Selling Power.com’s Sales Management newsletter provides an excellent article that addresses a common issue in sales management – how do you move from salesperson to sales manager? One important aspect of this move is becoming a coach for your sales team.
The suggestions in the article are worth the read, but this one is especially remarkable:
Keep questions open. Most managers know they should ask open-ended questions in a coaching situation, but closed questions still crop up far too often. Closed questions can be answered in one or two words – yes, no, good, okay. Open-ended questions, on the other hand, require the responder to think and elaborate and help paint a more complete picture of a situation. Starting questions with “will,” “did,” and “have” will likely lead you into a closed question, warn the authors. Rephrase those questions using words like “what,” “who,” “which,” and “how.” For example, instead of, “Did you check all the requirements?” try, “Which of the requirements most concerns you?”
That advice is applicable to sales qualifying, coaching, candidate screening and more. Yes/no, or closed questions, lead you into a box where you are forced to ask another question. Open-ended questions also lead to more detail in the answer. As a sales manager, this detail is needed to be an effective, efficient coach to your team.
One other piece of advice from the article:
Keep questions forward focused. It’s all too easy for an employee to get caught up in rehashing a meeting or event that went poorly. And while a certain amount of emotional venting may be helpful to that person, your job is to help them avoid getting stuck there. One of the best ways you can keep the conversation forward focused is to avoid asking questions that begin with “why.” If you’re asking, “Why did that happen?” or “Why did you say that?” you put your employee on the defensive and keep the conversation focused on the past. Rephrase your questions in a way that encourages a look to the future. So instead of, “Why didn’t you contact IT?” ask, “What are the things you need to do to bring the project back on track?”
Exactly. We tell sales managers to avoid using “why” in their questions with their direct reports and with prospects. As effective as why is, it often carries a negative emotional aspect. Imagine in your youth hearing an upset parent ask, “Why did you do that?” Or maybe it was, “Why didn’t you…” Be careful with your use of this adverb, especially with your sales team.