Just one more question…
One of the easiest mistakes for a presenter to make is to use language that your audience does not understand. Two of the most common ways to do this are using specialized jargon and using sports analogies. However, there is another problem which was brought home to me during today’s presentations class: the use of terms that only your generation understands.
I was telling the group that a good way to keep their presentations concise is to front-load their message by giving the headline and then the key points first, and then adding additional detail as necessary—just as a newspaper article is written. One of the participants said, “What’s a newspaper?” Of course, she said it tongue-in-cheek, but then she added seriously that many of her peers do not read newspapers, and haven’t for a long time. So, my analogy did not have the effect I thought it would have.
Do you believe it’s important to ask questions during a sales call? How many questions do you typically ask? What do you ask about? How does it work for you? Do you see any downsides? Do you think prospects appreciate your questions or do they get tired of them? Do you have questioning fatigue yet?
No one believes more strongly than I do in the power and usefulness of questions during the persuasive process, and those who’ve been through my sales questioning module might think I’ve gone daft when I say this, but I also believe it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Asking too many questions can limit the transfer of information and the productivity of the conversation, and foster a defensive and even adversarial atmosphere.
Questions are not an end in themselves; they are a means to an end. Besides extracting information, the ultimate purpose of questions in a sales call (or any persuasive attempt) is to lead the prospect to the conclusion that they need your solution. You do this by guiding the conversation towards gaps in their current situation, exposing the costs of not taking action, and jointly agreeing on an approach. Think of the conversation as a dance, in which you guide your partner; it’s not a wrestling match in which you are trying to impose your will on them.
To mix in another metaphor, asking too many questions during a persuasive conversation is like stepping on the brakes and making a large turn of the steering wheel any time you want to turn the conversation. As with a car, when it’s rolling in the right direction, a slight pressure on the wheel will nudge it back on course without losing momentum. These slight nudges often take the form of simple open-ended statements and brief probes rather than elaborate open-ended questions.
When the conversation turns into a question and answer session, it can limit the productivity of the conversation because the client may turn passive—like a sulky teenager they will simply give you what you ask for (if that) and nothing more. So, unless you ask exactly the right questions you’re going to leave a lot at the table.
How to use “non-questions” to guide the conversation
There is nothing wrong with preparing an extensive questions list before a call, but don’t get so attached to your questions that you have to ask every one as written. Sometimes a very good first question will get the prospect talking and then you can move the conversation along from there. Your open and closed prepared questions are two indispensable tools in your persuasive toolkit, but they’ll work even better when you add these others:
Begin with a value proposition and agenda. Some of the most productive and profitable sales calls I’ve ever been on involved the customer talking for most of the call with very few questions from me. They gave me the information I needed and more importantly said the things aloud that convinced them they needed my solution. The best way to make this happen is by making it clear to them up front what you hope to accomplish from the meeting—for their benefit—and how you will proceed. The value proposition lets them know they may have a problem/opportunity and you have a solution, and the agenda describes a logical topic flow that will get them there.
Another useful tool is a brief “pre-summary” of what you know about their situation, which you can use to prime the pump and let them add or correct as necessary. You might say, “In order to save you time, would it be OK to give you a brief summary of what I’ve learned about your situation and let you add to it as necessary?”
You can also have a nice change of pace by using open-ended statements instead of questions. Instead of asking the question directly, say “I wonder how it would help if you could…”, “I’m curious about…”
A variation of the open-ended statement is a polite command. “Tell me about your…”
There is an entire set of tools under the rubric of reflective listening[1] that comprise a low-key way of guiding the conversation, including:
- Subtle prompts: “uh-huh, hmm, repeating key words”
- Paraphrasing: Give them back a brief summary of what you heard to allow for correction or addition and indicate that you’relistening.
- Emotional reflection: ”You seem concerned about…”, “That has to be exciting…”
- Hypothesis testing: “What I hear you saying is…”, “It seems to me that…”
Simple silence works surprisingly well. Often the best part of an answer is what the client says after their initial answer. When you have an extensive question list you’ll be tempted to note the answer and go on to the next question. But if you leave room at the end of the answer, even just a second or two of silence, you may be surprised what else comes out.
Of course, it’s also possible to overdo the non- questions. Ideally, you want to mix things up so the conversation stays fresh.
Changing something as fundamental as your conversational style is hard, so just try to be conscious of using variety in the ways you gain information and guide the conversation. I wonder what a difference it would make in your next sales call…
[1] Experts in motivational interviewing, which is a process that clinical psychologists use to guide clients to their own conclusions, typically use a 2:1 ratio of reflective statements to questions.
One of my absolutely favorite books on communications is Just Listen, by Mark Goulston. Dr. G has graciously consented to be my first guest poster on Practical Eloquence. As you read this, think about what would be the effect on your business if you listened to your customers and your people like this?
by Mark Goulston, M.D.
Q: What do you do when your modem is overloaded and cannot conduct data between your computer and the Internet?
A: Disconnect it, power it down, rest it, reconnect it, boot it up.
What if most of your people are like overloaded modems? What if they just don’t have any available bandwidth to implement much less even hear and fully consider what you’re telling them? And what if the analogy is all too true?
If it’s your people and you see the futility of pushing any more information at them, you might give them a day off or on their own they might take a long weekend, go exercise, catch a movie, or take a break in some fashion. That can certainly help.
But what if what’s overloading them is being talked at, demanded of and dictated to by you, their managers, their spouses, their teenagers, their aging parents? That means that when they come back from their break, the pressure on them will quickly build up and what’s more, they may have to deal with what has built up during the time they were away.
If that’s the case, maybe what they need more than a physical break from having to listen to everyone who is demanding something from them is to be listened to.
Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to be fair
Have you ever been treated unfairly? How did it make you feel?
In a previous article, I wrote about how important it is to think about status when trying to lead or persuade others. People are very sensitive to threats to their status, and they definitely do not want to feel taken advantage of. In this article I examine how important fairness is to leadership, negotiations, and even presentations. More importantly, we will look at ways to exercise our fairness capability.
In almost any human interaction that involves trying to influence or persuade, fairness is a tremendously important factor. It’s a cornerstone of leadership, because it’s one of the most important ingredients in trust. We know from common sense that leaders who are seen to be fair will be more effective, but let’s look also at the research. A 2007 paper studied the literature and found numerous studies linking fairness to more effective leadership, including greater trust in the leader, enhanced job satisfaction, and greater commitment to the organization.
