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The Art of Questioning #2

by Rick Baker
On Sep 21, 2010
The Art of Questioning #2 is about sales people using questions to uncover Client needs.
 
This blog is inspired by Neil Rackham, the author of SPIN Selling.
 
For the sales process, Rackham defines the purpose of questions: to uncover Clients’ implied needs and to develop them into specific needs.
 
Rackham talks about 2 types of questions:
  • Uncovering Questions which ask buyers about their problems or implied needs
  • Developing Questions which took those implied needs and, somehow, developed them into explicit needs
Rackham toured with sales people from multi-national companies and he found:
Uncovering Questions were more strongly linked to success in smaller sales

There are several types of Uncovering Questions, the main categories being:
  • Situation Questions: designed to find facts about the Client’s existing situation
    • the more Situation Questions the higher the likelihood of a failed sales call
    • Situation Questions are overused by inexperienced sales people
  • Problem Questions: designed to learn about Clients’ problems, difficulties, or dissatisfactions
    • Problem Questions happen more when sales calls are successful
    • Experienced sales people ask more Problem Questions
Developing Questions were more important and more strongly linked to success than Uncovering Questions
When it comes to sales people presenting questions to Probable Clients, here's a sample of our recommendations:
  • Consider each of your Target Markets and its Value Proposition
  • Consider the Ideal Client Profile for each Target Market
  • Design Questions to help discover whether or not the Probable Client fits the Ideal Client Profile:
    • Spend a lot of time planning these Designed Questions
    • Design supplementary questions, at least 2 layers of them
    • Be consistent when you ask the questions
    • Observe the results and score 'success' or 'failure'
    • Where your Client relationships are very strong...ask for Clients’ help as you hone and improve your questions and your delivery of your questions
Footnote:
Compare Rackham’s ideas with those of Bruno Gideon: The Art of Questioning #1.

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