Sales takes “NUTs” Part 2
We are generally the better persuaded by the reasons we discover ourselves than by those given to us by others. -Blaise PascalLast week we began a new blog series on sales, in which we established that three things, represented by the acronym “NUT”, have to be established in order to close the sale: Need, Urgency, and Trust. If you haven’t read it, I’d encourage you to go back and read it before continuing with this post.
Click Here for "NUTs" Part 1
Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Now, let’s continue on how to craft and use leading questions to help persuade your customer to buy.
First of all, asking questions every few moments is one of the most important things you can do as a salesperson. Questions lower defensiveness, help the customer feel valued, and give you valuable information about what your customer really cares about. Furthermore, they are your “sale thermometer”. Your customer’s responses (body language in particular) give you regular readings on whether he’s following you along the road toward a sale. If he’s not, you’ll have to do some more work in gaining trust or establishing need to get him on board, and with a little practice you’ll learn to recognize and overcome objections before they’re voiced.
Not just any questions will do, though. You want your customers to agree with you by drawing their own positive conclusions about you or your product. When I sold insurance, I had over 60 questions I would ask in the course of a 30 minute presentation, nearly all of which the expected answer was “YES”. Psychologically, once your customer has gotten used to saying yes to the smaller questions, it’s much easier for them to say yes to the big one: cutting you that check!
Here are a few suggestions for how and when to use leading questions:
- Wrap up a point: Before you move on, a simple, “Does that make sense?” will tell you if the customer is tracking with you.
- Establish value- After demonstrating a particularly dramatic benefit of your product or service, ask question like “Pretty nice... huh?” Nods, smiles, raised eyebrows, and other general agreement here are buying signals that will tell you they’ve begun to want what you’re selling.
- Put your customer in the picture- Ask your customer assumptive questions about applying your product in their lives. An example might be, “You said your administrative assistant is named Chuck. Will he be the one who uses this copier the most?” Or “Minus the cost of the software, by the end of the year you’ll have saved over $8,600. What are you gonna do with that money?”
- Practice them- Your questions need to be confident, but not overbearing, and your delivery matters even more than the words themselves. Drill them until you can deliver them perfectly without thinking about it.
Click Here for "NUTs" Part 1
Leading questions take time and energy to craft and master, but you’ll never make an easier sale than when the customer sells himself.
Leading questions take time and energy to craft and master, but you’ll never make an easier sale than when the customer sells himself.
Josh Wise
