Consultative selling is all about getting to know your client so that you can find out the best way you can be of service to them. When talking to your customer you want to ask questions to stimulate a natural conversation. Just like a reporter you ask the 5Ws: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.Think in terms that this is an interview process. This way you will uncover information that will allow you to come back on a sales follow up appointment to prompt them to purchase.
Your initial questions are to establish rapport, trust and respect. If they trust and like you they are more likely to buy. The way to get to know your prospect is to have a dialog where they respond beyond a simple yes or no. You can get to know their needs and wants better if you ask the right questions. These would be fact finding questions. These are fact finding questions. Questions that can’t be answered with a yes or no.
The age old FORM acronym is a good way to get them to open up about themselves. Ask about family, occupation, recreation so they are receptive to your message. This will help you to find some common ground outside of your sales presentation. Having a hobby in common for example goes a long way towards them being pleased to hear from you again on a sales follow up call. For example, when you do follow up you can ask about the latest hockey game and let them respond. The more they open up the better the chance for a successful call.
Your next series of questions will be to discover their needs and wants. Your goal is to uncover their wants in addition to their needs. Oftentimes a customer will not reveal their real reason for wanting to buy a product or service. When you ask enough questions you can dig deep and discover their emotional reasons for want to buy. People buy with emotions and support their decision with logic. It’s their wants rather than their needs that creates an emotional attachment to a product or service
Sales objections are a natural part of any presentation. Welcome them, don’t be afraid of them. Its a sign they are listening. Be prepared for them. You want to develop questions that will help you overcome objections. These objections are the reasons why they are not yet ready to buy. Expect multiple objections. Common objections like no time or no money are typically a smokescreen to their real reasons for not buying. By asking them if there are any other reasons besides lack of time or money you flush out the true objection. They may say they want to think about it or speak with their spouse. Don’t argue with them; support them. By all means recommend they speak with their husband. But be sure to set that follow up call. Simply ask: “Shall I get back to you in a day or two? Great, lets book that time now.”
During this question and answer process you will want to get them to repeat so they can hear for themselves what they are thinking. This gets them to voice the decision to purchase as though it is their idea not yours. You are just supporting them through the process.
To summarize, interviewing your prospect as part of relationship selling process qualifies them as someone worthy of your time. Asking open-ended questions allows you dig deep in a short amount of time. Spending 10-15 minutes on the phone is far better than meeting with someone for coffee or lunch only to find they are wasting your time.