Ask A Stupid Question...
Try this exercise – ask your sales team to send you the best 5 questions that are working for them now. If you like their questions better than the ones below, delete this blog.
Why now in particular? Top advisors delete sales reps with stupid or same old question.
With a wild market and high consumer confidence, advisors are under more scrutiny from clients–especially as year-end statements arrive. So, the questioning game in general has been kicked up a notch.
Questions that make advisors think strategically about their business (vs. a product) get you back in the door.
Criteria for great wholesaler questioning skills:
- Help advisors manage change.
- Prompt advisors to think about something that hasn’t occurred to them.
- Trigger emotions– Get advisors to specify what will make them happy, proud, successful, energized, more comfortable, relaxed…
Paul Cherry is a favorite of mine as a sales guru. He has been testing questions that work right now in this environment. I’ve translated these a bit for the advisor population.
Ask your more coachable wholesalers to try this sequence. The words matter as much as the delivery.
- What do you foresee will be different this year versus last year in your practice?
- What’s driving these changes?
- What would make you happy to be able to say about your practice on December 31st 2015?
- What steps will you need to take between now and then to make that happen?
- What might get in the way of making that happen?
- What would it mean to you if you were successful in making it happen?
- So if I understand what you are saying (restate what you think you heard) and pause for clarification…
- What kind of help would be important to you in getting this done / moving forward?
- What have I missed?
Money back guarantee if they don’t move the sale / relationship forward