Newsletter Archive - Sales / Marketing
10 Killer Fact Finding Questions
03/25/2010 - You've started a discussion with a potential advertiser and have entered your "fact-finding/discovery" phase in the selling process. But you don't seem to be getting the quality or depth of information you are looking for. Perhaps you need a tune up on your questions.
First, let's be sure we understand why you go through this key step in the selling process:
1. You want to build/develop a rapport, a relationship with this client. Questions engage them and identify their key needs.
2. For many small businesses, some needs are truly unrecognized and unstated. But through the probing process you can often gain an insight into that prospect's needs that are greater than their own understanding.
3. You want to be able to continue pre-qualifying the prospect. Are they truly interested in talking and ready to purchase? How is their decision timed with their business cycle? How will a decision be made? Etc, etc. etc.
We asked several Account Executives to give us a list of their top probing questions, and have culled together a list of 10 killer ones. How do these compare to the ones you use?
- Can you tell me about your advertising program during your most successful year?
- How do you plan to combat your loss of business?
- If someone needs your product/service, and they don't know the area very well (or know anyone in the area), how would they find you?
- What are the three biggest misconceptions people have about your business?
- What do you do differently from other _____ (fill in the heading) that would make someone choose you?
- How many times a day do you have a referral customer?
- Do you have a 5 year plan? Have you reached your goal yet?
- If you have enough business now, how would you replace a key account if you lost it?
- What comes to mind when I say (pick one) Yellow Pages/Internet/Direct Mail?
- What plans do you have in place to capture the word-of-mouth, or percent of business out there you don't currently have?
There are many others but these themes seemed to come up most.