Rule #17 of the Sandler Rules was one that confused me at first — “the professional does what he did as a dummy — on purpose.”
This rule builds off of the rule “answer a question with a question,” which makes perfect sense. You want to keep the prospect talking. You want to know as much as possible about them, their business, and their pain. But dummy questions? Won’t that make me look less credible?
Let’s face it, as young salespeople we’re already facing the issue of seeming inexperienced or incompetent, and now Sandler is telling me to ask dumb questions? At first, I could only see how this would lead to my failure. However, after thinking about it further, I realized that this isn’t about making me look dumb, it’s about asking the obvious questions and letting the prospect talk until you hear something that you can build upon.
Dummy questions, though simple, can help break through complex issues and get to the core of what the prospect wants.
If a prospect says that your prices are higher than the competition, you could respond with the dummy question, “how do you feel about that?” Well, it seems obvious, they don’t feel too great about potentially paying more for the same service. However, their answer to that question could uncover even more pain (budgetary restrictions, higher-ups who do not feel like taking action is necessary, etc.). This simple question could lead to a line of new questioning that uncovers more information. Maybe the higher price isn’t the issue, but asking a dummy question can get you to the heart of the real issue, making a sale even more likely.
The purpose of dummy questions isn’t to make you look incompetent, it’s a smart tactic that helps you gather more information. After all, knowledge is power.
BoweryJE22