EmptyCupOfTea

Growth Marketing Manager

Valued Contributor

Do you ask your leads/prospects questions before you start selling?

Hi all! I'm back again and I got another question for you because this has been bothering me whenever I would see Salespeople do this.

Too many Salespeople don't ask any questions before they start selling, it's always "yeah we do this and that, our product is amazing blah blah blah" it's like you're trying to fail...

If a product could sell itself then you wouldn't need to be there selling it, a Salesperson's role is to convince people to buy, but how can you do the convincing if you don't know what problems they're facing?

So, here are 3 questions I always asked prospects to understand better so I can convince them I have the solutions they're looking for.

What is the biggest issue you’re facing right now with (“problem your service/tool solves”)?
What solutions have you explored / what process do you have at the moment to solve the problem?
What do you expect to gain from solving this problem?

What kind of questions do you like to ask?

☑️ Qualification Calls

😎 Sales Skills

8

19 comments

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poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

11

☕️

Sounds like you're trying to start a conversation around discovery questions--tons of great threads to be found on the topic.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

6

SaaS Eater

Not gonna lie, I read the title of this post and wanted to explode. Read the post and it wasnt that bad but there are tons of disco question threads running on here.

EmptyCupOfTea

Valued Contributor

1

Growth Marketing Manager

I'm glad you didn't explode 😂

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

2

SaaS Eater

You and me both

InQ5WeTrust

Arsonist

6

No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL

I always recommend agenda setting on calls as well.

Might be beneficial on your next post, as I was about to yeet a stick of dynamite at you.

EmptyCupOfTea

Valued Contributor

1

Growth Marketing Manager

I'm glad you didn't!

CuriousFox

WR Officer

3

🦊

Of course I do. The meeting is about them, not me.

alecabral

Arsonist

2

Director - Digital Sales Transformation

Not a lot to add here other than there's a lot of content around this and what everyone else said. Other than that, Kermit drinking Lipton rocks :)

EmptyCupOfTea

Valued Contributor

0

Growth Marketing Manager

he is amazing :D

Diablo

Politicker

2

Sr. AE

That's called a discovery and it's important. I also like to us the steps they have taken to overcome those challenges.

dwightyouignorantsale

Politicker

1

Account Executive

In disco calls, I try and spend at least the first half of the call asking questions. At least.

jefe

Arsonist

1

🍁

Discovery is key, the demo usually has fewer large questions because I've already done a disco call.

EmptyCupOfTea

Valued Contributor

1

Growth Marketing Manager

100% by the time you go into demo you should already know everything about their needs. All that's left is to show them what you have is exactly what they need.

jefe

Arsonist

1

🍁

Exactly this. We sell software that integrates with one ERP platform and no others, so qualification and understanding their needs is the name of the game round these parts.

happyhunter

Politicker

1

spittin' sunshine

As all of us on here can agree on and know, we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. I try and speak as little as possible and let them do the talking...asking questions about themselves/company environment and questions pertinent to their pain points.

Who what where when why how never fails...let them talk themselves into seeing why they need your services/product/sale.

EmptyCupOfTea

Valued Contributor

1

Growth Marketing Manager

It's amazing how little convincing you can do if you just let them do the talking.

WomenWantMeFishFearMe

Politicker

0

AM

I always probe. I usually start a call with a brief background and why I'm in contact with this particular lead ,then I immediately ask a question. I usually ask more questions than anything else when I'm selling. I want the prospect to feel heard, and listened to. I want them to realize that my product is their solution through their own discovery with merely me guiding them

FormerStartupJobHopper

Tycoon

0

AE

Of course. Worst sign of a bad sales person is they can't/don't do discovery and just feature bomb or sell on price.

The tough part is when someone is someone puts their walls up or doesn't like you asking them questions, goes "get to the point" etc.

I'm mostly inbound so when that happens I try to say something like "Mr prospect I do think we can help you but I'm asking these questions so our conversation is relevant to you and I know what to talk about. I don't have enough info yet to give you a pitch/quote"

If they push back more

"This is the best way I know how to help you. I find the worst thing I can do as a salesperson is just throw a pitch out there and see what sticks. I think we can probably help you guys, but we certainly don't have to do business together if this isn't enough of a priority to spend a few minutes on"

That either allows them to DQ themselves or gets them back into my process

EmptyCupOfTea

Valued Contributor

0

Growth Marketing Manager

This is a really good approach, especially if an SDR didn't do a good job. But how do you deal with people who push back more?

Also, I write blogs about sales and marketing in general, do you mind if i quote some of your text? I will give credit to you under "FormerStartupJobHopper" 🤣

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