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Information Versus Ammunition - Are You Asking The Right Questions?

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Will Turner
(Visit Will's Website) As President of Dancing Elephants Achievement Group, Will feels he has the best job in the galaxy. He loves working with salespeople and entrepreneurs to "unblock" themselves and "unlock" their potential. Will is the first to admit that he was a reluctant salesperson for many years. He thought most salespeople had to be pushy, and he just wasn't comfortable in that role. He later discovered that you don't have to act like a typical salesperson to be a great salesperson so he created a company to teach others what he had learned. Will transitioned a twenty year career in sales and sales management into his current position as President of Dancing Elephants. In addition to facilitating and presenting, Will is the author of Impact!, the company's monthly e-newsletter on sales performance. He is also the co-creator of the Sales Magnetism program and the co-author of Six Secrets of Sales Magnets.

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Information Versus Ammunition - Are You Asking The Right Questions?

Research indicates that four out of five salespeople ask the wrong questions when meeting with prospects. The problem is that most salespeople have been taught to ask ammunition questions. These are questions that lead your prospect down a path to “yes” by finding out the buyer’s hot buttons.

The dilemma with ammunition questions is that savvy prospects, and most of them are these days, know what you’re up to. They know that if they share too much information, you’ll use their words as ammunition against them later. Consequently, they are reticent to share concerns with you, because they know that their words will come back to pin them in a corner. Let me give you some examples:
• What do like best about your current vendor? What do you like least?
• Do you think that saving money is important?

Some are even more direct like:
• If I could save you money, would you buy my product?
• Do you know anyone else that could use my services?
• Is there any reason why you won’t do business with my company?

The cold, hard truth is that people don’t like to be sold and they don’t like sales pressure. Instead of asking presumptive or leading questions to be used as ammunition, you should consider changing your approach. The reasons for this are simple. By taking the sales pressure out of the sales process, you will distinguish yourself from your competition and get out of Vendorville. You will also be able to truly engage your prospects and gain a deeper understanding of what’s important to them. By seeking information, not ammunition, you establish credibility and trust which are fundamental for developing long-term relationships.

Let’s do some comparisons:
Ammunition Question: What do you like most about your current vendor?
Information Question: What is critical to your satisfaction with _____ service?

Ammunition Question: What do you like least about your current vendor?
Information Question: Do you currently have areas of concern that are not being handled to your satisfaction?

Ammunition Question: Do you think saving money is important?
Information Question: If you had to make a choice between getting better results or buying a less expensive product, which would you choose?

As you can see, the differences are subtle but important. The proper use of information questions will catapult your sales success. Prospects will open up to you and share vital information because they want to. The bottom-line question you need to answer is “Do I want to be a trusted advisor to my prospects and clients or just another salesperson hawking his or her wares?”





Information Versus Ammunition Are You Asking The Right Questions - To learn more about this author, visit Will Turner's Website.

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David Barr
David Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website

Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

Richard Jefferies
For an online Car Loan Calculator and finance for a cheap car loan. Get approved on car loans or car finance in Australia with cheap bank car loans and finding a car finance broker. Commercial car loans including business car finance and car lease. Car Loan Calculator has information on finance companies and getting the right cheap car loan from banks at best car loan rates and a online car loan calculator for all finance in Australia. Get the best car finance with our help at Car Loan Calculator and Finance Ezi. - Visit Richard Jefferies's Website

Staging Diva
Debra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website


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