"What makes you so good in person?" I asked.

Sharon explained that when she's in a customer's office, it's easy for her to make conversation because she asks questions about the things she sees. For example, there may be a picture of a sailboat, so she asks if her customer likes sailing. Or if there are trophies on the wall, she'll ask about them. And when she sees pictures of the family and kids (or grandchildren), she'll ask how old they are, and where they go to school. 

She also knows that men like to talk about sports, so she reads the sports pages every morning so that she can ask her customer's thoughts about last night's game.

"How long would you ask these types of questions of your customer?" I asked.

Sharon said the she'll spend five, ten, or even fifteen minutes getting to know her customer, as she tries to build a rapport and relationship.

"But what's the purpose of your meeting? Why are you there in the first place?" I asked. 

"I'm there to discuss business." She said.

"Then why do you have so much trouble when you call someone on the phone?" I asked.

Sharon gave me one of those 'I wish I knew' looks, shrugged her shoulders, and slumped in her chair. 

The reasons Sharon isn't having much success on the phone are two-fold:

1.      She doesn't have any props to ask about.

2.      She is asking the wrong types of questions.

When she's sitting with her customer, she's able to use the "props" in the office as topics of conversation:

·         The family photos.

·         The trophies and award certificates.

·         The hobbies or outside interests.

But when she's talking with the same person on the phone, she can't 'see' the props. So she doesn't know what to talk about. Furthermore, what's the real reason for Sharon's meeting with her customers in the first place? To see if they have a need for any of the products/services that she sells.

And after taking with her customer for five, ten, or even fifteen minutes, what has she learned about the customer's business needs? NOTHING!!!

Instead of asking these "fluff" questions, she should be asking business-related questions. Questions that will make her customer think. Questions that will encourage and stimulate conversation. 

Here are some examples:

·         Tell me a bit about your company. What do you do?

·         How long have you been here? What are your duties/responsibilities?

·         What are your company's strategic initiatives?

·         What are your three biggest challenges in growing your business?

·         What are three things that if you could do them better would dramatically improve your business?

·         What are three things that your competitors are doing that you should be doing?

·         Because you aren't doing things the way you would like, 'conservatively' how much money are you NOT making?

As I was explaining this to Sharon, her eyes got real big. She sat up straight in her chair and said, "That's what I've been doing wrong. I've been asking the wrong type of questions. My focus had been on building a relationship based upon personal things, not on building a relationship based upon business issues."

We spent the next few hours working on telephone techniques and how to ask great questions. Since Sharon started asking business-related questions, her productivity on the phone, and in her face-to-face interviews has soared. She's getting many more appointments, and best of all, because she's asking  great questions, she's able to discover if a person is - or isn't - a prospect in just five to 10 minutes. 

Start asking great questions, and you'll close more sales, and make more money.