Of all of the important strategies to employ in a sales conversation, “answer a question with a question” might be the most important.
This does several things – for one, it helps to ensure that the 80/20 rule gets followed. As a salesperson, you don’t want to be doing most of the talking. When you’re talking, you’re not listening. As a salesperson, understanding the situation of your client is essential, and that comes through listening to them.
Additionally, answering a question with a question helps to get your client to talk. Sometimes, this isn’t a problem and clients volunteer information nonstop. However, many times clients will clam up. Answering their questions with questions for them can help to naturally get them to talk more, helping keep the 80/20 rule intact.
Another useful function of this rule is to help regain control of the conversation. In sales, it’s important to be in control of the conversation. This doesn’t mean in an overbearing way, but more so that you are in control of where it is heading. Sometimes, the client gets control of the conversation. This can be a problem because it can end up leading you down unproductive roads putting you on the defense, derailing the conversation and the sale.
When that happens, a great way to take back control of the conversation is to ask a question to answer their question. For example, say a client tries to take control of the conversation by asking “So, I’ve heard that x company offers the same product at a better price. How are they able to do that?” Instead of responding “Well, our product is clearly better,” it might be better to flip that back into a question and ask “Why do you think they might be priced lower than us?” This allows the prospect to answer the question, and you can get a better idea of where their head is while keeping control of the conversation at the same time!
Those are all useful applications of answering a question with a question!
BoweryJE22
Answering a question with a question is a very important sales technique. It helps ensure that you do not spill your candy in the lobby. Additionally, it helps you to avoid backing yourself into an unfavorable corner. It is important to understand your customer before you begin answering questions and giving them all your information too soon.
This trick allows you to control the direction of the conversation and sales process while they fill in details that help you understand their needs if your services are relevant to them.