by Mike Brunel | Oct 31, 2022 | Strategy
In our blog last week, we talked about keeping the client talking and asking questions that opened up a conversation.
Are you Asking Open-Ended Questions?
One way to do this is to ask open-ended questions. What are open-ended questions?
Definition: Open-ended questions are ones that require more than one-word answers. The answers could come in a list, a few sentences, a clarification, or more information about a need.
Asking questions that require more than a Yes or No Answer. Here are some open-ended questions: Ask these this way and see what happens.
Q: What do you expect from your salesperson?
Q: When they answer, ask them to be more specific. Q: Or ask this question.
Q: If you could describe what you wanted, how would you do that?
Q: How did you go about purchasing your last product like this one?
Q: What is the matter with the current product you have?
Q: Can you tell me what you are specifically looking for?
Q: Do you like red, pink, or blue in that product?
Q: Would you like it delivered to you on Monday or Thursday?
Q: Why do you like that pink colour?
Every question here requires more than a No or a Yes. This is why open-ended questions require lengthier responses than close-ended questions. They also allow you to move away from a simple price negotiation.
If you can train yourself to ask more questions and your client is talking, it gives you time to look for clues. Clues are problems; problems require a solution.
Next week we look at some great advice on practice.
Have a great week selling your stuff.
Mike
Have a great week, and talk soon.
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
1. Join my free Facebook group
My favourite thing is to show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Please make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future templates.
3. Work with me one-on-one.
If you want to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested, email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business, and I’ll get you all the details.
by Mike Brunel | Oct 21, 2022 | Sales
How do you coach your salespeople to have fun selling?
People can learn to ask open-ended questions. I do a great exercise with salespeople called “What’s in my pocket?” One of my best staff members, Stephen Pead, taught it to me.
You secretly put something unusual in your pocket during a training session. Be careful not to choose objects that are too easy to guess, like keys or a handkerchief. Instead, pocket something slightly out of the ordinary, like a wedding ring or a bottle top.
What’s an Open Question?
The setup clearly explains the difference between open and closed questions. Available questions invite discussion, while closed questions usually elicit a “no” answer.
The team is instructed to ask ten closed questions first to identify what’s in your pocket. You can only answer “yes” or “no” as a trainer. The team never guesses it this way.
Open questions are the next part of the exercise. Have the trainees ask ten available questions to ascertain the treasure you have hidden away.
What’s a Closed Question?
An example of a closed question might be, “What do you have in your pocket? Is it useful?”
The answer is either “Yes, it is useful” or “No, it is not useful.” That response doesn’t get you a lot of information.
An open question might be, “What can you do with the object?”
You can answer these questions any way you like. The salespeople usually get it right within five or six questions.
The answer to this type of question will give you more to go on. Just switching up a few words makes all the difference. Constructing good questions pays off, but people are reluctant to take the time to develop them.
Asking open questions might make some folks feel stupid, weak, or uncertain. My challenge to any salesperson is to assume leadership by asking the right questions.
Model it for your staff. Take the time to train your sales team. Your team must understand that the client is not always ready to buy.
Sometimes you have to have a conversation to get them alongside. Salespeople need to know—and practice— the difference between open and closed questions long before the customer walks in the door.
For more content like this, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Have a great week, and talk soon.
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
1. Join my free Facebook group
My favourite thing is to show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Please make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future templates.
3. Work with me one-on-one.
If you want to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested, email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business, and I’ll get you all the details.
by Mike Brunel | Oct 17, 2022 | Strategy, Uncategorized
Keep your clients talking
The Right Questions
Over the last two weeks, the theme of my blogs has been questioned. The ones we ask ourselves and the ones we ask others.
Many people struggle with sales because they think selling means using the tricks and techniques that slick salespeople use.
However, we make little progress until we figure out what the client is thinking.
This was certainly true in my business. Once we stopped selling our stuff upfront, things got a lot easier. We had to work hard to construct the right questions to ask, but the process flowed after that.
Keep ’Em Talking
If you want to discuss with someone about a service you offer or a product you sell, isn’t it better to ask questions that keep the exchange flowing? Wouldn’t you agree?
Questions change the progression of a sale. They move it forward to a conclusion. One of my mentors, Brian Duffy, used to drum it into me repeatedly. “If the client is talking, the sale is moving forward,” he’d say. “If you don’t shut up, it isn’t!”
How do you ask the right questions?
In my book, I explain the difference between “Can I help you” and “Open them up for a discussion” questions. Some people refer to them as closed-ended and open-ended questions. By analysing the distinction, you will see why you might lose clients.
“Can I Help You” or Closed-Ended Questions
Definition: If you can answer a question with only a “yes” or “no” response, you are answering a close-ended type of
question. Examples of close-ended questions are:
• Can I help you?
• Is that your final answer?
• Should I call her and sort things out?
• Can I help you with that?
• Would you like to go to the movies tonight?
• Is science your favourite subject?
• Are you interested?
• Are you happy with your purchase options?
• Are you just looking?
• Hi.
• Just let me know if you need anything.
Unfortunately, these questions often shut down the conversation. There are exceptions, but closed-ended questions don’t allow you to uncover your customer’s concerns.
In my next blog, I will talk about Open-ended questions designed to open up the conversation. and allow you to find out your client’s problems much faster.
Have a great week, and talk soon.
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
1. Join my free Facebook group
My favourite thing is to show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future templates.
3. Work with me one-on-one.
If you want to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested, email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business, and I’ll get you all the details.
by Mike Brunel | Oct 10, 2022 | Leadership
This week I want to share a story about a father and son and the importance of having an open mind.*
The Newspaper story
A man is busy working at home when his young 5-year-old child comes into his study, and with the enthusiasm that children have in abundance, he asks his Dad if they can go to the park.
In the middle of his work, the dad tries to resist his son’s requests, but the child persists, and with frustration, the Dad looks around him, lifts a newspaper, and opens it up to a double-page picture of a map of the world.
A Map with a secret
He then pulls out the map, tears it up into handfuls of small pieces and gives them to his son.
He then says, “after you put together this map of the world, then we will go to the park.” his son took the pieces of the newspaper in both hands and scurried eagerly over to the other side of the room, starting on his task without delay. The Dad knew that his son had no idea what a map of the world looked like, and he returned to his work thinking it would take him ages.
Five minutes later, his son ran across to his Dad, “I finished he said, can we go to the park now.”
It was Easy
The Dad thought his son was making it up, but on the floor was the finished makeshift world map jigsaw.
“How did you finish this so quickly?” he asked his son
“It was easy, Daddy, ” said the boy as he turned over the jigsaw pieces one at a time, and on the other side of the world map was a man’s photograph.
“You see, the whole world falls into place when you put the man back together.”
*The story’s moral is how you look at things.
You see what you want to see; sometimes, you have to open up (Growth Mindset).
I have to challenge myself daily to start thinking differently about this sales profession.
Have a great time selling your stuff.
*Chicken Soup for the Soul- Jack Canfield- Mark Victor Hansen
Mike
PS. Why not open your mind and take the 7 Day challenge?
by Mike Brunel | Oct 3, 2022 | Sales, Strategy
Photo – Austin Kleon- Steal like an Artist
“Are Sales contingent upon the attitude of the salesperson? Or the attitude of the prospect”
I get to hear good stories from all over the world about how salespeople make a difference in people’s lives.
In many situations, businesses worldwide are feeling (according to them) the pressure of not getting their numbers, the market is tough, it is not like it used to be, people are simply not buying like they used to, and the excuses seem to go on and on.
I want to debunk that; it simply is not true. I know that if you offer value and are committed to your customers, they will buy from you.
Money is still there.
The truth is that the money is always there, it may be less for some, but it is always there; it just moves around. It might move from your business to another, but the facts are that retail revenue is up in countries like NZ and Australia.
It might move from your business to another, but the facts are that retail revenue is up in countries like NZ and Australia.
The thing is that businesses have to do things differently; they need to think about how their clients are purchasing their products.
I can guarantee that in most homes these days, television and other media are not the main sources of entertainment or information.
The internet has become a big part of our lives.
Clients do research your product along with your competitors before they even venture into your store or place of business.
Information is Power.
Many business owners I have worked with worldwide have come to terms with a changing market.
The ones I notice that are doing well train their staff regularly, keep them up to date with all the new products or services, and help them make the decisions; this is usually done at least once a week.
In any business, product knowledge is based upon attitude; what happens if you visit a store and a staff member does not know their product?
You lose confidence, unsure if they are to be trusted, and you might retreat and go off to someone else.
Want a secret to more Sales?
Product knowledge and information about a product have an invisible benefit. It gives the salesperson the “right attitude” it rubs off. They get confident, and the clients feel that confidence.
Try these simple exercises that work.
Here are two exercises you can do in your business to get your team to buy into product knowledge training.
- POP QUIZ- write up 10 benefits of your most popular products, and list what you think is the #1 benefit for the customer if they buy this product.
- TEST ONE ON ONE, OR IN A TEAM MEETING – Give each of your staff a test on every one of those products. You can do it in written form or as part of their one-on-one meeting.
These simple tests can give your business a foot up, and you might get an extra share of the money.
Have a great day selling your stuff.
Mike
PLUS: WHENEVER YOU’RE READY…
Here are 4 ways I can help you make more sales in your business – whether your business is big or small.
1. Want to become a Sales Mindset Blueprint Member? You get access to an exclusive coaching session with me and full access to my sales programme every month. Get the deets here.
2. Try the new ‘7 Days to Sales Success’ framework. Make more sales in 7 days. The framework of everything you need to start making more sales in your business. The Sales Success Framework is based on a simple 7-day challenge. Click here to find out how you can grow your business by making more sales.
3. Join our private Facebook group – The Sales Mindset Inner Circle. Get all the latest up-to-date sales ideas. Every week we do Facebook Live updates on all things sales. Tips, ideas, free coaching, and much more. Join me by clicking here
4. Work with me one-on-one. If you’re a business owner, small or large or in professional services, you might just be a few strategies, tactics and tools away from doubling your lead flow, revenue and impact. Jump on a FREE 15-minute brainstorm call with me by clicking here.
Good Selling
“Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesperson, not the attitude of the prospect” –William Clement Stone.
