The Opening Question or Statement.

This is your 1st opportunity to get the customer talking and set the the call in motion.

You can take this opportunity to qualify who you are speaking to, this will ensure you are not wasting their or your time.

If you already know you are speaking to the right person this opportunity should be used to launch into the fact find. This means your choice of question should lead naturally from your introduction into a conversation about the needs of your customer.

To make this as effective as possible the question should be an open one.

Open Questions

An open question is one which illicits and response longer than one word. This type of question is used to encourage the customer to talk and allows you to begin gathering information.

Examples of open question could include�
What kind of ? do you currently buy?
Could you describe how your you use ? in you organisation.

These questions are very broad and will encourage broad answers which is what you will need to uncover needs.

What kind of questions should we be asking?

A good questioning technique is an invaluable sales tool. Used incorrectly though they can stall or even end a call, alienate a client or loose a sale.

Types of Question

Open Questions - Open Questions require a statement or detailed answer.

Good use of these questions can help;

Closed Questions - Closed questions require a yes or no answer.

Good use of these questions can help you;

Use closed questions throughout a sale to continually gain agreement. This will help you close the sale later and reduce objections.

Types of Question

Probing Questions - Probing questions encourage the giving of information and detail and can be used to focus a discussion.

Summary probing questions � �So what your saying is...?�

Interest and encouragement (Telephone equivalent of body language)

Opinion Seeking

Silence - �The right word may be effective but no word was ever as effective as a well timed pause.� Mark Twain

Points to remember when questioning -

Don�t;

Do;

What are Needs?

We all have needs, a part of all our lives and can range from superficial wants to basic necessities. This is the same for all buyers including all your customers.

By understanding needs, what they are, how to identify them and how you can fulfill them you will maximize your potential success.

There are two key need profiles you must be aware of;- Implied & Explicit.

Implied Needs

- Customers do not always tell you what you need to know. It is possible to uncover many implied needs during a conversation with a customer. These needs may only be superficial and you will be ineffective when matching your product to them as they do not really deliver a solution which meets the real requirements of the customer. It is for this reason Implied needs can be described as smoke screens, which unless cleared out of the way could entirely mask the real needs of the customer. On the plus side many implied needs are close to the customers explicit needs and only require clarification.

Explicit Needs

- These go to the heart of what the customer really wants. Explicit needs will be in the form of deliverables that meet the clients objectives. You must uncover your clients explicit needs if you are to be successful.

Can you think of any examples of Implied Needs & Explicit Needs?

An implied need could be low cost, in reality the explicit need could be value for money.

To fully understand customer need one must go back to our understanding of the buying process.

Armed with this new understanding of needs and having opened you call successfully you need to understand the customers needs, the only way to do this is to ask questions, to gain facts.

Take a look at our Fact Find section it has some great ideas for getting the right information from your clients.

Areas within the skills section;