Good sales reps understand importance of needs assessment – and getting really curious when it comes to our customers. We need to ask, ask and ask…and when you think you have asked enough questions, ask one more! And it’s more than just finding out what product or service they might be interested in – it's also about discovering why they want it, what their organization will gain and what it will mean for them personally if they choose your product or service. Questions are a good thing!

However, there are times in the call when a statement is better than a question.

For example, at the end of the call, sometimes we might say something like: ‘Would it be ok if I gave you a call tomorrow to see if you had any questions on the information I am going to send you later today?’ While there is nothing overtly wrong with this statement, it gives the customer a chance to deflect. They may answer with ‘No, that’s alright. I will call you if I have any questions.’ What are we supposed to do with that? Now, we have painted ourselves in the corner and put ourselves in the position of either not following up with the customer (which is never a good option) or disregarding what the customer has said and following up with them anyways, which is also not likely a good option.'

What could we have said here that would avoid this situation? Here’s where a statement would be better than a question. ‘So, I will put together a proposal for you with some prices and get that over to you later today. Then I will give you a quick call tomorrow and see where you are with it and if you have any questions…’

If the customer really doesn’t want to take our call, it seems to me they are pretty good at avoiding our calls and disregarding our emails. They always have that veto power. We just don’t have to remind them of that as we are setting up the follow up step!

Don’t be afraid to state some things to a customer and save the questions for the needs assessment step of the sale!

#needsassessment #askdonttell #salestraining