Chapter 5: Every Question Counts

Overview

The devil is in the details. You and customers both need to know the specifics of their Goals, Filters, Measurable benefits, and Systems of evaluations (SOEs). The mnemonics (memory aids used to help you remember these four items) for them: Go For Measurable Specifics (GFMS). When you quantify their details, you know exactly what customers are trying to achieve. You also know whether your products achieve those goals.

You use your listening and questioning skills to accomplish this task. Your mastery of these skills is vital because the difference between a successful and a wasted sales call is extremely subtle. Forgetting to ask only one or two questions to quantify a customer's comments can make a large difference. You know you missed a question when you say, "If I had known that, I would have ... (fill in your own blank)" after you lost the sale or disappointed a customer.

Yet, questions are like limited natural resources. You can only ask so many questions before you exceed a customer's grilling threshold. Grilled customers fight back with curt answers such as "Yeah," "Nope," and "Okay." Therefore, make every question count. This chapter shows how to make every one count by explaining:

• How to get customers to consider you an expert because of the questions you ask

• How your active listening and active questioning skills motivate customers to provide measurable answers

• How your customers use three types of answers to share information—and how only one of them counts

• How the four key questioning techniques work to transform vague responses into crystal-clear statements