Opening Questions

"That's asking you to justify your remarks, plain and simple." - Skip

I just did with an example from your question AND: "In sales that's sometimes called "baiting someone" which is agressive and contrary to good sales practices as I see them (my opinion). BUT if they work for you and you like them then we do things differently." -- MitchM

That's pretty clear and specific.

MitchM

You make no sense whatsoever.

You originally posted this:

I find most of the things you seem to admire agressive and contrary to good sales practices.

Then, I respectfully posted this question to you:

Mitch, what are the things you think I admire?

And you won't answer my simple question. Instead, you accuse me of being aggressive. You should be able and willing to justify statements you make referring to another forum member, in my opinion.

Hey guys.
Thank you for everyone helping out.
I know everyone has there way of selling.

My original question was the following:

I am wondering what are some good opening questions to ask customers.

My usual approach is

Hi how are you
" good thanks"
How can i help you out
" just looking"
Looking for anything in particular
" yes / no"

I work in a kiosk in a shopping mall.
If a customer comes up and i say.
Hello how are you
"Good"
Would you like to buy a phone
"No"

I have lost 95% of customers, I have worked in the industry for 2 years and from what i have shown that will not work for us, people are stopping by sometimes not coming up to buy a phone but also passing by.

My question was for my opening approach to just looking and also asking about what i can say when customers come in ie "what brings you in today" etc.

By not being aggressive - promoting with a strong and animated persona; demanding answers to questions in an in-your-face way; using open ended questions to get responses so you can make a sale; using one hundred one overcoming objective lines YOU over time will make sales.

Differentiate yourself from the others, myers. BUT here's the problem: most people are just passing by your kiosk - that is an important reality to know.

Being polite and asking direct questions: "Do you want to purchase a phone today? Ours feature: _____________ and _______________. Do you want that?" works very well.

I was speaking with a friend the other day who has been selling insurance decades and he is very successful. He put some time into a kiosk at a mall and said "Never again."

"Most people are killing time," he told me.

You are not losing customers, myers. These are people who never were customers or potential customers. Think about yourself: when you walk through a mall what are you really looking for? Would twenty-five people getting in your face as I described what NOT to do sell you? Would you like that? Respect that? Do you want to live like that?
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Questions can be open ended or closed (although I favor closed YES and NO) - probing questions are usually both - I simply begin with closed YES or NO in cold prospecting. On the other hand, in conversations, in conversational situations closed and open questions come to play - that's quite natural.

Sharon Drew Miller (who posts here) has much to say about facilitating the decision making process which isn't contrary to what Mr. Werth (find his web site and look it over, myers) calls high probability selling.

Ask people what they want. Listen. Offer suggestions and show them options. Be helpful without over stating, over selling, over coming genuine NOs just to make your sale.

The best to you.

MitchM

Ask people what they want. Listen. Offer suggestions and show them options. Be helpful without over stating, over selling, over coming genuine NOs just to make your sale.

How does one differentiate genuine NOs from NOs that aren't genuine?

Please be very, very careful when you read MitchM's posts. He is mistaken in a great deal of what he posts here.

There is some truth in his posts, too, for instance I am not in favor of an aggressive sales style that is only based upon the salespersons needs instead of the prospects needs. But as a person who has devoted his career to helping others achieve, I cringe when I read some of his ideas here at SalePractice. He is simply not qualified to give advice to someone selling mobile phones at a mall or in many other areas.

Be skeptical at best.

I think the questions should engage the prospect in conversation and "Hi, how are you" alone doesn't really do that but it is a start. If it was me I'd follow up with questions that would put some water under the bridge, get the two of you talking.

For instance, "Not all providers offer the same model of phones. Which provider are you with?" ~ "How would you rate your current provider's service?" ~ "Who will the phone be for?" ~ "What phone have you/they been using?" ~ "How are you currently deciding on which phone to go with?"

Originally Posted by Mikey I think the questions should engage the prospect in conversation and "Hi, how are you" alone doesn't really do that but it is a start. If it was me I'd follow up with questions that would put some water under the bridge, get the two of you talking. For instance, "Not all providers offer the same model of phones. Which provider are you with?" ~ "How would you rate your current provider's service?" ~ "Who will the phone be for?" ~ "What phone have you/they been using?" ~ "How are you currently deciding on which phone to go with?"

Mikey: Yes! Gotta love those open-ended questions!

It's all about engaging the prospect so you can (1) get information; and (2) let the prospect get comfortable with you.

Great tips skip. Thats exactly what i was thinking