How to Ask More Questions to Sell More Prospects

Do you know the worst opening you can make when talking to a new prospect? It would sound something like this: "Welcome to XYZ Realty. We've been here for fifty years."

When you begin like this, you have sabotaged your own sale, set yourself up to be lied to, and have no idea if the prospect is interested in what you have to say. Too many salespeople do this. They go see a prospect and immediately start talking about their services and what they think the prospect needs. You should never assume you know the prospect's wants and needs. People buy for their reasons, not yours. Find out their reasons before you start selling.

The person asking the questions is the person in control. So, you should ask questions at the beginning and then listen. The prospects will give you

information you can use later to sell them.

The more prospects talk the more they think they are in control and safe. They remove their own self-imposed barriers by talking. By asking questions, you have a sharing atmosphere rather than a selling one. When questions are correctly used, the prospect does not feel grilled by the salesperson; the prospect feels he is being taken care of by a friend, a consultant.

1) Find the prospect's hot button and/or problem

2) Uncover or eliminate objections up-front before you start your

presentation

3) Get the prospect to say he wants what you have before you tell him what you have

 

By finding this, you are able to know which way to slant your presentation to

hit the prospect's hot button and which benefits of your property will fill

his need. Eighty percent of your presentation should be geared toward the

prospect's main buying motive. When you do this, the prospects are easy to

close because you have raised their desire high enough that they want to buy

from you. You have found and filled their needs. Also, since 80% of the

reason people buy is emotional, you must get them excited enough in order to

make it easy to close. The hot button is the "end result" of what the

prospect wants.

Ask questions and then listen to the answers and then jot down the prospect's

key words to use later when you close the sale. These are the words that the

prospect relates to and words that define his needs. When you use them, the

prospect will relate better to you and trust you more.

For example:

Realtor: "What are you looking for in a new home?"

Prospect: "I need at least four bedrooms. Also, I like high ceilings in my

living room, with lots of windows that let in a lot of light. I must have ample closet space and I need to be close to a school so my kids can walk."

Later, when you close, you say:

"This home is great for you. It has four large bedrooms with walk-in closets with ample room. Also, the living room has high ceilings with five floor to ceiling windows that let in a lot of light. The school is only 7 blocks away so your children can easily walk. It's perfect, isn't it?"

2) Uncover or eliminate the objections up-front before you start your presentation

By doing this, when you close, the prospect can't lie to you with false

objections. Since he has already committed to his earlier answers, if he

tries to lie now he would have to reverse what he already said. Since

salespeople hear the same objections over and over and know what they will be, it is insane not to handle them up-front before your presentation. Otherwise, the prospect will just use one objection after another to stall and you will leave without an order.

Here are some examples of questions you can ask the prospect before you start your presentation which will eliminate an objection. Just mix them into your "hot button" questions while doing your consultant sell.

A. OBJECTION: "I need a larger/smaller house."

QUESTION THAT WILL ELIMINATE IT UP FRONT:

"Can you tell me exactly what you're looking for?"

B. OBJECTION: "The price is too high."

QUESTION THAT WILL ELIMINATE IT UP FRONT:

"What's more important to you, quality or price?"

C. OBJECTION: "I don't have good credit."

QUESTION THAT WILL ELIMINATE IT UP FRONT:

"If you made an offer, Do you think you would qualify for a loan?"

D. OBJECTION: "I'll think about it."

QUESTION THAT WILL ELIMINATE IT UP FRONT:

"If you like the houses I show you today, could you make a decision whether to make an offer?"

 

Get the prospect to say he wants what you have before you tell him what you have

If you've done this, when you show your properties or the benefits of listing

with your company, he can't lie and say he doesn't want to use you. So, get

them to commit that they need all the benefits you are going to present before

you present them.

To do this you ask questions before you start your presentation such as:

• Describe your perfect home.

• What do you expect to happen when you list with me?

• What is the biggest problem you currently face?

• What other problems do you have with that?

Write down any answers the prospect gives you that fit the benefits of your

company so when you give your presentation, you are not pushing the prospect into what he doesn't want. You are instead simply giving him what he already said he wanted.

Listening to the prospect gives you the ammunition you need to sell him. It

also shows that you care about his problem. People are starving to find

someone to talk to about their problems. Of course, they also want people who can help solve these problems.

Don't spend time talking about the benefits of your company that the prospect

is not interested in. If you sell to the prospect's priorities, then you will

have his attention and raise his desire to buy. You must be in control to

sell - not let the prospect control you. The key is knowing how to question.

Learn proper questioning and you can easily double your sales.