Asking the Right Questions to Prospects Can Increase Sales

Ask any sales professional about the most frustrating aspect of their job, and they’ll likely say it is spending time with a prospective customer who does not purchase.

We have all been in this situation at some point during our careers. After weeks of nurturing a lead, the client asks for an RFQ. You send your bid, stating clearly what you believe their needs are. The prospect then walks away. You just wasted money and time. You are one of many-this story that is repeated every day in sales teams nationwide.

Salespeople often fail to close a deal despite spending much time with prospects because they don’t ask the right questions. They also make the mistake of assuming they know what they want. Most of the time, a prospect does not know what they want. How can you offer a solution to a prospect lost in their fog?

The top growth marketing agencies collaborate with the sales teams of their clients to streamline the entire process, from the first point of contact through the call and onboarding.

Salespeople are also trained on the right questions to ask to form strong connections and make the prospects’ needs more evident. They can then explain how their service is the best way to meet those needs. When sales teams ask the correct questions, they can increase the number of deals closed.

What are the main productivity pain points

Productivity will suffer if teams don’t work together. Ask your prospects if anything prevents their employees and the company from working efficiently and effectively. Tell them how your product or service can help solve their problem.

A growth marketing agency, for example, hears that a company’s sales and marketing departments often compete against one another rather than working together towards the same goal. They also note the difficulty in communicating and sharing vital data across departments.

A growth marketing strategy that uses a CRM to allow sales and marketing teams from both departments to see each other’s data and segment tasks while assigning co-assigned team members from both departments can help improve communication and speed up the entire process.

What about financial pain points

Overpaying for goods and services is a common problem among consumers and businesses. This can lead to financial stress. If you want to reduce some of the spending, you will need to look into your products and services.

What are the major obstacles to your company’s growth

Make sure you capitalize on the classic soundbite. All businesses are there to grow. A painful pain point is the biggest barrier to scaling up to reach those growth goals.

You may be surprised that many prospects don’t even consider it. By helping them discuss their current business environment, you will increase your and their understanding while allowing you to show your expertise without being pompous.

Customers, products, and investment capital usually cause growing pains. Asking follow-ups like this will help you keep control of the call.

You can ask questions about the following:

What is the deadline for solving your problem?

What is your plan to treat pain X?

Who is responsible in your company for fixing it?

What do you think the difficulty level will be?

This will allow you to keep the conversation going while learning about your prospect’s pain points and the best ways to alleviate them.

Listen to their voice. You may hear a little fear or a sense that something is urgent. This is normal and indicates that the person is more likely to invest in a solution for their pain point.

What is the most important thing to your boss / C-Suite

You won’t be able to speak with the decision maker nine times out of 10. The first call is made by a gatekeeper, usually in a junior position. This person will then introduce the company to the decision-maker. You should include the gatekeeper as soon as possible in your conversation for three main reasons.

1. They are often responsible for the budget of B2B investments.
2. By presenting specific solutions to pain points, they can directly impact the decision-maker.
3. This is because many of them have bad bosses. By presenting an alternative, you can motivate the sale process.

What is the Monopoly of Your Day

A business plan can be crafted by gaining a better understanding of the typical day of your prospect. This question will help you understand the value that your product can offer to your prospects.

Asking prospects how they spend their time can be an excellent way to get to know them. But go deeper. Find out how the solution would affect your team. It would save them up to three hours a day. Reduce their meeting time in half? You can help your prospects by identifying the burning itch they have. Then, you can see how your product or service can relieve that itch.

Asking your prospects the right questions will help you remove any obstacles or walls preventing you from reaching your sales targets.