In the A – Z of Marketing Q is for … Questions

In the olden days, to promote your business and sell your services to a potential customer, you would turn up at their office and make a presentation to them. You would tell them all about your business and what you do. You might take along a great PowerPoint slide show, full of testimonials, all the awards you’ve won and examples of what you’ve done for other clients. You’d round off the presentation by asking if your prospect had any questions and if they wanted to work with you.

What do you mean, you still try to sell your services that way? How is that working for you?

I once sat through such a presentation from a potential supplier, after which she asked “So, does that look interesting to you?” She was rather stumped by my reply of “No”. Why? Because what she had presented to me was not relevant to my business; she hadn’t asked me a single question about the company and the issue we were looking to solve.

The next time you visit a potential client, think about asking some of these questions, to help you to find out what they really want from you:

Situation questions: Where is your business now? What do you do/make/sell? How long have you been in business? What are your goals for your business? These questions allow you find out where your prospect is now and where they’re going. I also ask them what marketing they currently do for their business and what?s worked in the past.

Problem questions: What’s the problem we’re here to talk about? What’s getting in the way or keeping you awake at night? You’re there to solve a problem, so this is your chance to find out what it really is.

Implication questions: What will happen if you don’t do anything about this current problem? This question will help your prospect to focus on the problem and see why it’s so important that it’s solved.

Urgency questions: How soon do you need to do something about this issue? If the answer is ‘Right away’ then you know you need to provide the solution now. If the answer is ‘In six months’ then you don’t need to keep pushing for the sale right now. Things might have changed in six months.

Importance questions: How important is it to you that we solve this issue? Having answered all your questions, if your potential client then tells you that actually there are other more pressing issues to deal with, you can focus on them, or step away. If solving the problem is urgent and important, then you need to present your solution and ask for the business.

We all love talking about ourselves and our businesses, so use questions to build up rapport with your prospects and find out what they’re really looking for. That way you can provide them with a solution that actually meets their needs.

What questions do you ask your prospects, to turn them into clients?