Do this and beat 99% of other salespeople
The most successful salespeople have mastered one skill that separates them from the competition: they know how to make people talk. Not just any talk - strategic conversation that reveals buying triggers, pain points, and decision-making criteria.
"Questions are to sales as breath is to life," says Jeffrey Gitomer. "If you ask them incorrectly, you will die; if you ask them correctly, the answer will be a sale."
After training sales teams across Africa, UAE, and The UK I've observed a common pattern:
average salespeople talk 80% of the time and listen 20%. Top performers flip this ratio completely.
Tony Robbins teaches that the quality of questions you ask yourself determines the quality of life you live. Similarly, the quality of questions you ask your clients determines your sales results, success and growth.
Here's the truth most salespeople miss: Your job isn't to vomit information - it's conversational.
When customers talk, they reveal their pain points through both speech and body language.
These revelations become your roadmap or GPS to serving them with the right solution.
The 3-Step Question Strategy:
Step 1: Build Rapport Dr. Milton Erickson said, "Anything is possible in the presence of good rapport." Use matching and mirroring techniques to create a sense of oneness that encourages honest communication.
Step 2: Open-Ended Exploration Start with casual topics - weather, work, family. Open-ended questions don't end with yes/no answers. They create space for stories, emotions, and deeper revelations.
Step 3: Strategic Drilling As intimacy builds, ask specific questions about needs, expectations, and decision-making processes. This is where you discover their true buying criteria.
Master questioners understand that selling without asking questions is a Doctor prescribing medication before diagnosis.
You might get lucky occasionally, but you'll cause more damage than healing.
The research is clear: 80% of sales are lost due to poor qualification. When you ask the right questions, you discover:
Whether they can actually afford your solution
Who the real decision-maker is
What their timeline looks like
What objections they might have
How they prefer to buy
Here's your question arsenal for immediate implementation:
Rapport-Building Questions:
"How did you get started in this business?"
"What's the most exciting project you're working on?"
"What brought you to this area?"
Need-Discovery Questions:
"What challenges are you facing with your current solution?"
"If you could wave a magic wand, what would your ideal situation look like?"
"What would need to happen for this to be a perfect fit?"
Qualification Questions:
"If you decide to move forward, what would the decision-making process look like?"
"Who else would be involved in this decision?"
"What's your timeline for implementing a solution?"
Your assignment: Before your next sales conversation, prepare 10 open-ended questions that encourage your prospect to talk about their situation, challenges, and goals.
Remember: People don't buy from people they don't trust. They don't trust people who don't understand their problems. And you can't understand problems you don't ask about.
The most powerful sales tool isn't your presentation slides or product features - it's your ability to ask questions that matter.
Start asking better questions, and watch your sales results transform.
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