"Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers." -Voltaire
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Ever have a prospect ask you how much your product costs? Of course you have. Don't answer the question. The question means you've not yet done your job. Once they're asking you, "when can we implement?" then you can say, "well, we haven't discussed the terms yet."
I can hear you thinking.... how do I get to that point tng?
You have to establish their needs and illuminate a problem worth solving
How do I do that?
You ask questions
What kind of questions tng?
High Impact Questions
Can you give an example of a high impact question?
Sure thing pal. But first, what is a high impact question?
A high impact question is an open ended question that gets your prospect to think critically about a topic. If your prospect pauses and says, "hmmm, that's a good question," or "I've never thought of it that way," then you're a rock star. Have a drink on me
What's the best high-impact question you've ever heard tng?
Hmmm.... good question, I've never considered that. -Wooow, I see what you did there. Have a drink.
One of the best high impact questions I've heard comes from a VP of a software company I know named Jeff. Jeff always asks the same high impact question, he asks, "What is your exit strategy?"
Here is a sample of how Jeff's conversation might go with someone that owns a large CPA firm. Assume that he's established credibility and has earned the right to ask such questions. He's past the "how is your family" stage:
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Jeff: What is your exit strategy?
Owner: (looks confused) I'm not sure I understand?
Jeff: Every business owner has an exit strategy. For some, they plan to hand it down to their children, others plan to hire a GM/partner that will take over and provide them with residual income, some look to be acquired or purchased by a large competitor and others look to IPO.
Owner: I see. I suppose I had always planned to hand the business to my children someday
Jeff: That's great, some of the most successful businesses I consult with are family owned. If your children were ready to take over tomorrow, what if anything would prevent such a transition?
Owner: Well, we need to update our storage of client information. Right now we are 100% analog.
Jeff: Chances are your children are more immersed in the digital age than we are, right?
Owner: Absolutely.
Jeff: Is it fair to say that converting your practice to a digital format is a problem you need to solve then?
Owner: Yes
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What Jeff did was he used the question, "what is your exit strategy?" as a way to get the owner to admit that his business had deficiencies. He gets the "needs" and is able to establish a "problem" that he will then position his software as the solution to.
Ask Hubski: What are some high impact questions that you've used in either your personal or business conversations?
By the way, the next #sellingwithtng topic will be paraphrasing. Combine high impact questions with paraphrasing and you'll be the best date any guy/gal has ever been on.
Here are some commonly used high impact questions:
- Many of our clients are reporting problems with areas A, B, and C. How are these areas affecting you? What do you think about them?
- What, if anything, is preventing you from achieving your goals?
I'm getting a flood of calls from people trying to sell me shit in my second week of business. It's pretty annoying. My first question is "will this cost me money?" Than "How much" than "Fuck you, I said how much." A fellow offering to develop my Web presence across a variety of platforms called today. He promised it wouldn't cost me a dime. I told him that I was a cafe that catered to serial deviants my menu was stuff like spankings, BJ's and rough handies. Damn if he wasn't ready to put a coupon for 20% off rough handies on the Internet before I told him to fuck off. If one of these guys asked me what my exit strategy was I would tell him "to get off the phone with your annoying ass." As caustic as I am with these guys, at least 2/3rds of the people who come in remind me that I have a love for people. Each new face, each returning face fills me with a little bit of love.
I fond out the post office was sending all my mail back to sender last week but still delivering packages. Postman came in and gave me a stink eye with my mail, probably because I called the post office to ask what was going on and he took the blame. I couldn't have been nicer when I called, but I guess his boss wasn't so nice.
If one of these guys asked me what my exit strategy was I would tell him "to get off the phone with your annoying ass."
Of course you would, so would I.
We have already talked about ways that my boyfriends 10 year old can help. We are going to have him game testing, and helping his Dad with bug fixes. Then make an escrow account were we pay him like $5,000 a year if we were doing well. Lots of immigrant families have their children work in restaurants, and don't pay them fully until they are out of high school. I am trying to make baby steps, since my imagination is a bit active. If I were to become wealthy, I would get a tank with a bulldozer blade. Then I would go to arid counties, and help them to change the hydrology of the landscape. They could collect rainwater passively, and springs of clear water pop up, further down in elevation. It would be a tank in case, I was bothered by mafias, Boko Haram, or something. Maybe my exit strategy would be to go out in a blaze of glory, playing Tank Girl. This fantasy brought to you by an assignment I was doing, right after watching Fury.
There are a number of ways to do this depending on the situation and where you are at in the sales process. There are times when it's a very valid question and it should be answered. But more often than not, the price question is asked at the beginning of the process and it's really just a deflection, a smoke screen, a way to get you off of the phone. -See cgod's comment. If you are at the beginning of the process, there's often no way you could possibly quote a legitimate price. You don't know enough about their business yet. For example, let's say you are selling web-design and marketing. You don't know their needs at all. Customer: How much is a new website Salesperson: There are many factors that contribute to price and it could be that a new website isn't even a good fit for your business model. Can I ask some questions to get a better idea of your business and it's goals to determine which product of ours, if any, would be the best fit? After that, I promise I will give you an accurate idea of the investment involved. Most reasonable people will agree. In the case of cgod, nobody should be bothering this guy right now unless they have a product that will immediately solve some pain points. The guy just opened a business and is likely running around like a chicken with his head off. -Know how to read the situation. Anyone that wants cgod's business right now would do well to be a paying customer for a month straight.... then ask for a meeting. Good luck cgod! I hope it's going well. I promise, I'm not one of the guys calling you, I don't do that....anymore. That there is entry level shizzle.