What Keeps Me Up at Night? None of Your Business!

Asking the right questions—and listening—can lead you to successful outcomes.

Sales professionals—not you, of course—are known for asking poor questions, questions that are not only embarrassing, but also rude. And I would be remiss if I didn’t add: Questions that make them appear desperate and pressing for a sale.

The dumbest question in sales, by far, is “What will it take to get your business?” It makes you a price-seller rather than a value-provider, and it makes you look like you “need” the sale rather than want to earn it and grow a relationship.

The second-dumbest? It’s “What keeps you up at night?” Are you kidding me? None of your business, that’s what! You’re at the beginning of a sales call, trying to build positive rapport and earn some trust, and you ask me that? Why not ask your prospects a question that relates to their real life and present situation, that’s potentially more revealing than a Miss America question? That question: What wakes you up in the morning?

It’s a positive question that, when asked with a smile, will get you real answers and reveal real truths. It’s light-hearted, but powerful. Follow it with “What else?” or “Then what?” and you create a dialog that is totally customer-focused—thereby achieving the goal of your interaction.

Below are some possible answers. But first, think of all these in terms of yourself. What wakes YOU up? It reveals your top-of-mind thoughts, issues, concerns, goals, problems, and attitudes toward them. Direct them at your prospect and listen to the eye-popping, ear de-waxing, and self-qualifying answers.

You ask, “What wakes you up in the morning?” They answer:

• Light of day. Easy answer. Leads to, “Then what?”

• Alarm clock. Too easy, but it still leads to, “Then what?”

• Kids. Great answer! Leads to all kinds of mutual discussion points and common interests if you also have them.

• Relationships. A bit touchy. Let the prospect lead.

• Coffee—shower—exercise—the news. These subjects can provide superficial answers that might reveal things in common.

• The day and things to be done. People will make their day more important than your day. And you’ll feel it when they chatter and complain about “having so much to do.”

Now take it deeper. “Then what?” gets them to the next phase of their reality. It started out light; now it gets to some real issues.

• Money, or the lack of it. Think of this one in terms of yourself. Go lightly, but it’s very revealing.

• Health issues. If they have a physical ailment or some medical condition, it may impact their attention span or decision-making.

• Physical pain. It can affect concentration and attention span.

• Energy/positive anticipation. This is GREAT. An enthusiastic person can connect with your compelling presentation and catch your positive feelings.

• All the stuff he or she is excited about. These are golden issues that need to be embellished and compared to what it will be like when your stuff gets its chance.

• Big issues. IRS, business failure, damaged reputation, lawsuits. Note: A pending merger or pending big order could be a positive light.

• Personal issues. Family and relationship issues can have a real impact [either way] on your meeting outcome—pending marriage or pending divorce?

• Career issues. Work, boss, sales, people and events can have huge implications on the need to do something today.

• Nagging issues [worries]. These are elements that slow down the actions a business is willing to take. If you know what they are, you’ll be less likely to be impatient, and more likely to create a winning plan to make the sale.

• Unfinished issues. Stuff undone. “Wait until after…” are defeating words to sales pros. But if you know what they are, you can get a better sense of “when?”

• Projects underway. Most people are limited in the amount of work they can take on. When your customer dwells on that, you can expect postponement. Make sure you nail down an expected completion date.

• Deadlines. If it’s close, you’re toast. Best thing you can do is offer assistance.

• If the prospect or customer answers: The reality of it: get my rear in gear. This doesn’t address any issues, and is really skirting the question. You might ask “for what?”

Hint: Don’t overdo the process. Ask a few questions, gain a few answers, and then move on. As a result, you have some new information, maybe some common interests, a few smiles, and certainly a thinking prospect.

If you don’t put prospects on the defensive, their responses will lead you down the right path—the business-relationship and mutual-respect path.

Return to Ingram's September 2012

Jeffrey Gitomer is author of The Little Red Book of Selling and The Little Red Book of Sales Answers.
P     | 704.333.1112
E     | salesman@gitomer.com