Information Versus Ammunition - Are You Asking The Right Questions?

Guest post by: Will Turner
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Three Steps To Customer Loyalty - By Will Turner

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?”

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Free PDF Download
Three Steps To Customer Loyalty - By Will Turner

About the Author: Will Turner

RSS for Will's articles - 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.
Click here to visit Will's website.

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Information Versus Ammunition - Are You Asking The Right Questions?

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