{"id":5873,"date":"2019-04-30T15:52:42","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T15:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/?p=5873"},"modified":"2019-04-30T15:52:42","modified_gmt":"2019-04-30T15:52:42","slug":"3-counterproductive-questions-in-cold-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/3-counterproductive-questions-in-cold-calling\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Counterproductive Questions in Cold Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We are all taught that questions are important: the 70\/30 rule and the idea of asking open ended questions, but there are definitely some questions you just never need to ask. In this blog post I will unpack the reasoning behind why certain questions should just be avoided and how some can be phrased in a more productive way during cold calls and preliminary meetings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"http:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/stock-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5874 lazyload\" width=\"337\" height=\"224\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/stock-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/stock-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/stock-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/stock-624x416.jpg 624w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 337px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 337\/224;\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How are you doing?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>While this may seem like an innocuous and easy way to start a conversation, especially on cold calls, it should be avoided like the plague. The prospect knows that you don&#8217;t really care how they are doing, because you can&#8217;t really if you&#8217;ve never met them and have no relationship prior to the call. Secondly, it puts the burden on them to come up with a response right away and generally doesn&#8217;t serve a purpose towards your ultimate goal. You are much better off just being up front: introduce yourself, explain why you are calling, and then start probing for their pain points to see if you can help them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Are you the decision maker?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This is an important question to get the answer to, however you should never ask it like this. If they happen to be, then the ball is immediately in your court for an aggressive close. If they are not, then it basically renders them useless to you or at least makes them feel that way. A more smooth way to ask this question would be to phrase it more along the lines of next steps. Throw out a theoretical question such as, &#8220;Now if we are wanting to move forward with this, is there anyone else we need to include in the discussion before we pull the trigger?&#8221; or something to that effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What are the biggest challenges facing your business right now?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, like the previous question it is very important to get an answer to this question but in the cold call or even introductory meeting you should avoid going here just yet. Go for the appointment. This conversation is better left for a follow up meeting that can have more structure than an unpredictable phone call or first meeting. Saving this for later will help you not accidentally spill the candy in the lobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Questions are very important, but even more important is knowing when and where to ask them in the sales process. Avoiding these three common mistakes in cold calling will help you build a better relationship with your prospect and come across in a more genuine way signaling you want to build a relationship instead of just get your way. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are all taught that questions are important: the 70\/30 rule and the idea of asking open ended questions, but there are definitely some questions you just never need to ask. In this blog post I will unpack the reasoning behind why certain questions should just be avoided and how some can be phrased in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,77,2],"tags":[71],"class_list":["post-5873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cold-calls","category-prospecting","category-sales-tips","tag-sales-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5875,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873\/revisions\/5875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}