Last Updated on January 16, 2025 by Rocky
I’m particularly proud of this piece. It’s my 26th knife, but I made it from scratch. It’s 46 layers of Damascus that took about 50 hours. The entire time I worked on it, I thought about the person I had made it for. How would they use it? Where would they keep it? What would they tell their friends and colleagues when they pulled it out? Would they actually use it? How would they take care of it? Would they eventually pass it down? Who would wind up with it in 25 years? Would it survive the abuse? The questions one can ask themselves during 50 hours of a labor of love could go on for pages and pages.
It’s the same in sales. Most everyone thinks they do Consultative Selling, but few actually do. Here’s a quick test: Give yourself 10 points for each yes.
I ask more than 50 questions in discovery.
What are the five hardest questions you ask every prospect?
Do your questions show your expertise?
I don’t launch into a feature-benefit presentation when I hear buying signals.
I get the prospect to share their personal impact of the problem.
Questions are what create Prospect Urgency. But they must be good questions, hard questions, questions the prospect has never heard before. Questions that cause the prospect to work hard to answer? Questions that expose their weakness to themselves. Questions that help the prospect see you as an expert? Questions that show you care? Questions that place you as the expert? Questions are your best sales tool.
Advice: When you think you know the solution to the problem and want to start telling…stop and ask 30 more questions to help the prospect reach the same conclusion you arrived at after the first 10 minutes of the call. They need you NOW! You know you’ve done it right when you hear from your prospect; what I heard at the end of my last sales call was, “You didn’t sell me anything… I sold you, and I’m ready to go”.
How did you do in the test?
Rocky is the founder and CEO of Sales Development Expert, bringing over 35 years of hands-on experience in building championship sales teams for more than 2,800 businesses worldwide. As a recognized leader in sales hiring, training, and team development, Rocky is known for his results-driven strategies, deep expertise in sales-specific assessments, and passion for helping companies achieve breakthrough growth.