DISCOVER Questions™ Get You Connected: for Professional Sellers

Asking questions to confirm who will do what can help ensure good follow through. Outlining action items, along with deliverable dates, is a good sales practice and should be followed by questions like “What have I missed?” and “What else would you like for me to do?”

They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

“What are your top three goals for the new year?” The buyer’s initial reaction was to pause and think. Then she talked for a solid four minutes, giving details about history and present state and the vision for her department’s growth. She was animated and expressive, pausing only when she observed the seller needing time to catch up in her note-ta

before asking their buyers questions, sellers need to first ask themselves: 1. Where is the buyer in the buying process? 2. Where am I in the selling process? 3. Are we aligned? 4. Where do I want to steer this conversation next? 5. What kind of question will take us there?

Some of the ways buyers report sellers have made them feel appreciated or special include: § The seller took an extra measure of care to check a detail, make a call or follow through on something I was concerned about. § The seller anticipated my needs, responding with ideas or asking questions I hadn’t even thought of yet. § The seller asked me ab

Here are some examples of proactive Issue Questions. § What could I be doing differently to make things easier for you? § I’d like to ask you for an evaluation of my performance as your sales rep. In your opinion, what is working and what is not working? § Considering other sellers you’ve worked with, what is something they’ve done that you wish I

#1: Avoid Asking “If I Could…” Questions

When a seller pairs Outcome Questions with follow-up Consequence Questions, a fuller picture emerges. With this information, a seller can see how the solution she offers can dually help a buyer achieve his goal and avoid a consequence related to not reaching that goal. Here are three examples of Outcome and Consequence Questions that have been pair

Some buyers value time more than they value savings.

One common example is when a buyer says “This didn’t work like you told me it would.” The implied loss of trust could be related to the product’s failure or to the seller’s failure in setting reasonable expectations.