Six Honest Serving Men
I keep six honest serving men. They taught me all I knew.
They were what, and why, and when. And how and where and who.
Rudyard Kipling, 1902
One of the fundamental keys to success in selling is mastering the ability to ask effective questions.
Most sales people learn the difference between closed-ended and open-ended questions in their first sales training seminar. Closed-ended questions are answered with a yes or no. They have their place in the selling process, but are generally less effective than open-ended questions. Open-ended questions can not be answered with a "yes" or a "no". A closed-ended question begins with one of Kipling’s Six Honest Serving Men – what, why, when, how, where or who.
Why are open-ended questions so important in selling? There are two closely-related reasons. First, an open-ended question gets your prospect talking. Combine a prospect talking with a sales person listening, and you dramatically increase the chances of making a sale. Second, open-ended questions force – at least for a moment – the sales person to shut up! This may have an even greater impact on your chances of making a sale.
These dynamics combine to create a potentially powerful bond. Ask the right questions, listen attentively and otherwise behave as someone who cares about your prospect – and you may actually build a foundation of trust with your prospect.
What’s more important?
Is there anything more important than establishing a foundation of trust with your prospect? Will your product knowledge, million-dollar smile or glib tongue get you anywhere without trust? Maybe for a while, but in the long run …
Building trust in can be a challenge. You are selling “the promise” that a result may occur. Our trust building questions have to explore what a prospect has tried before and help them uncover why it failed to meet their expectations:
How have you handled this in your business in the past?
Why has/hasn’t that worked for your business up to now?
Where do you see your business in the next six to twelve months?
What distinguishes your business from your competition?
If you were to move forward, when do you feel you can start?
If we were to win your business, who else would be involved in the process?
Open-ended questions are risky. They deal with emotion – and uncertainty. Your job as a master sales person is to help your prospect face that uncertainty – and then lead them to safety on your foundation of trust.
Socrates and You
In 400 B.C., Socrates was famous for asking open-ended questions. His approach – the Socratic Method - was to lead people to draw their own conclusions. Unfortunately, we’re still teaching sales people that “selling isn’t telling” nearly 2,500 years later!
Are you stuck in the old school of telling people how wonderful you are, or do you have the courage and the discipline to lead people to draw that conclusion about you? The path to sales mastery begins with having the right questions. List your best questions beginning with each of the six honest serving men:
What _________________?
Why __________________?
When _________________?
How __________________?
Where ________________?
Who __________________?
How would asking open-ended questions change your relationships with your prospects? Why should you take the time to think through how you would lead your prospects? Where do you see your business as a result?
What will you do with your increased income? When will you take action? If you were to emulate Socrates, how do you think it would change your sales results – and your life?
| 