What Is the Real Question Behind How Do You Sell More?
Asking the right question starts the sales process and helps to achieve this goal of How do you sell more? Yet far too many sales people focus on asking the incorrect questions or asking the same questions that all else has questioned.
Before traveling into the why, one vital word in the first paragraph is “asking” or better yet question. Many people believe they know the meaning of the words. Yet, I have learned this I know that already (IKTA) makes confusion.
Webster’s New World Dictionary indicates the question is an Anglo Saxon word of ascian. Its first definition is
- “to use words in seeking the answer to (a question); inquire about. The first intent of this word is further understanding of an unfilled question.”
What this suggests if you do not know the unfilled question, you will have distress asking. How many era in the buying/selling process do sales professionals fail to do their research (reckon homework)? This keeps them from being able to seek the real answers from their potential customers (a.k.a. prospects).
Now returning to the question at hand, “How do you sell more?” What would happen if you questioned yourself this question “How can I help my customers buy more?” Does restating this query provide a uncommon perspective? Would your behaviors be a small to dramatically uncommon?
Years ago, there was a small small book called the QBQ! The Question Behind the Question by John G. Miller. Even though this book addressed personal accountability, the instigator presents three (3) guidelines to better know the question behind the question.
The first guideline is to commence with the word What or How. Questions starting with Why, When and Who fail because the focus is on someone else or something else and not on you, your decisions or your behaviors. After all to achieve the goal to increase sales starts with you, the decisions you make and the behaviors you demonstrate. How many era have we heard “When is the economy going to get better?” or similar such statements as the reason for not selling more?
Next, remove any of these words, they, them, we or you. Your QBQ needs to have the letter I. Are you commencement to see a pattern here? For sales is all about personal accountability, doing what you need to do to get to where you want to be. So what does personal accountability mean? The definition I use is from Innermetrix Attribute Index and it is:
“The ability to be responsible for the consequences of one’s own decisions and actions; taking responsibility for these decisions, and not shifting focus for hold responsible or poor performance somewhere else or on others. This derives from an internal responsibility to one’s self to be accountable and this internal willingness to own up will tend to be exhibited outside in one one’s actions.”
Personal accountability is frankly connected to your choice making process and starts from the surrounded by. If the goal is to how to sell more, personal accountability is a certain talent. How many era have you heard sales people hold responsible the customer, the competition even their own organization before they look at their own actions? Sales Coaching Tip: What I have learned is many engaged in selling do not have a strong talent or strength when it comes to personal accountability.
Finally, the third step is to focus on action. Until action is taken, no change happens. Of course as Alan Deutschman in his book Change or Die revealed that only 1 out of 10 people will change. This statistic is confirmed by ongoing sales research that suggests over 50% of all sales leads are left hanging on the vine and 10-20% of all sales people earn 90-80% of the sales. There is a lot of failed personal accountability within this profession.
Another book that I truly delight in is the Questions that Sell by Paul Cherry. He provides a very simple process to go the “how two sell” more along.
Spin Selling Fieldbook is another fantastic resource to help any sales professional sell more. The vignettes that Rackham provides are real examples to help apply the practical advice he offers.
There are many other books that help sales professionals learn to make better asking questions when engaging with their potential customers (a.k.a. qualified prospects). And if you do not like books, you can peruse blogs such as this one to the numerous websites devoted to “how to sell more.” Bottom line is when salespersons learn to question better questions of themselves then they will grasp their goals be it to increase sales, hear more referrals or just getting more clients.