Ever wondered how you could position yourself for success when starting a sales conversation? It's really about the opening line.
Let’s face it, if you want to close more sales, you need to be able to open the conversation. So, today I’m going to share my secret and show you the three best questions to ask during a sales conversation.
The first one is simple:
Tell me about your business.
Tell me about your finances. Tell me about your relationships. Tell me about your garden.
The formula here is going to be: Tell me about blank.
And the blank is whatever you want to help your clients with. It's your area of expertise; your niche. The reason why this works so well is because people love talking about themselves.
They love sharing what’s going on in their life, and, almost always, the information that they choose to share are the things that are the most important. So take note of them.
The second question one could ask is:
What would success look like as a result of our time and conversation today?
The question works because essentially what you're asking people is: What are you hoping to get out of our conversation? What is most important for you? What do you hope to achieve?
Asking will allow you to stand out as somebody who is not only trying to add value, but also as someone who is trying to serve their customers to the best of their abilities. So again, insert whatever is the appropriate verbiage for you and your clients, and you are more likely to gain their favor.
Now, to the third question:
What brought you in today?
Now this one works a little bit better if you work in a more traditional brick and mortar store, so I have an option for those working over the phone: What prompted you to book the call?
From my experience, starting your sales conversation with this one question can change things. The question is an inquiry into what prompted them to come in; what drove them to call. By identifying what made your client take a leap of faith for you, you’ll be able to understand the context in which they are coming from. Not only will it reduce the amount of friction that you're going to experience, but it will lower their guard. The talk will become less of a “you’re trying to sell me something”, and more of an equal-standing conversation.
Now I hope one of these three conversations starters were helpful for you, and that you will see more success on your very next sales conversation. If you’d like a more in-depth explanation on why these questions work and how to ask them, check out my Youtube video.