Effective questioning continues to be one of the best paths to selling success. Are your reps asking enough questions, or are they doing all the talking on their calls?
A long-established reality of selling and salespeople is we talk too much…and ask too few questions or listen. I’ve used a stopwatch to time salespeople when I’ve ridden with them to observe their sales calls. The average rep spends as much as 90 percent of their calls talking. The calls are interactive, they just do all the talking.
Their customer asks a five-second question, like “Why are you so expensive?” The rep responds with a five-minute explanation. Customer asks another five-second question and gets another five-minute response. The rep walks to their car saying “That was interactive!” but they still did ninety-percent of the talking.
What can you do as their coach and leader to break this habit? Your reps are working to position themselves with their buyers as trusted advisors. But if your rep is doing ninety-percent of the talking, do you really think your buyer will see them as someone trying to help and understand their needs?
What can you do to make sure your team understands the importance of asking more questions and know the best questions to be asking?
Join me as I share ideas to help you get your team to do less talking and to ask more questions. Bet it could help them sell even more!