Conventional Wisdom = The best talkers make the best salespeople.

If I could rewrite that to make it accurate, I would state it like this:  The best questioners make the best salespeople.

Yes, I know that is oversimplifying things, but it is an attempt at rewriting conventional wisdom.  The key takeaway is that the person asking the questions is in control of the conversation even though they are not doing the majority of the talking.  This is a fundamental principle in sales that often gets ignored, overlooked or worse.

In that light comes an excellent article from the weekly Salesopedia newsletter:

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.

That is sound advice for any salesperson.  Too often, salespeople get caught in “vulture” moves where they attempt to pounce on a close.  Questions are the backbone of qualifying.  A strong salesperson will qualify until he or she has the entire amount of information needed to move a prospect to the next phase in the process.  At that point it becomes clear that qualified deals close themselves.

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I came across a sales resume this morning that listed this title for the person’s current sales position:

Bid Writer

Every siren at Select Metrix simultaneously went off on that one.  If you are in sales and this is your title, change it on your resume.  This title reads of someone who simply responds to Request For Proposals (RFP).  Yet, this salesperson describes himself as a “High Performance Salesperson.”

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