The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible pdfdrive com

Begin with a Well-Structured Question
When you finally get face-to-face with a new prospect, introduce yourself,
shake hands, sit down, and begin by asking a well-structured question. This is
often an interesting or unusual question aimed at the benefit of what you are
selling.
Questions are powerful, because each person is conditioned from childhood to
answer questions when they are asked. If you ask a person what time it is, before
he can think of anything else, he will look at his watch and tell you the time.
People respond automatically to questions.
This is why we say in selling that “the person who asks questions has
control.” The person who is asking the questions controls the person who is
answering. The very fastest way to take control over any conversation is to pause
and ask a question. Until the other person has answered your question, he will be
totally focused on what he is saying.

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When you ask the prospect, “May I ask you a question?” he will almost
always say yes. You will then be in complete control.
Continue Asking Questions; Good Questions Trigger Good Responses
When you ask the prospect, “Would you like to see a proven method to
increase your sales by 20 to 30 percent per year?” the prospect cannot say
anything else until he has answered the question. The questioner is in control.
In all my years of opening a call with a prospect using this question, I have
only had one person who has said, “No, I’m not interested.” And the reason he
wasn’t interested was that the receivers in his bankruptcy had just come in and
closed the company down. He said on the phone, “It’s too late for us; I wish you
had called me six months ago.”
But every other sales manager to whom I have asked that question has said,
“Yes. What is it? When would you like to come in and talk?” Your question
should trigger this response as well.
The second step in this method of getting face-to-face appointments is to be
courteous and say, “I would just need about ten minutes of your time to show
you what I’ve got, and you can judge for yourself.”
The essential point to convey is “you be the judge.” This assures the prospect
that the meeting will be brief, he will be under no pressure, and you have
something important and relevant to share with him.

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