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We all know the typical movie depiction of a psychiatrist. This is someone who lets the patient do all the talking with an occasional "How do you feel about that" thrown in. Usually it’s the patient who comes up with the solution to his own problem. Real life psychiatry is a lot like that. And so is real life sales. People are not convinced to take action unless they do it themselves. In sales, the super salesperson knows that the person asking the questions is the one in control. It’s not the person doing the talking. That’s why you often see new salespeople doing all the talking and old pros doing all the listening. The art is in directing the questions so the prospect is led to the answer you want. Ask a few general questions up-front to get a rough idea of what your prospect needs. Then refine the questioning so that the obvious answer is the one favoring what you feel would be the best choice for the prospect. When you are showing homes to a young couple, you might ask some questions to get a feel for how long they expect to spend in this home, if they are planning on having children, do they socialize a lot, etc. You determine that this is a starter home for them and they plan on having a baby and moving to a larger home in a couple of years. You have a property that is larger than they need now but would have significantly better resale value than a smaller home. It is a bit out of their budget range but they could handle it if they felt is was a good idea. If you just drive them over to this house, they will tell you that it is too big and too expensive. They already have an image of what they want and you haven’t done anything to change that image before you show the house. Instead, if you were to ask them if they wanted to be able to realize a larger profit in two years, have more money to put down on their next house, and not have to move the baby, they would certainly answer that they would. Now, you can talk about the larger house that is so well priced for it’s size that it is only a little above what they expected to pay. After they make the mental analysis of return on investment, they will feel that they should buy a larger house, congratulate themselves on being so financially savvy, and ask you to take them to see it. A good way of showing how to ask questions to direct the prospect to your answer is seen in this example from Health Club sales. The salesperson knows the prospects usually stall making a decision by giving false objections, such as: it’s the wrong location, she has no time, or she has to ask her spouse, etc. So, before the presentation, he asks: • "Did you chose this location because you live close or work close? (answer: Oh, only 5 minutes away.) So location is no problem." • "Do you have 30 minutes, 3 times per week to lose that 20 pounds and firm your hips and stomach to look good at your High School reunion?" • "What would your spouse like to see you achieve? (prospect answers). Great! So your spouse supports you? (prospect – yes ). When it comes to your own body, are you allowed to make your own decisions?" (prospect-yes). By answering these questions, the prospect is led to the conclusion that she needs to join this club right now. And she feel that it was her idea to join. Even if she went into the club armed with all those objections, she leaves a member and happy about it. If the salesperson had waited until after the objection came out, he would have been arguing with the prospect and forcing her into a defensive position. Once the prospect feels they have to defend their opinions, they are much less likely to change their mind. If they think it’s their idea to change their mind, they will do it easily and thank you. Learn how to be a sales psychiatrist and watch your sales boom. |
