{"id":13033,"date":"2022-03-17T12:44:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T12:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandler.dsstaging2.com\/case-study\/15-powerful-questions-salespeople-can-ask-before-we-get-started\/"},"modified":"2023-11-14T03:11:09","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T03:11:09","slug":"15-powerful-questions-salespeople-can-ask-before-we-get-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/15-powerful-questions-salespeople-can-ask-before-we-get-started\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Powerful Questions Salespeople Can Ask \u201cBefore We Get Started\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>Here are some of the key questions we coach salespeople to be prepared to ask in the initial phases of a <a href=\"\/podcasts\/how-succeed-connecting-with-your-prospect\/\">conversation with a prospect<\/a>. They\u2019re important. Many salespeople skip them entirely.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Post these in a prominent place, someplace they will be seen every day. Practice them. Ask them early in the conversation. Make them part of your routine!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Building rapport\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>Thanks for making time for me today. Since we spoke last, has anything changed?<\/li>\r\n<li>Do we still have (45 minutes) to try to understand whether or not we might be a good fit?<\/li>\r\n<li>Will you be comfortable me asking you <a href=\"\/podcasts\/how-to-succeed-sharing-your-vision-through-questions\/\">lots of questions<\/a> about (X)? You can ask me anything too, of course, fair?<\/li>\r\n<li>Help me see the world through your eyes: what key things can you tell me about the business?<\/li>\r\n<li>When we get to the end of the meeting if we\u2019re both happy to move on to the next stage, and I have no idea what that might look like yet, let\u2019s agree to scope it out and <a href=\"\/podcasts\/how-to-succeed-at-sandler-rule-8-when-prospecting-go-for-the-appointment\/\">set a date<\/a> in both of our calendars \u2013 that way we can make sure we stay on target. Fair?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>To start the ball rolling\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>So, why have you invited me over today and how are you hoping I might be able to help?<\/li>\r\n<li>Most of our new clients tell us that they\u2019ve never bought this kind of thing before. Would it make sense for me to tell you a little bit our organization and how we do things, then you can tell me about yours? Are you comfortable with that?<\/li>\r\n<li>When we spoke, you mentioned that (X) is an issue for you. How long have you been thinking about, or dealing with it?<\/li>\r\n<li>Most of our time is spent helping businesses like yours. tell me a little bit about how you go about dealing with (X) at the moment?<\/li>\r\n<li>Would it make sense to start by telling me what\u2019s the single thing that gives you most concern about (X) right now?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Setting initial priorities\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li><a href=\"\/blog\/5-ways-manage-your-clients-expectations\/\">What were you hoping<\/a> that I could do for you?<\/li>\r\n<li>When did you first decide that you should look into (X)?<\/li>\r\n<li>If you were to pick just one or two key things that you didn&#8217;t like about your current solution or provider, what would it be?<\/li>\r\n<li>How would you rate things at the moment, from 1 \u2013 DISASTER, to 10 \u2013 PERFECT? (Whatever the answer, you say, \u201cOK, why?\u201d)<\/li>\r\n<li>If I didn\u2019t think that I could help you, would you be OK if I told you so\u2026and will you be OK extending the same courtesy to me if you ever feel that I\u2019m not the right fit for your needs too?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>For more on effective questioning skills for salespeople, see my book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sandler.com\/shop\"><strong><em>Asking Questions the Sandler Way<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are some of the key questions we coach salespeople to be prepared to ask in the initial phases of a conversation with a prospect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":13034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1120],"tags":[1076,1026,1115,1212,1194],"class_list":["post-13033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-bonding-and-rapport","tag-prospecting","tag-qualifying","tag-questioning-strategies","tag-sales-prospect"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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