What can you tell me about your organization and yourself?

Sales Question: "What can you tell me about your organization and yourself?"

How would you improve on this question? -Community Mailbox

First and formost, I would never EVER put the two requests in the same question.


Some questions are best expressed in a command:

Tell me about your organization.

So--tell me about yourself.

Note the bold underlined showing what to accent in your inflection.

A key to a successful sales interview is to talk the way people actually talk--not the way you think salespeople are supposed to talk. A lot of people have trouble with that for some reason.

Rent the wonderful movie Verdict with Paul Newman. It is an absolute wealth of examples on how to converse, how to ask questions, and how to convince. Watch the part where the opposing high-priced lawyer (James Mason) is coaching the medical doctor in preparation for being called to the stand. -Ace Coldiron

Question: At the end of the day, what has made you most successful?

Question: What has made your company most successful? -Connie Kadansky

The question is meaningless without a context. -TonyB

Most questions are--as are statements. Yours is an example.

Tony, I believe the context of the topic's question is in regard to wording and expressing in an effort to gain information. -Ace Coldiron

Suppose they aren't? Suppose they don't know? Suppose they don't want to share at this point?

Yours are different questions from the topic's. And they seem transparently patronizing. That can backfire. -Ace Coldiron

I would try to avoid using 'What' at the beginning of a sentence. It is a small thing however, it is easy to sound arrogant using this word first. I prefer something like, "I would like to learn a little about . . .

In addition, I find people are more receptive when I include a reason for asking, for instance - "because it will help me understand if our (product or service) is a good fit for you."

Regards
Clive Miller -Clive Miller

I agree with Clive, I would either give a reason for the question or state something I know and about them and ask them to expand on that, or to tell me more about that, etc. I would never broach a question like yours without knowing something about the client first if at all possible. -GerryMyers

I would tend to break down the questions so that they aren't so big. So rather than say 'tell me about your organisation' I'd be more inclined to ask:
how many personnel does your business employee?
who are your largest customers aside from xxx?
how many cars do you run on your fleet?
The reason for this is that not all prospects are as forthcoming with information as we'd like, therefore we need to 'chunk' our questions down, to the information that we really want to find out. -marky

First, I have no idea what the context is for the question. Do we know each other from somewhere? Are we talking for the first time? How is it relevant to where we are in the buying process?

If it's a suggestion for a general sales question, and I'm assuming that because it's in the Sales Interview section here, then if I am the prospect in B2B, or even B2C, I feel like you could have found out something about me first instead of asking such a wide open question.

Then, ask a question that would be more relevant to where we are in the buying process. For example:

So you've been with Company Name Inc, for about 5 years? What brought you here? (then listen for a decision preference to help you go further into the sales process.)

Second, the second question is actually answered in my first reply. -patweber

In my opinion, the topic was posed with the fair assumption that we would be somewhere in the buying process where the question could be asked. I don't think there is any reason to create another hypothesis. This thread could be instructive as it stands.

The topic as one which is addressing communication. -Ace Coldiron

There are all sorts of contexts for the posed question. Is it a first telephone contact ? Is it a first meeting ? Is it part of any opening statement ? Is the contact known ? Is he/she a sponsor ? What is the status of the sale ? What research of the customer has already been done ?

Without knowing the context, the salesperson might receive a reply, for example: "come back when you've done some research".

There should also be a purpose to asking any question. Asking for general information may be irrelevant and counter-productive if the salesperson is close to closing for example.

(I've just noticed that Pat has made a similar reply, with regard to context) -TonyB

The posed question is "How would you improve on this question?"

The context is obviously Wording.

You are evaluating the use and advisability of the question "What can you tell me about your organization and yourself?", and that's fine, but it's not the topic. The topic as it stands is a good one and could be very instructive if we stay on it.

Also, if a salesperson has presented him/herself so poorly as to invite a response of "Come back when you've done some research.", they need help from those who post here who have never faced that. But that too is another topic. -Ace Coldiron

One would hope this thread is intended as relating to some sales context rather than just playing with words ? -TonyB

I understand the questions but they are confusing.

My organization is a distribution network also called multi level marketing network consisting 97% of consumers and 3% of people who are business builders.

About me? At the age of 64 I'm more passionate about, focused on and certain of my goals for the next thirty years than I ever was with the past thirty years.

MitchM -MitchM

Ask yourself your own question.What do you want to know about the company? Be specific with your question. The sales person should know the history of the company and to whom you are speaking. -rich34232

"What can you tell me about your organization and yourself?" - Topic

OK - I answered once literally and I missed the intent of this thread. Wake up MitchM.

The queston is too vague and general for any value - I suspect because it would come into some context we don't know. If there were a context the question would have to be precise and probing to an aspect of the context for it to have value. Also, there are two questions in one which is confusing.

The more exacting you become in knowing what qualities you seek to uncover in an answer the more success you will begin to create for everyone.

MitchM -MitchM

No, TonyB. Not playing with words. Seeking the right words. That's the subject matter regardless of what you hope. If you're out of your comfort zone with that particular sales context, why not start another thread with what you prefer to discuss.

Demeaning a topic started by another member is not in anybody's best interest. That would discourage many members who merely want to ask a question that they don't know the answer to.

Asking questions and seeking answers is a very big part of what this forum was created for. Those with questions should feel free to ask them without their questions being described as "playing". -Ace Coldiron

You don't understand the question, either. C'mon, Mike!

You of all people know that selling is simple and it becomes hard only when you make it hard.

How would you improve on this question?: What can you tell me about your organization and yourself? -Ace Coldiron

I'm beginning to understand this thead - my first reading was superfical and wrong. My second reply was short sighted. Now my third.

"Some questions are best expressed in a command:

Tell me about your organization.

So--tell me about yourself." -- Ace

That's the best advice so far as the question asker clearly asks how the question can be improved which is a question about wording.

The other advice I would give is that if in the mind of the question asker something other than wording is meant then it has to be connected to some missing context. In that case - who can say since it's missing.

Am I on track now?

MitchM

-MitchM

You guys over analyse too much :)

Not that it is a good sales practice to shoot from the hip.........

'Could you help me to understand what 'my company' can do for you?' -PiJiL

I like that. It's a little different, and direct in its own way.

The over-analysis might be over-complication. The original topic was rather simple. Sometimes people will view a topic in the context of how they ply their own trade. For instance, someone who is out there face-to-face daily with prospects and clients might always be looking for ways to better communicate. That would include how we construct our questions. I'm in that category. Others might take a simple topic like this and use it as a segue to expound on what they think (or "teach) are the components of a sales process.

Verbal communication is a very important topic among sales professionals. -Ace Coldiron

You sure are.

Mike, I'm fettered on this topic because I see it as an absolute gem for people who are out there learning how to make a living in sales.

The refinement of a simple question, "What can you tell me about your organization and yourself?" is an example of what high achievers in selling spend time on.

The reality is limited for all people. In sales we use words as part of our communication. They are tools. Just like a carpenter choosing the very best hammer, or a surgeon choosing the very best scalpel, we should choose OUR very best tools. Selling IS a profession.

When a topic is posed on a thread, you often will see examples of how members LISTEN to that topic. It runs very parallel to how Listening differs among salespeople. We can listen creatively, or we can listen reactively. Creative Listening works best. Reactive listening is self-serving and often transparent.

This thread can, and should be, a good thread, and representative of the good things SalesPractice wants to achieve in sales education. -Ace Coldiron

I read both, and I thought both posts were informative--especially Pat's which seemed to reveal a lot of real world experience.

But your posts addressed the topic of information gathering as a prerequisite for asking a specific question, not asking it, or determining how the question should be formulated. That's all good stuff, but it did not address the topic here which, in my opinion, is a very good one.

You asked if this was too complicated for my comfort zone: "By "context" we are referring to the particular sales situation. The question would be worded very differently, or not asked at all, depending on the situation."

No. Not at all. Actually very basic.

My comfort zones on this forum exclude search engine optimization which passed me by years ago, some real estate matters, and mortgage brokering. I also confess to a disdain for rhetorical questions. -Ace Coldiron

The more I know about your business and the more I know about you the the better equipped I will be to help you.

MP -MPrince

The best possible way for me to improve on the question would be to illustrate.
A professional sales guy came to our office to teach us how to sell his product to our clients. Here is a list of what not to do.
1. Showed up 30 minutes late. He flew down to our city and had been there 3 days and did not take a dry run.
2. Started gtiving excuses as to why he was late placing blame on the answer service for wrong directions.
3. tried to make a joke about how we do not understand thecold and snow of Buffalo. All of us are from the north and moved to florida
4. started the presentation by presenting facts without proof or where these facts come from
5. Did not know we are al sales techncians and we are doing the sales presentation to our client. He treated us as second rate people uintil he found out we sold the units.
6. Became upset with our questions concerning fear. This prouct will prevent heart disease and sugar diabetes and other diseases
7. Made the statement take the money and run
All of this information should had been gathered in the intial contact with our company. This so called professional forgot the basics. Find out everything you can about the company and its people before you arrive. If you need to ask this type of question of informing me of yourself and company you may well lose all credibility.Know this ahead of time.
I would like to know more about you and your company and specifically how I can help you be more profitable with time and money. -rich34232

You would seriously ask this question of a prospect? It is your job to help the prospect understand how you/your company can help him/her, not the other way around.

Look, there is an issue with this thread in regards to CONTEXT ... why don't you already know about them before you get there? Stuff like that occurs to me but how we phrase questions, in regards to PiJiL's post is more like this;

"Mr./Ms. Prospect, in order for me to be sure to share with you exactly how we can help you _____________ (insert general benefit, examples; "improve output" or; "improve profitability", etc), I need to understand a little more about your organization, what areas do you feel might be improved in your company/firm/organization?"

My question assumes you did your homework before you got there. You need to know their industry, know some of the issues within that industry and have a general idea of what you are facing prior to arriving.

I hope this helps and does not further confuse this thread. -Gold Calling