was a great meeting?
- What is the most important thing for us to cover today?
- Can you tell me about that? (assuming you have uncovered some problem or issue)
- How long has that been going on?
- What have you done to fix it?
- When you spoke to your current provider, what did they say? Or
- What has your current vendor done to make this problem go away?
- What happens if you don’t fix this?
- Is that a problem?
- Is this a want to fix or need to fix it problem?
- How much is this problem costing you?
- How much money have you set aside to make these problems go away?
- (If low price) What other products and services do you buy that are not low price?
- Who else besides you is impacted if you decide to do business with us?
- What do you like or not like about your current provider service?
- Are you happy with their results?
- Suppose we can’t match your current price but can help you achieve your total growth (sales) goal and fix the problems?
- Suppose that we come to an agreement on financial terms, what other resources will be needed to complete the arrangement?
- When you’ve made a decision like this in the past, what was your process?
- Will that be the process that you go through this time?
- When you say you’ll “look at it”, what does “look at it” mean?
- When you say you’ll “think it over” (TIO), “think it over” means?
- Who else has to fall in love with the idea of our doing business together?
- How important is it to you that we put a program together to help you eliminate the problems that you’ve described to me?
- What will it sound like when you tell your current provider that you are moving? (You should get them to actually say the words so that they are rehearsing the conversation)
- Do you feel I understand your business challenges (or what you are trying to accomplish)?
- Do you think I can help you based on what I have shared?
- Do you want my help?
