Distinctive Impressions Change The Subject

Skip Anderson

There's absolutely no good sales reason (or any other reason) to ask "Is that something you want?" at that point in your relationship with your prospect. How on earth would the prospect know if that's "what they want?" At this pint, you don't know anything about them (except that they have pain), and they don't know anything about you (other than you have a product you're trying to sell)?

Why should your prospect care that you have "a product that has helped people with joint pain and it might help you?" They know that you don't understand or comprehend anything about their joint pain (except the personal biases about joint pain that you bring to the table). They just see you as a salesperson pushing some goods.

Salespeople in your situation would be well-served to ask some or all of the following questions:

- How long have you been having the pain?
- What have you tried to relieve the pain?
- When you say you have joint pain, what kind of pain is it?
- How has your pain impacted your life?
- What makes the pain worse?
- What makes it better?
- When is the pain most frustrating?
- Or other questions like this.

There is zero downside to asking prospects questions like these. And there is a huge upside to it:

- Prospects love questions, especially when they are about a need or desire (or pain) that they have (who doesn't like to be asked questions about them?).

- Asking questions illustrates to the prospect that the salesperson is respectful and concerned, and not just interested in making a sale.

- The only way a salesperson can know what solution to recommend (without guessing) to a prospect is through information from the prospect, and when a prospect comes to a salesperson and says "I have joint pain," the only way for the salesperson to get information from the prospect is to ask questions to get information.

When we go to a doctor, we want to be asked questions. The same applies when we go to see an attorney, a tax accountant, a clergyperson, a friend, a private detective, a mental health professional, a dentist, and . . . a salesperson.

After a salesperson has some detailed understanding of the prospects pain, and has presented a product that potentially meets the prospect's need/desire, THEN it's appropriate to ask "is that something you want." (or something similar).

__________________
Skip Anderson
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MitchM

In some situations these questions:

- How long have you been having the pain?
- What have you tried to relieve the pain?
- When you say you have joint pain, what kind of pain is it?
- How has your pain impacted your life?
- What makes the pain worse?
- What makes it better?
- When is the pain most frustrating?
- Or other questions like this.

come first, Skip. I've posted about this over and over - how a conversation started can lead to inquiry.

BUT "Look Skip, if you say to me you've got joint pain and I say I've got a product that has helped people with joint pain and it might help you. Is that something you want? That question causes you to think about what you just said and answer YES or NO." -- MitchM

Over and over again I hear YES or NO or Maybe NOT to a sale but to a personal WANT TO or NOT have no or reduced pain.

Then:

How long have you been having the pain?
- What have you tried to relieve the pain?
- When you say you have joint pain, what kind of pain is it?
- How has your pain impacted your life?
- What makes the pain worse?
- What makes it better?
- When is the pain most frustrating?
- Or other questions like this.

I ask these questions if it's a YES or MAYBE. It's the order I do it in you do it in we disagree on sometimes.

The other day I met a gal who said she had migraines. I asked her a couple of question like the ones you posted - just a minute's worth or so - then said: my wife used to deal with migraines and she doesn't any more because of a product she uses and we sell. Are you looking for something else to try?

She said NO.

Everyone who sells is seen by some people as some salesman pushing some goods no matter what the process yours or mine. My days are spent in deeply personal conversations but most of them are after the YES fact of "I want that" whether those questions came first (not usually) or after the DO YOU WANT or ARE YOU LOOKING questions.

BUT you are right - many times I find out what the person is dealing with first then ask the do you want questions. I think we're mixing sales situations which is causing our debate, Skip.

One situation is a one minute offering - another situation is a longer conversation to see if there can be a need and want and willingness to act decision.

"When we go to a doctor, we want to be asked questions. The same applies when we go to see an attorney, a tax accountant, a clergyperson, a friend, a private detective, a mental health professional, a dentist, and . . . a salesperson.

After a salesperson has some detailed understanding of the prospects pain, and has presented a product that potentially meets the prospect's need/desire, THEN it's appropriate to ask "is that something you want." (or something similar)." Skip

I agree with all of that - NOW remember the person visiting any of the above has has already said - for the most part - YES to wanting something. The rest is identifying and defining conditions of satisfaction.

MitchM

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Skip Anderson

The order is crucial. Little things matter (in selling, in golf, in tennis, in parenting, etc).

In selling, the strategy I outlined simply works better than the other strategy, so why not do it the way that yields better results?

Ready-Aim-Fire works much better than "Fire-Aim-Ready".

MitchM

I understand your analogy, Skip, but I always aim first - we just see what's called "aiming" differently.

Two types of situations:

1. prospecting call asking for an immediate YES or NO.

2. conversation (meeting someone at an exposition, a conference, an event of some kind, a BNI meeting whereas the questions you posed usually come first.

I distinguish these situations - so we may not disagree 100% of the time, Skip.

I work more in the first situation which I create as I ask the closed ended question - you think that's bad and not good advice. You also had this gripe with Jacques Werth and I don't.

BUT each one of has our own style - I don't imagine every sales trainer in your field of training is a clone.

Aside from all that - impressions changed the subject of this thread - see Skip, that's also the reality I posted you said was crazy to understand. Look at what this thread has become - AND I fell into the impressions - known now but unknown as they were happening - that changed the content of this thread.

We proved my point - one of my points anyway. Bang bang!

Goodnight, Skip - you've challenged my thinking and I hope I did the same for you.

MitchM

Mr. Cesario

Off Topic
Thomas, if I may instead of asking your clients what they want in a home, try asking more probing questions such as:
What do you love about your current home?
What do you love about your Community?
Are there any special needs that you are looking for in a new home?
What have you seen that you liked/disliked? Why didn't you buy?
Ect.

After you uncover their Hot buttons then you can structure your presentation/demonstration based off of their wants/needs, tie them down based of that and you should have better results.

O/P
I appologize if I stepped out of line by making the above sugestions to Thomas, my intentions were not meant to side track this topic.

~James

MitchM

That too is a topic of contention from time to time here - I'm not one to care much if a topic strays and I usually enjoy the little side journies and digressions - thay make it lots of fun. BUT some people are rubbed the wrong way by that and find it distracting and unfun.

On the other hand, a few folks have labled much off topic because they've had power and control attitudes demanding this or that from fellow posters when the digression or side bar topic may have lent something to the originial topic.

So there's different perspectives - in or out of line is one of them based on personal subjectivity most of the time. One last situation I've seen is the person who repeatedly changes the topic back to his or her running point-of-view OR the person who accuses one of that when in fact the slight shift in perspective or change in point-of-view to the person doing the shifting fits in some how.

OR as the topic of this thread points out - often unknown impressions - thought connections in our lexicon of meanings - change the subject and that change isn't recognized - which makes my point again.

The best of the best to everyone.

MitchM

Skip Anderson

Mitch, here's the situation you described in your earlier post in this thread:

Mitch, that situation you describe is not a prospecting situation (or, a "type 1" interaction which you term a "prospecting call"). If a person is saying to you that they have joint pain, that person is your prospect. At that point, you are not prospecting, you are doing post-prospecting selling. And selling should virtually never start out with a closing question such as "is this what you want" if one cares about the results of the selling interaction.

So even if using your own selling theory as the basis for analysis of this selling interaction, asking this prospect this question:

"I've got a product that has helped people with joint pain and it might help you, is that something you want?"

...is not the best way to handle this situation. But probing for understanding and information (or what you call "conversation") is.

MitchM

But I should ask that because I do and it brings us to the point:

"So even if using your own selling theory as the basis for analysis of this selling interaction, asking this prospect this question:

"I've got a product that has helped people with joint pain and it might help you, is that something you want?

...is not the best way to handle this situation. But probing for understanding and information (or what you call "conversation") is." -- Skip

I've been accused of confusing prospecting and selling - points of interaction and action - and I'm guilty of bluring those distinctions at time. I also understand there's a blurring in normal conversations and transitions aren't always mentally noted - the activity just goes on in a different context yet connected to the whole.

BUT I see your misunderstand now, Skip. What I post is not a theory - you think I post theory. I post what I do and teach and what works well in actual practice.

As I posted - the order sometimes is saometimes reversed as you pointed out and call a better way to prospect/sell - which it is sometimes - that's not theory either - it's good sense.

Impressions change, change the subject, subject and objective reflect each other from the inside out and visa versa - anyone else have an impression about all this?

MitchM

Skip Anderson

That's gobbledy-gook.

I pointed out to you, using your own theory and your own statements, why your handling of the customer didn't even fit your own theory. Now you want to debate if "theory" is the right word or not.

But, after all these posts back and forth, your opinion is "But I should ask that because I do" (your words).

So we've reached a dead-end. I simply can't help anybody improve their sales performance who takes that stance.

MitchM

I can't help you either, Skip - you miss too much.

I wish you continued success.

MitchM