How to teach salespeople to always ask the right questions
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The document outlines effective strategies for teaching salespeople how to ask the right questions to improve sales performance, reduce new hire ramp-up time, and minimize missed opportunities. It emphasizes that good questioning skills can be learned and can significantly enhance sales interactions, making them more engaging and informative. Various types of questions are categorized, including pre-qualifying, hard qualifying, meeting, and closing questions, each designed to uncover valuable insights and drive successful sales outcomes.
How to teach salespeople to always ask the right questions
- 1. How to Teach Salespeople to Always Ask the Right Questions Michael Halper Founder and CEO SalesScripter
- 2. The Way Things Usually Work Most Companies Don’t Teach What Questions to Ask Company Info Product Info Internal Processes Sales Methodology Quota Territory Go Make it Happen
- 3. The Way Things Usually Work Salespeople Have to Figure Out What Questions to Ask • Leads to on-the-job learning • Learning through trial-and-error • Opportunities are missed due to not asking the right questions • Deals are lost • Sales performance is not what it could be • Long new hire ramp up time • Can lead to some of the sales staff turnover Product and Company Knowledge Experience Personality and Instincts Hard Work / Activity
- 4. Core Concepts The best salesperson is the one the asks the best questions. • Makes calls and meetings more interactive • Makes a better impression • Extracts valuable information • Will Minimize “All About Me” • It is the opposite of what bad salespeople do
- 5. Core Concepts Asking good questions can be taught/learned. • A salesperson can learn to ask good questions regardless of: – Their level/years of experience – Sales skills they currently have – Personality style
- 6. Core Concepts The questions are easier to teach than the answers. • It can take a very long time for a sales person to learn the answers to all of the questions that a prospect may ask – months to years. • With the right sales tools, a salesperson can learn what questions to ask in a matter of days. • A salesperson can sound credible by asking good questions even without knowing the answers to the prospect’s question. • You can shorten new hire ramp up time by focusing more on teaching the questions to ask.
- 7. Core Concepts Good salespeople can be developed and created. • Does not matter the level of experience, sales skills or personality type • Requires ability to learn, follow a process, motivation ability to communicate at a professional level • Providing clarity around the right questions to ask will have a direct impact on improving sales performance
- 8. Types of Questions to Ask • Pre-Qualifying • Hard Qualifying • Meeting Questions • Networking Questions • Closing Questions
- 11. Pre-Qualifying Questions Example: SalesScripter for Sales Managers • How concerned are you about the amount of time it takes to get new sales hires ramped up and performing? • How confident are you that all of your sales resources are saying and asking the right questions when talking with prospects? • How important is it for you to get under-performing sales resources to meet or exceed their objectives?
- 12. Pre-Qualifying Questions Example: SalesScripter for Salespeople • How do you feel about your sales pitch and talk tracks? • Do you think that you are saying the right things and asking the questions when talking with prospects? • How important is it for you to improve your ability to generate more leads and have more success prospecting?
- 13. Pre-Qualifying Questions Building Your Pre-Qualifying Questions Step 1: Identify Target Prospect Step 3: Identify Prospect’s Benefits Step 4: Identify Prospect's Problems Step 5: Develop Probing Questions Ex: Sales Manager Ex: get new sales people trained quicker Ex: it takes a long time and is difficult to get new sales resources trained and ramped up Ex: How concerned are you about the amount of time it takes to get new sales hires ramped up and performing? Step 2: Identify Product to Sell Ex: SalesScripter
- 14. Pre-Qualifying Questions When to Use Pre-Qualifying Questions • Cold calling • Networking • Responding to objections • Talking to gatekeepers • In first conversations (appointments/meetings)
- 15. Hard Qualifying Questions Need vs. Want Questions • What happens if you do not do anything and do not make a purchase or make any changes? • What improvements will you see if move forward with this purchase? • Is there at date when this purchase needs to be made? • What happens if the purchase is not made by that date? • What is the time frame that the project needs to work along?
- 16. Hard Qualifying Questions Availability of Funding Questions • Is there a budget approved for this project? • What is the budget range that the project needs to fit in? • Have the funds been allocated to this purchase? • What budget (department) will this purchase be made under? • Are there other purchases that this funding may end being used for? • How does the project fit with other initiatives from a priority standpoint?
- 17. Hard Qualifying Questions Decision Making Authority Questions • What is the decision making process? • What parties will be involved in making the decision? • What functional areas (departments) will be impacted by the purchase? • Who is the ultimate decision maker? • Who is the person that will need to sign the agreement/contract?
- 18. Hard Qualifying Questions Level of Intent Questions • Why did you take time out of your schedule to meet with us? Why did you contact us? • What other options are you considering? • How do you feel about their solution (product)? • What do you like about their solution (product)? • What do you not like about their solution (product)? • How does their solution (product) compare with what we have to offer? • Is there a reason why you would choose us? • If you had to make a decision today, which way would you lean?
- 19. Closing Questions Trial Closing Questions • What do you think of what we have discussed so far? • How would that feature help your operation? • Is this something you could see your employees (organization) using? • Are we heading in the right direction?
- 20. Closing Questions Soft Closing Questions • What would you like to do next? • What direction would you like to go in? • Do you want to continue talking about this? • When would you like to talk again?
- 21. Closing Questions Hard Closing Questions • What would you need to be able to make a commitment to move forward? • If you had everything that you want, are you prepared to move forward? • When are you going to make your final decision? • (If delaying the decision) What will change or be different at that time that will make that a better time to look at moving forward?
- 22. Meeting Questions Intro Questions • How is your day going so far? • How long have you been here? What did you do before? • Where are you originally from? • I have our meeting going to 2pm. Does that still work for you? • I know why I would want to meet with someone in your role. Can you share with us why you agreed to take time out of your day to meet with us? • Our plan for this meeting is to discuss ____, _____, and _____. Does that match up with your expectations?
- 23. Network Questions Intro Questions • How is your day going so far? • What do you do? • How long have you been doing that? • What did you do before? • What do you like most about what you do? • Is there something that motivated you to get into that type of work? • Where are you from?
- 24. Network Questions Partnering Questions • What brought you to this event? • Have you found this to be a productive event for you? • Are there any other networking events that you recommend? • How can I help you to be successful? • What does a good prospect look like for you?
- 25. Tools – Question Lists
- 26. Tools – Sales Scripts
- 27. Tools – Scripting Software
- 28. Tools – Question Trees
- 29. What is SalesScripter? Cold Calling Objections Gatekeepers Sales Messaging Voicemail Qualifying Closing Sales Process Rapport Building Interest Cold Emailing Setting Appointments Building Credibility Call Cadence • Provides complete clarity for what a salesperson should do and say • Very practical and easy to understand / implement / adopt • Consultative selling approach • Many tactics are counterintuitive One Half - Sales Methodology
- 30. What is SalesScripter? Cold Calling Scripts Objection Responses Key Questions Marketing Tools Voicemail Scripts Meeting Scripts Cold Email Templates • Software platform that provides all the tools needed to execute the methodology • Campaign-based (buyer persona) structure • Makes it extremely easy to implement and reinforce the methodology One Half – Prospecting Platform Software Application
- 31. Complete Sales Training Solution Cold Calling Objections Gatekeepers Sales Messaging Voicemail Qualifying Closing Sales Process Rapport Building Interest Cold Emailing Setting Appointments Building Credibility Call Cadence Methodology Salesperson Manager Cold Calling Scripts Objection Responses Key Questions Marketing Tools Voicemail Scripts Meeting Scripts Cold Email Templates Software PlatformResources and Services Books Training Videos One-on-One Coaching Sales Consulting Live Training Completely Aligned
- 32. Resources • Five ebooks – Found at https://salesscripter.com/ebooks/ – Do’s and Don’ts of Cold Calling – How to Get around Cold Call Objections – How to Build a Value Proposition that Generates Leads – How to Build Sales Campaigns that Sell – How to Build Email Drip Campaigns that Convert Sales • The Cold Calling Equation – PROBLEM SOLVED – Found at http://www.amazon.com/The-Cold- Calling-Equation-Problem/dp/1468173545 Our Books
- 33. Training • Week 1 – Understanding the Ideal Sales Process – How to Make Cold Calls – Appointment Setting Tactics – Voicemail Messaging Methodology • Week 2 – Sales Messaging Workshop – How to Get Prospect’s on the Phone – How to Get Around Objections – How to Incorporate Buyer Personas into Your Selling – Overview of a 2-Step Qualifying Process New Hire Onboarding Training Program / Sales Prospecting 101 • Week 3 – How to Build Your Value Proposition – How to Focus on Prospect Pain – How to Get Around Gatekeepers – How to Perform the Perfect Takeaway • Week 4 – How to Build Rapport, Interest, and Credibility – How to Improve Mental Strength When Selling – How to Be a Better Closer * Available through e-learning videos, live virtual, or live in-person * Can be tailored to your business
- 34. SalesScripter What do you sell? ___________ How does it help? ___________ What problems do you fix? ___________ What questions should you ask? ___________
- 35. SalesScripter
- 36. SalesScripter
- 37. If You Want More Help • https://www.youtube.com/user/LaunchPadSol • Or search Sales Scripter • Over 130 videos • Sales Prospecting 101 Training Program • Webinars • Sales Tips • SalesScripter demo videos • Subscribe Step 1 – Go to our YouTube Channel
- 38. Resources • Five ebooks – Found at https://salesscripter.com/ebooks/ – Do’s and Don’ts of Cold Calling – How to Get around Cold Call Objections – How to Build a Value Proposition that Generates Leads – How to Build Sales Campaigns that Sell – How to Build Email Drip Campaigns that Convert Sales • The Cold Calling Equation – PROBLEM SOLVED – Found at http://www.amazon.com/The-Cold- Calling-Equation-Problem/dp/1468173545 Step 2 – Get Some of Our Books
- 39. If You Want More Help • Free 30 day trial – Found at https://salesscripter.com/members/signup • Scripter Walk-Through – 2 hour coaching session – We answer all of the questions with you – Included with an annual subscription Step 3 – Sign up for SalesScripter Trial
- 40. If You Want More Help • One-on-one Sales Coaching • Sales Consulting – Script development – Strategy development – Sales process development • Sales Training – Custom sales training programs – Content aligned with your information in SalesScripter – Delivered virtually or in-person Step 4 – Contact us for Coaching, Consulting, or Training
- 41. Questions? Michael Halper Founder and CEO SalesScripter mhalper@salesscripter.com www.salesscripter.com
Editor's Notes
- #12: Qualifying at its most basic level is assessing the prospect in two areas. First, to qualify a prospect begins with determining how well they fit with what you have to offer. This fit refers to how well they match up from a need standpoint or if they can even use what you provide. Qualifying does not stop there as we also need to determine how likely they are to actually make the purchase. They could be a perfect fit, but that does not mean that they are well positioned to do anything. We will teach you exactly how to measure prospects in these two areas, but basically we want to figure out how strong or weak the prospect is in these two areas and the act of trying to figure that out is essentially qualifying. Qualifying can be performed in two ways. Most of your qualifying will be performed by asking good questions while talking to prospects. Although, you can also perform some qualifying by doing some research online. This training focuses on how to qualify when interacting with prospects.
- #13: Qualifying at its most basic level is assessing the prospect in two areas. First, to qualify a prospect begins with determining how well they fit with what you have to offer. This fit refers to how well they match up from a need standpoint or if they can even use what you provide. Qualifying does not stop there as we also need to determine how likely they are to actually make the purchase. They could be a perfect fit, but that does not mean that they are well positioned to do anything. We will teach you exactly how to measure prospects in these two areas, but basically we want to figure out how strong or weak the prospect is in these two areas and the act of trying to figure that out is essentially qualifying. Qualifying can be performed in two ways. Most of your qualifying will be performed by asking good questions while talking to prospects. Although, you can also perform some qualifying by doing some research online. This training focuses on how to qualify when interacting with prospects.
- #14: Qualifying at its most basic level is assessing the prospect in two areas. First, to qualify a prospect begins with determining how well they fit with what you have to offer. This fit refers to how well they match up from a need standpoint or if they can even use what you provide. Qualifying does not stop there as we also need to determine how likely they are to actually make the purchase. They could be a perfect fit, but that does not mean that they are well positioned to do anything. We will teach you exactly how to measure prospects in these two areas, but basically we want to figure out how strong or weak the prospect is in these two areas and the act of trying to figure that out is essentially qualifying. Qualifying can be performed in two ways. Most of your qualifying will be performed by asking good questions while talking to prospects. Although, you can also perform some qualifying by doing some research online. This training focuses on how to qualify when interacting with prospects.
- #15: Qualifying at its most basic level is assessing the prospect in two areas. First, to qualify a prospect begins with determining how well they fit with what you have to offer. This fit refers to how well they match up from a need standpoint or if they can even use what you provide. Qualifying does not stop there as we also need to determine how likely they are to actually make the purchase. They could be a perfect fit, but that does not mean that they are well positioned to do anything. We will teach you exactly how to measure prospects in these two areas, but basically we want to figure out how strong or weak the prospect is in these two areas and the act of trying to figure that out is essentially qualifying. Qualifying can be performed in two ways. Most of your qualifying will be performed by asking good questions while talking to prospects. Although, you can also perform some qualifying by doing some research online. This training focuses on how to qualify when interacting with prospects.