Our prospective customers are far more likely to want to engage with us if they believe that they are likely to learn something valuable from us. Most sales methodologies stress the importance of asking intelligent questions at the appropriate time and with the relevant context.
But that’s not enough – and focusing on questioning and ignoring or downplaying the other essential elements of effective business conversations can make for a very one-sided and unproductive interaction.
If we are to build meaningful rapport with our prospective customers, as well as asking well-chosen, well-timed and high-impact questions we also need to share stimulating insights, tell relevant stories and come to the conversation well-equipped to answer our prospective customer’s predictable questions…
Sales leaders need to equip and enable their sales people to have intelligent, productive and value-creating conversations that demonstrate business acumen, position themselves as trusted advisors, help to qualify the customer, secure incremental