If You’re Not Listening, Why Bother Asking?
If you’ve ever heard me teach sales, you’ve probably heard me say this approximately 4,732 times:
Questions are the key to selling.
Want to have better sales conversations? Ask better questions.
Want to understand what your prospect really needs? Ask better questions.
Want to stop sounding like every other salesperson who shows up and immediately throws up a 47-slide PowerPoint presentation?
ASK. BETTER. QUESTIONS.
But there’s a catch.
You can ask the greatest questions in the history of selling, but if you don’t ACTIVELY listen to the answers, you may as well not bother asking them.
And I mean REALLY listen.
There’s a big difference between listening and waiting for your turn to talk.
You know what I’m talking about.
You ask:
“What’s your biggest challenge right now?”
The prospect starts answering, and 11 seconds later your brain is already saying:
Excellent! I know exactly what to tell them!
So you stop listening.
Or you’re looking at your list thinking:
Okay…question #6 is next.
Forget question #6!
Your prospect just told you something important!
Follow the conversation.
Suppose your prospect says:
“We’re pretty happy with our current provider, but their customer service has been frustrating lately.”
The mediocre salesperson hears:
“We’re pretty happy.”
And gives up.
The overly aggressive salesperson hears:
“Customer service!”
And immediately starts pitching.
The great salesperson hears the whole answer and says:
“I’m just curious…what about their customer service has been frustrating.”
And then SHUTS UP.
That last part is important.
Sometimes the most powerful sales technique in the world is…
SHUTTING UP.
Active listening means being present enough to hear not only what the prospect says, but what they mean.
Listen for emotion.
Listen for frustration.
Listen for hesitation.
Listen for the words they repeat.
Listen to their tone of voice.
And then dig deeper.
“What do you mean by that?”
“How long has that been happening?”
“How is that affecting you?”
“What have you tried?”
“What would you like to see happen instead?”
And one of my favorites:
“Tell me more about that.”
Your next great question is often hiding inside the answer to your previous question.
That’s why sales conversations shouldn’t feel like interrogations. You’re not a TV detective.
You don’t need to work your way through 27 predetermined questions.
Have a conversation.
Be curious.
Listen.
Ask a follow-up question.
And then listen some more.
Because here’s something salespeople sometimes forget:
If you ask the right questions and listen actively to the answers, your prospects will tell you exactly how to sell to them…if you’ll just listen.
They’ll tell you what’s bothering them.
They’ll tell you what they want.
They’ll tell you what’s important.
They’ll tell you why they might change.
They’ll even tell you what could prevent them from buying.
But you can’t hear any of that while you’re busy thinking about what you want to say next.
So yes…
Questions are the key to selling.
But asking the question is only half the job.
Listening to the answer is what unlocks the door.
And if you’re not going to listen to the answer?
Save your breath.
Don’t bother asking the question.