The best salespeople are able to make more sales because they understand the importance of asking the right sales questions to uncover needs. If you ask the right questions you make more sales.

Want more answers? Ask more questions!

You cannot sell without having the right information about your prospect and their needs, and you can’t get the right information without asking the right questions.

Most salespeople fall into the trap of talking too much. There is a reason why people in sales are often thought to have the “gift of the gab”, and it’s because they are considered to be good talkers. When most people think about salespeople they think of people that are able to think fast, talk faster, and persuade people into buying something they don’t want or need. And maybe that holds true…..for amateur salespeople. Professional salespeople on the other hand are different.

A sales professional doesn’t place too much emphasis on talking over their prospects and pitching in order to make a sale – instead, they place more emphasis on asking their prospects engaging sales questions and listening to their answers.

They take a more consultative approach to selling and they understand that the key to being able to do this is having the right information which is obtained by asking the right questions to their prospect.

The benefits of asking the right sales questions

• By asking the right sales questions you demonstrate to your prospect that you are interested in them rather than only being interested in making a sale. This creates trust, strengthens rapport, and enables the prospect to open up more.
• You will find out what really matters to them, uncover their needs, and find out what pain points and problems they would like to solve.
• Asking the right sales questions gives you control over the sales process/interview/meeting
• It gives you momentum and keeps the conversation flowing in a natural and unforced manner
• The right questions will trigger emotions, which are an important element of making a sale

8 principles for asking the right questions

There are some key principles to keep in mind that will assist you in asking the right questions.

1. Have a clear outcome in mind for each question you ask

For each question you ask you should have a clear outcome or objective for asking that question. What specific information are you hoping to get from asking this question? Keeping this in mind will help you to avoid asking random questions or going off-topic.

2. Show interest and curiosity

When you are asking questions you are on a fact-finding mission. You want to uncover as much information as possible about the prospect and their needs.

You need to be genuinely curious to gather as much information as possible. This will help you to ask the right questions and probe for further details where necessary. Demonstrating a genuine interest in your prospects shows that you care, and as a result, they will open up more to you, enabling you to get even more information.

3. Use a mix of open and closed questions

Open questions typically start with Who, What, Why, Where, When, and How.

These sort of open questions enable you to elicit much more information from your prospects and allows them to respond with more detailed answers.

Closed questions are questions that elicit a Yes / No answer. You should use closed questions in order to gain clarification or agreement.

4. Ask questions that uncover their needs

Questions that uncover your prospect’s needs should be clear and easy to understand. Some examples are:

• What are your goals?
• What are your main priorities?
• What is going to make the difference for you / your business?
• What is working / not working for you right now?

5. Ask questions that uncover their buying motivation

A prospect’s buying motivation is not always the same as their needs. Their buying motivation is the reason they want to buy/are considering buying from you, and these reasons are more emotional and intangible. They are based on feelings and desires.

Uncover their true motivation for buying and you will have found a “hot button”,  which when pressed, will make your prospect more likely to buy from you.

Find out what their underlying buying motivations are by asking questions that elicit a more thoughtful and emotional response:

• What products/services have you tried in the past?
• What does solving this problem mean to you?
• Why is it important to resolve this issue?
• How will solving this problem make you feel?
• What will happen if this issue is not resolved?

6. Do NOT ask questions that will offend them!

I’ve seen and heard many salespeople ask questions that have made me cringe and turned me right off them on the spot.

If you offend your prospect then you might as well just end the meeting and get up and leave right then, because you will have given them the only reason they need for not buying from you – disliking you.

“People buy from people they like”

This saying is so true it should be hung on the walls of every sales office. People buy from people they like. If your prospect doesn’t like you, they will not buy from you. If you offend your prospect they may also refuse to deal with you and opt to do business with another sales rep in your company (ouch!).

Of course, there may be some exceptions to this, such as if you are selling a rare product, or there are no alternatives in the marketplace, but for the most part, the majority of salespeople are selling products to which there are alternative options available. Don’t lose the sale by offending your prospects with overly personal questions or badly phrased questions.

7. Be natural when you ask your questions

Having a list of questions is not a problem, and is something I recommend you do when you go into any sales meeting. The problem arises when you spend more time looking at your notepad than you do paying attention to your prospect.

Try and give more attention to your prospect, make eye contact, and be natural with your questioning and communication. Your prospect will feel more valued and important when you give them your undivided attention, and you will get better answers as a result.

8. Listen to your prospects and don’t interrupt 

Once you have asked your question it’s important to listen attentively.

Let your prospect respond freely and don’t interrupt them. When you interrupt them you interrupt their train of thought and this can lead be you missing out on vital information.

Listening is an important skill and one that every salesperson should practice in order to improve their overall communication skills.

Active listening involves summarising and paraphrasing important things your prospect may have said back to them. This demonstrates that you have understood them, and also gives you an opportunity to check for understanding and clarity.

Listening attentively also enables you to pick up on key points and ask further probing questions to get them to dig deeper and elaborate on what they have said.

This all leads to more valuable insights and information for you.

The key areas of questioning

You should focus your questioning around these key areas:

1. Your prospect’s needs and wants

Ask sales questions to uncover your prospect’s needs and wants. Understanding the difference between these two is important.

Needs: These are things your prospect has to have and something they cannot do without.
Wants: These are things your prospect would like to have, which have an emotional pull but isn’t essential to their basic survival.

Needs are specific to the business or individual, whereas wants are purely emotional.

“People generally buy what they want, they don’t always buy what they need”

Here are some examples of questions you should ask:

• Who are the other decision makers in the business?
• What are the key challenges you are facing right now?
• What is your goal for the business?
• What other solutions have you tried?
• How satisfied are you with your current supplier?
• What would happen if this problem is not resolved?
• How important is it to you to solve this problem?
• What would be the benefits of getting this problem resolved?

2. Selection and buying criteria

It’s important for you to know how your prospect will be making their buying decision. Armed with this information you will be able to better position yourself as a viable option and fend off any competition to the sale.

Some example questions are:

• What do you really value in a salesperson / your relationship with your supplier?
• What is your budget for this project?
• How do you decide whom to do business with?
• What are the 3 main things you want and expect from your supplier/this business relationship?

3. Your product or service

Ask your prospect probing questions about what they understand or think about your product or service. This will help you to gauge their understanding of your product and to also identify anything they may have misunderstood which gives you a chance to clarify.

Some example questions include:

• What are your expectations of this product/service?
• What further information do you need?
• Have you seen anything similar on the market?
• What do you like / not like about what you’ve seen so far?
• How does this product/service compare with your current supplier or other options you are considering?

4. Other options your prospect is considering

You want to ask your prospects about what their current options are. If your product is just one of three potential options they are evaluating then you want to know that.

It’s important to know who your competition is with for the sale. This helps to better yourself against your competitors and sell against their weaknesses. It also helps from a forecasting and time management perspective. As a salesperson how you use your time is important, so you want to be able to prioritise certain prospects over others.

If you’re competing for a sale with 10 other competitors, versus competing for another sale with only 2 competitors it’s important to know that so that you can allocate the right amount of time and energy to each prospect accordingly.

Some example questions include:

• How many other people are you talking to?
• What other options are you considering?
• Who else have you been speaking to regarding this decision?
• Who are we up against?

5. The decision-making process

You want to know what sort of process your prospect will go through to make the final buying decision. Do they want another meeting? Are they expecting a written proposal or brief? Knowing your prospect’s process will help you prepare for the next phase of the sales cycle.

Some example questions include:

• What can you tell me about your decision-making process?
• Who is the key decision maker / who are the key decision makers?
• In what way can we support you in this process?
• What timescale have you got in mind for making a decision?

Furthering the relationship

Once you have a customer on board it’s important to maintain and further that relationship. Don’t just stop with the initial sale. You’ve worked hard to get that customer so make the most of the relationship. Remember:

“An existing customer is a great source of two things: more business and more customers”

Ask questions that will strengthen your relationship with them, and which will ultimately lead to more business. You want to sell more to existing customers, ideally increasing how frequently they buy from you (Average Order Frequency), and how much they spend per order (Average Order Value).

You also want to increase the number of referrals you get from each customer. Existing customers are the best source of referrals as they can vouch for the quality of service and experience you have delivered.

Some example questions include:

• What other areas of the business could benefit from a similar solution?
• What are the other issues you are facing in the business or expect to face in the near future?
• What other opportunities are there within the business?
• Who else do you know that would benefit from this product/service?

Summary

Asking the right sales questions is the key to making more sales.

It’s important to ask sales questions that uncover needs and wants, find out your prospect’s buying motivations, and understand who you are competing against. When you ask questions, be sure to listen with attention so that you may follow up on your prospect’s answer with further probing questions.

Use open questions to elicit as much information as possible, and use closed questions to check for clarification and gain agreement.

It’s important to show interest in your prospect and ask your questions with a genuine sense of curiosity so that you can establish trust, likeability, and a deeper rapport with them. People buy from people they like, so don’t ask the wrong questions and get on the wrong side of your prospect!

Professional salespeople think of themselves as consultants, and they spend time learning the psychology of selling.

You should always be thinking of how you can serve your customers better. Understanding them better is the key to doing this, and asking the right questions will equip you with the information you need.

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It is a 4 step process or sales funnel which you guide someone through in order to convert them from a prospect to a customer.

The AIDA model was developed by the American businessman, E. St. Elmo Lewis, in 1898. The original purpose of the formula was to optimise sales calls and meetings and to improve the interaction between a buyer and seller and ultimately leading to selling more products.

The AIDA formula is still taught and used today by salespeople and marketers. It is applicable in offline selling and marketing environments as well as online.

What does AIDA stand for?

AIDA is an acronym that stands for:

A: Attention

I:  Interest

D: Desire

A: Action

Note: Some people prefer to use “Awareness” instead of “Attention”, but the principle is the same.

These are the four steps that you must guide someone through when you are selling or marketing to them. Each step plays an important role and leads naturally to the next: Attention leads to Interest, which leads to Desire, which leads to Action.

Following the AIDA blueprint is a great way to sort your current marketing activities into clear stages so that you can identify any gaps in your strategy and understand where to focus your efforts.

Let’s take a deeper look at each step of the AIDA formula.

Attention

In order to sell something to someone you first need their attention. Pretty obvious right? There’s no good having the best product, sales pitch of marketing campaign if nobody is paying attention to it.

The first phase of the AIDA model tells us that we need to grab the attention of our prospects in order to engage them in the sales or marketing process and move them further down our sales funnel.

How do we grab attention? Firstly, you need to understand your target market.

You need to know what your target market is interested in, what their pain points are, what problems they want to solve, and what moves them into action. When you know your audience you can then create the right messaging that will grab their attention.

How you do this will depend on the selling environment you are operating in. Are you selling face to face? Are you cold calling? Are you an email or direct response marketer? Are you doing everything online or is there a mix of online and offline activity?

Methods to grab prospect’s attention:

• You can create a visually stunning display ad or sales page
• Creating powerful headlines that jump out at people and draw them further into your sales copy
• It can take the form of a great opening statement if you’re cold calling or selling face to face
• Write attention grabbing email subject lines
• You can create a catchy jingle if you’re using video ads

I’m sure we’ve all had those moments where our attention was caught by some catchy advert or maybe a really enthusiastic salesperson. Think back to your own experiences and ask yourself what were the elements that caught your attention. Write them down and try and incorporate them into your sales pitch or advert.

Once you have your prospect’s attention you want to hold it long enough so you can move them to the next phase of the funnel, which is to spark their interest.

Interest

OK, so now you have your prospect’s attention it’s time to start sparking their interest in your product or service. To spark interest you need to establish and maintain rapport with your prospect. You achieve this by focusing on them.

Do not start by focusing on your product and how great it is, or start ranting on about all the amazing features it has. That part comes later. Instead, you should first focus on your prospect and demonstrate that you understand them. Show them that you understand the problems they are facing and sympathise with how this is affecting them.

By demonstrating that you understand and care, you establish a deeper level of rapport with them which in turn keeps them interested.

This is when you should introduce your product or service as a solution to their problems and start talking about the features of your product and how they benefit your prospect.

Features and Benefits

There is a big distinction between features and benefits, and it’s important you understand the difference between the two. When you list the features of your product you have to make sure you tie them back to the benefits.

Example: Imagine you’re selling a new high-powered blender.

Feature: Our new Ultra Blender is up to 3x more powerful than other blenders on the market

Benefit: You’ll be able to blend fruit and vegetables without having to cut them up first.

Tie these two statements together with the “so that” connector:

“Our new Ultra Blender is up to 3x more powerful than other blenders on the market so that you’ll be able to blend fruit and vegetables without having to cut them up first.”

When you tie the features of your product to a tangible benefit it answers the most important question your prospect has in their mind whilst they’re listening to your sales pitch: “What’s in it for me?”. Your prospect doesn’t care that your blender is 3x more powerful, but they do care about how that benefits them.

If you are selling in print, or online via email or an online sale page, you can list the benefits by creating bullet points, effective subheadings, and by breaking up your copy into manageable chunks. You can also underline or bold keywords to get your message across more efficiently.

Creating short and concise videos which demonstrate the features and benefits of your product is also a good way to get your message across.

Desire

Now you have sparked their interest you want to turn that spark into a raging hot fire of desire for your product.

You can achieve this by various means:

Add emotional meaning to the benefits of your product

In our blender example, we explained that the 3x more powerful blender would enable a quicker and cleaner way of making smoothies. You can elaborate further on that by explaining what this benefit means to them.

We previously wrote: “Our new Ultra Blender is up to 3x more powerful than other blenders on the market so that you’ll be able to blend fruit and vegetables without having to cut them up first”.

We can increase desire for our product by now elaborating on what this benefit means for our prospect. We do this by using the “which means” connector.

Example: 

“Our new Ultra Blender is up to 3x more powerful than other blenders on the market so that you’ll be able to blend fruit and vegetables without having to cut them up first, which means you’ll be able to make healthy smoothies more quickly without doing any cutting or creating tons of mess.”

If your prospect is looking for a solution to make a quick breakfast smoothie in the morning without making a mess or causing them to be late for work then this benefit will appeal to them and increase their desire for your product.

People buy things on emotion and justify with logic, so make sure you tap in to the emotions behind the benefits of your product.

Use positive future pacing

This is a technique where you take the prospect on an imaginary journey into the future and detail how their lives will be positively impacted if they purchase and use your product.

You explain all the positives they would experience by using your product. You detail how their problem would finally be solved and what this would mean to them. Talk about all the positive emotions they will feel and how much happier they will be once the problem they have been struggling with is finally resolved.

Use testimonials and social proof

Social proof is a powerful way to establish trust in your product and validate the claims you are making.

By sharing stories of other customers who have successfully used your product to give them the desired result and demonstrating how their lives have been positively impacted you will further increase the desire for your product.

Action

So far you have successfully grabbed their attention, sparked their interest, and created a strong desire for your product. Now comes the moment of truth – you must get them to take action.

Action can take various forms. It can be getting someone to make a purchase, signup for an email list, give you their contact details, start a free trial, download a report etc. Whatever the desired outcome, it requires that your prospects take action. No matter how good of a salesperson or marketer you are, this is the part that requires action on the prospect’s part, you can’t do it for them.

They may be convinced about your product and the benefits it will bring them, but they may still harbor some doubts which are preventing them from going through with the purchase. In order to get your prospect to take action you have to overcome any barriers or doubts they may have.

You can nudge them to take the required action by various means:

Negative future pacing

This is the opposite of positive future pacing which we mentioned above. In negative future pacing you take them on an imaginary journey to the future and detail what their lives would be like if they don’t take action and buy your product.

You describe how they will still be struggling with their problem. You detail their frustration and mention how unhappy they will potentially feel. You want to focus on the negative consequences of them not taking action on your offer.

Offer a money-back guarantee

People hate making bad buying decisions because they want to avoid feelings of buyers remorse. You can help to make the purchase decision easier for them by offering an iron-clad money-back guarantee.

Create a limited offer

One-time offers or limited offers work because they invoke the principle of scarcity. This is a powerful influencer in getting people to take action. Nobody wants to miss out on a great deal or offer. FOMO – the fear of missing out is a powerful motivator and is triggered when we believe we will miss out on something because of scarcity.

When something is rare or limited it has greater appeal and we desire it more. Make use of this by creating limited offers like one-time offers, or offers that expire after a period of time like 24hr sales.

Conclusion

The AIDA marketing model is still a very relevant and effective framework and process for taking people through your sales funnels as prospects and converting them into customers.

You don’t always have to follow each step individually – Attention and Interest can be achieved at the same time with the right headline, ad copy, or marketing message. Likewise, Interest and Desire can also be achieved at the same stage of the AIDA funnel, so don’t make the mistake of thinking that the model is rigid.

Sales and marketing processes are very rarely so linear, and we know that it can sometimes take up to 7 times of being exposed to an advert or sales message before someone pays attention or takes action.

Use the AIDA model as a guide and blueprint for structuring your marketing campaigns, sales funnels, and sales pitches and you’ll find it can help to greatly enhance your effectiveness, and also identify what parts of your funnel need improving.

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When you hear the word “salespeople” what comes to mind? If you’re anything like most people you think of a pushy person, talking really fast, trying to manipulate you with fancy words to get you to buy something you don’t want or need. Sound about right?

Unfortunately, this is the idea that the majority of people have when they think of salespeople, but it’s an outdated and (mostly) inaccurate representation. I agree there are definitely some salespeople who continue to live up to these stereotypes, but the true sales professional is different.

What is the psychology of selling?

Sales are at the core of every business. Every business on earth is selling something in some form, and the most successful organisations are the ones with consistent and high-volume sales.

If you’ve ever watched Shark Tank you’ll often hear the sharks saying, “sales cures all”, when talking about a failing business. Anytime a business isn’t doing well it normally means their sales are low and need to be improved.

All other functions in a business such as marketing, customer support, customer acquisition, etc are all geared towards making sales. But what is selling?

“Selling is a psychological process that you as the salesperson guide your prospects through.”

You take them from the mental stage of being unaware of your product to being a paying customer. How do you do that? You do that by asking the right questions.

You see, selling is about solving the problems of your target market. They have fears and problems they need to solve. Your job is to identify those problems and recommend the relevant product or service as a solution.

Selling is about solving problems

At its essence, selling is all about serving people and solving problems. That’s it. Whether you are a commission sales professional selling premium business services, or a retail sales assistant – the basic nature of these roles is to serve people and solve their problems.

If you are a salesperson reading this right now please understand that you are a problem solver! Doesn’t that make you feel great?

When you know that true selling is problem solving, you’ll realise that selling is a noble and a much needed profession.

The more problems you solve = the more sales you’ll make!

Successful entrepreneurs and businesses are able to sell more of their products and services than their competitors. What they are really doing is solving more people’s problems than their competitors.

The most successful companies and brands are always thinking about how they solve their customer’s problems better than their competitors can. When our customers have a problem they want to solve and a burning desire to solve it

The problem being solved is not always obvious

Sometimes the products that a business sells solve a problem that is not always obvious at first.

McDonald’s may be in the business of selling burgers, but they also sell more than that. They sell convenience – a fast and cheap solution to hunger, which saves you the time and effort of having to cook something yourself.

A university sells the idea of a good education; a dentist sells the idea of perfect teeth; a gym sells the idea of being fit and strong; a beauty parlor sells the idea of looking and feeling beautiful.

Sell the end results – not the product!

The product or service is a vehicle to deliver the result your customer is seeking. A person who buys a 4-inch drill doesn’t need a 4-inch drill, they need 4-inch holes!

Customers want results, and your product or service is how you deliver those results. As a salesperson you must always remember – you are selling the 4-inch holes, not the drill.

The psychology of a sales person 

A true salesperson thinks and acts like a consultant. They like to speak with their prospects to understand their pain points and problems. They want to understand what solutions (products or services) they have tried so far, and what result they are seeking.

Professional salespeople don’t sell someone something they don’t need; that’s what amateur salespeople do. Amateur salespeople are constantly trying to force products and services on people without even taking the time to find out what the prospect’s real needs are. I’m sure you’ve witnessed or experienced this yourself.

Professional salespeople think of themselves as consultants and proceed to take customers through a professional sales process.

The 3 stages of a professional sales process

The 3 stages of a professional sales process can be likened to a doctor’s examination.

1. Examination – Uncovering needs and identifying problems

2. Diagnosis – Identifying the cause of the problems

3. Prescription – Presenting the solution

Let’s go through this stage by stage:

1. The sales professional asks their prospects lots of questions, trying to gather as much information as possible – Examination
2. The salesperson then delves deeper in to the prospect’s situation and diagnoses the cause of their problems – Diagnosis
3. Once the cause of the problem has been diagnosed, the salesperson then presents their product or service as the solution – Prescription

When to make the sale or walk away

Once you have conducted the examination, if your product or service does not solve the prospect’s problem you must tell the prospect so, shake hands, and walk away from the sale. Never try to sell a product or solution to someone if you know they will not benefit from it.

If your product can solve your prospect’s problems and will add value to their life, you have the moral obligation to tell them so, and to make the sale.

Embrace selling!

When you think and act like a professional salesperson you will never feel guilty about trying to sell someone something. That’s because you will only be selling to people whom you know will benefit from your product or service.

All good marketers, entrepreneurs, and business people will benefit from continuously improving their selling skills. You should feel good about selling!

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