We can definitely say that the foundation for the modern salesperson lies, consciously or not, with the Greek philosopher Socrates, who lived 2400 years ago, and focused on asking questions. Although his questions irritated more than a few Athenian citizens when he tried to prevent the suffering of the other and exposed and provoked questions about the nature of the world, there is no doubt that he introduced the world to the art of asking questions.
At RTC Finance organizational consulting, we teach and refine to the level of an art the technique of asking questions in which Socrates was expert. The method came up in several areas, first and foremost, in determining the needs of the person with whom we are speaking, to determine what is painful and disturbing but if we want to introduce this technique by art, another technique must be added that sounds simple but most people are unable to properly apply it – and this technique is known as the Listening technique.
Studies show that almost half of the population is unable of listening without thinking about the next thing we want to say, in other words, while we are speaking with someone else, our brain is in a different place, apparently trying to formulate a response or statement of its own or is bothered how he can deliberate and enter the conversation.
Questions as a sales technique – it is important to understand, ask questions to lead the method. In contrast with popular opinion, a skilled and professional salesperson does not speak about themselves. The opposite is true. The best salespeople will manage to control the conversation by asking the right questions and control the conversation, forcing the other party to respond, and essentially, will speak far less than their customers.,
A misunderstanding is to lay out the solution directly to the consumer. The customer must first be asked several questions. By asking questions, we may succeed in enabling the customer to sell to himself, such as “why did you find the service I am providing suitable for you?” or “Why did you come to us?”
Questions as a technique for handling resistance – The questions here wish to examine what motivates the customer to buy from me. The customer may state that the price is too expensive and requests a solution. We may actually be able to help with the price or payments and resolve the difficulty. In asking questions, we may discover something hidden. He may have seen in our competition something else, something more interesting and it is important that we know about this. Price resistance may be a smokescreen and not the main reason for the customer’s lack of desire to purchase from us. A question can very well be asked that may appear shallow but may provide us with information. “What do you mean when you say that my price is expensive?”. We may be surprised by the answer. It’s worth a shot during your next meeting with the customer, no less important is to combine this with the listening technique.
RTC Finance organizational consulting provides business consultation and solutions for many international companies.a
