You probably have a list of prospects to call, along with a great opening statement introducing yourself and your company.

You may also have a list of two or three questions to ask the prospect, to qualify her/him and learn how they might benefit from your product.

But, did you know that there are three questions being asked by sales people every day that can actually cause the prospect to want to end the call?

Getting Their Attention

We have about 9 seconds to get the prospect’s interest and earn the right to proceed with a cold call or a call to a current customer. If we do anything to create resistance, it’s downhill after that.

A common mistake is asking questions that serve no purpose.

Bad question #1

"Have you heard of our company?"

Think about the possible answers.

If they say "no," you still have to explain who you are and what you do, but you have now stopped the momentum of the call by asking a question that got a negative answer.

If the prospect says "yes," they are familiar with you, ask yourself this question:

If they have heard about your company, why are they not doing business with you? They probably have a good reason and you have reminded them of that reason.

Instead of "Have you heard of our company?" tell them what you can do for them.

Based on what you know about your prospects and customers, you could use words and phrases that explain how they can benefit.

Think of how you could customize these to fit in with what you sell and what you could do for them.

For example, you could say,

"Ms. Prospect we help companies to . . . "

...cut the costs of...

...control the costs of...

...pay less for...

...increase the amount of ____ they get, for the same price they're paying now.

...reduce spending on...

Example
From How to Win the Sale

Good example of an opening statement using facts, a benefit and a question to get the prosepct involved in the conversation -

"Good morning, Mrs. Prospect, this is John Sellalot from GoodHomes Realty.

"We specialize in finding buyers for homes with 30 days of the listing date.

"The reason for my call today is: last month your next-door neighbor's home sold for $10,000 above the appraised value.

"This would be a perfect time for you to get a complimentary personalized home evaluation report.  Shall I prepare one for you?"

Bad question #2

"What do you like best about your current supplier?"

Causes the prospect to sell himself on his current supplier. Does you no good. The conversation stops right there.

Bad question #3

When calling a current customer:

"I’m just calling to check on your supplies. Do you need anything today?"

The tendency is to answer "no."

You will get better results when you ask a specific question.

Example:

When you order a hamburger at McDonald's, they don't ask "Do you want anything else?"

Instead, they ask a specific question related to what you have purchased:

"Would you like fries with that?"

So, instead of saying:

"I’m just calling to check on your supplies. Do you need anything today?"

You will get better results by being specific.  A better question would be:

"Ms. Prospect, in reviewing your files I see that you purchased the XYZ toner for your Canon copier last January, and since you usually order every three months, I was afraid you might have run out of the toner. Shall I send you a case today?"

You will find more questions to ask in Chapter two in the book