The Best Sales Question

Most entrepreneurs, and many leaders and managers, have some level of responsibility

for selling. Even executives who don’t ask for money are involved with persuading,

which essentially is selling your ideas or perspective. And most of them go about it the

wrong way.

The main problem is the basic model they have in their brains: that selling is about

convincing someone to buy your stuff. That means you must tell them how great it is.

But the decision the buyer’s; sellers may want to sell but will fail unless the buyer wants

to buy. And buyers buy for their reasons, not yours. You are far more likely to get

them to buy if you understand those reasons. And while you might be able to guess

them, don’t count on it. There’s a much better way: ask.

Sales training expert Jack Daly likes to say that the short course on sales consists of

four words: Ask questions and listen. Unfortunately, Daly says that most sellers

“show up and throw up.“

We are so excited about our product, or so determined to make a sale, or so nervous

that we do all the talking. Sometimes our target has no interest whatsoever in what

we’re selling, has no budget to buy, is the wrong person in the organization, already has

what we’re selling, knows our product already, or otherwise does not want to hear our

pitch. More often they might be an appropriate prospect but without us understanding

their needs we have little chance of pushing their Buy button. And in nearly every case

they will get tired and frustrated by hearing you do all the talking.

Selling should largely be about asking questions, identifying needs, and

exploring how your product might help the customer. The most successful sellers

have a structured set of questions designed to fully understand a prospect’s goals,

needs, buying authority, budget parameters, and timeframe, as well as the way they’re

currently addressing the need and their satisfaction with the status quo. The questions

not only elicit important information but also show the customer you care deeply about

their needs and are laser-focused on meeting them. Ideally they make the prospect

think more deeply about those needs and the current costs of them not being fully met.

Yes, but doesn’t asking these questions take time away from talking about your

product? What if you near the end of the meeting and you haven’t had time to discuss

your offering? To me that sounds like a great sales call: You’ve learned a lot about the

customer’s situation, impressed them with your commitment to understanding them,

allowed them to do most of the talking, and demonstrated that you’re more concerned

about their situation than about boring them with product details. You’d rather help them

understand and meet their needs than sell them something. You will be invited back.

And when you return you will know exactly how they are most likely to benefit from your

product and will tailor your pitch to meet their needs.

What questions should you ask? There are obvious (and important) ones focused on

understanding the customer’s situation, problem scope and severity, and buying

process, as well as other alternatives they’re considering. But my nomination for the

best sales question that is too rarely used is what’s called the “Needs-Payoff” question,

which helps buyers understand why your solution makes sense for them.

Need-Payoff questions may sound like this:

• How do you think you’ll benefit from our product?

• How could you use our service?

• How would it be easier to achieve your priority with our offering?

• What will be the main impact of our product for you?

Of course, these questions should come only at the end of the buying process, after the

prospect is showing buying signals (or even after they’ve said they intend to buy). There

are many benefits to asking Need-Payoff questions:

• They inform you of why the customer is buying, which often won’t be the reasons

  you’re assuming. When closing the sale, remind the customer of their reasons for

  buying, not yours.

• They confirm that the prospect’s understanding of the product and its benefits is

  accurate. If it’s not, you want to correct it before they buy to avoid disappointment.

• They cause the customer to rehearse the rationale for buying. Most prospects will

  need to justify their purchase decision to their boss, the finance department, their

  spouse – someone else. Once you hear their description you can subtly coach them

  to improve.

• They cause the buyer to persuade themselves as they describe just how valuable

  your service will be. This can increase both the likelihood and speed of a sale.

The bottom line: Think of selling primarily from the customer’s standpoint, not

yours. Understand their situation, their problem, and their reasons for buying. It’s a

process largely of asking questions with only a small dose of product presentation. And

when the time is right, pop the Need-Payoff question to remind the prospect of the value

of buying your offering.