Does this sound familiar?
Prospect: “How large is your company?”
Salesperson: (Puffs up chest) “I’m glad you asked Mr. Prospect, we are the largest company in our industry, we’re the best at this, we have thousands of employees and all of these features and benefits…”
Prospect says: “Great, that’s so impressive, can you send over some paperwork and do some free consulting for us?”
What the Prospect is thinking: “We were hoping for a smaller company that can pay closer attention to our needs, the last company we went with was so large that we felt like just another number to them… Sounds like this will be the same thing, let’s ask for some paperwork, and then never call them back again, they’ll eventually give up.”
Never happens, right?
If it’s not, “How large is your company?” it’s something else like how much does your service cost, or how fast can you deliver?
The core issue, no matter what question is asked, is that you have no idea what they’re thinking when they ask that question, so why on earth would you answer?
That floating organ, between your ears, is where the answer lies, as usual.
[bctt tweet=”Throughout our lives, our brains are conditioned to reward us for answering questions.” username=”LeadGenInst”]In school, we are taught that the first person to answer correctly gets the best grades and all the praise from the teachers.
Having all of the answers in your friend group heightens your social status within the group.
We are always seeking this approval from those around us, and now it’s leaking into your selling!
Understanding why this happens is the first step, the next step is finding a way around these types of questions that is genuine and authentic to the prospect.
An amazing tool for this is something called a Reverse.
A reverse is the simple act of asking a question back to a question, to get under the surface level of the initial question and to find it’s true intent.
This easy to use tool can change the entire conversation from earlier. For example:
Prospect: “How large is your company?”
Salesperson: I get asked that a lot, can you help me understand why you ask?
Prospect: “Well, we’ve been pretty turned off by some larger companies we’ve worked with in the past…”
Salesperson: “Tell me more about that, do you have an example of something that turned you off about them or their service?”
Prospect: “We always felt like we were just another number to them, a cog in the wheel, and we are looking for someone who can treat us more like a valued customer.”
Look how quickly that conversation turned around.
By pausing and asking yourself, “Do I truly know why I’m answering this question?” you can change the way these types of conversations go.
The only time you should ever answer a prospects question is when you know these three things:
- Why are they asking?
- The importance of your answer.
- The impact of your answer.
If you can answer all 3 of those things to yourself, you are more than welcome to answer the question they asked.
Cody Isabel has a degree in Neuroscience and is the Managing Partner of Sandler Training- ESD in Kansas City, MO. Cody uses the 95/5 rule to offer consulting to all kinds of different businesses and industries. This rule states that 95% of what you’re doing is perfect, but there’s that 5% that could be looked at again, improved or revisited. He works with courageous business leaders across the nation that are willing to take a look at that 5%, figure out how they could improve within their businesses, and then have the guts to do something about it! Knowing is the easy part, those willing to take action within their businesses and lives, are who he works with. He brings a high energy personality style, his love of Neuroscience, and an immense desire to help others achieve their goals, to all that he does.
