A LEADING QUESTION

By Hank Trisler

 

Asking hard questions will make you money by making you more sales.  

Open questions often start with "who," "what," "when," "where," "why" or "how" and usually get more informative responses than closed questions, which can often be answered "yes," or "no."

In my effort to avoid stifling creative thought by providing too much in the way of specific questions, I may have withheld some valuable information. This was driven home to me by reading an article by a fellow named Tom Goetschius, whose name I won’t even attempt to pronounce. He gave some specifics, which I thought terrific. He calls them "High Gain" questions, which cause the customer to think on a higher level in order to answer them. We’ve all used some of these, but I think we need to work on incorporating more hard questions into our dealings with people. The salesperson with the greatest number of good questions has a tremendous competitive advantage.

Let’s look at some and see what they might do for us. Why not see how many sub-questions you can create?

Questions for early on.

• Where in the sales cycle are you?

Have they just started to look? What have they seen? How did they feel about it?

• Would you please describe the circumstances that lead to you coming in here today?
• What do you hope will happen here today?
• What do you think will happen here today?

I spoke with a fine gentleman just last week. When I asked him what he hoped would happen, he said that he hoped I’d be able to help him help his people sell better. Does that tell me a bit about his positive frame of mind?

When asked what he thought was going to happen, he said that he thought we were going to make a deal. We already had.

• Out of all the (fill in the blank) you could have gone to, why did you choose us today?

I sold Chevrolets in the sixties with a guy named Ernie Mann. He asked this of every customer and was the top salesman in our store. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll hear.

• If you could communicate with me the most important rule about dealing with you, in one word, what would that word be?
• What would surprise you the most about what might happen here today?
• What is the most serious mistake salespeople have made in dealing with you?
• What’s the one thing you really hope does NOT happen here today?
• What part of your present situation do you hope I can improve today?

As we progress.

People treat us the way we have trained them to treat us. The more we listen to our customers, the more they will talk to us and the better we can help them. We can also progress from easy questions to harder questions. Remember, long questions tend to get us longer answers.

• What would you list as your top three priorities?
• What’s the one thing you want to accomplish before your race is run?
• How have your priorities changed in the past five years?
• How do you think they might change in the next five?
• What is the one experience you really hope your family has a chance to share together?
• What significance has (fill in the blank) had in your life up to now?
• What is the one thing you would like to do that you’re not doing now?
• If you could change just one thing about your (sales force, home, car, process) what would that be?

Out of the need-finding phase and into the
presentation of benefits. Don’t tell--ask and listen.

• How do you think this might improve your_______?
• How would you see yourself using this feature?
• What’s the one thing you like best about this?
• I can’t quite read you on this point. How does it appeal to you?
• I sense that you’re pleased with this feature. How do you think it will benefit you?
• Tell me how you really feel about this.
• When you looked this over, what did you notice first? Why was that?
• I sense that you’re unsure about this. Why is that?
• What do you specifically like the most?
• How many possible ways can you think of to use this?
• When you consider the next few years, what’s the most important part of this program?

In search of commitment. The questions get harder, and harder to ask.

• How would your life change if you decided to do this today?
• What would be the worst-case scenario if you decided to do this today?
• What do you fear the most about going ahead with this today?
• What part of the program makes you feel most uncomfortable?
• What is the one major way in which this program differs from what you are presently doing?
• How will you know when you have found the right solution for your _______?
• If you thought that this _____ was really the best for you, what is the major obstacle standing in the way of you owning it?
• What are you spending your money on that has a higher priority than______?

If you send out 100 letters soliciting business and no one replies, that’s not too bad.

If you make 100 telephone calls and no one wants to talk to you, that’s worse. The rejection factor is mounting.

If you make 100 face-to-face presentations and no one buys, the rejection is pretty tough to deal with and if you go home and your spouse has moved, it’s nearly unbearable.

The higher the potential for rejection gets, the closer we are to a payoff. When you’re finding it tough to ask a question, it’s a fair bet the customer is finding it tough to answer it. 

Press on, keep asking questions and your sales will continue to improve.

PAVAROTTI AND THE YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS

By Guest Blogger, Jim Craven

Just as the large white limousine pulled up in front of 22 Wesley Terrace, in West Bradford,   Fred Wilson, a 65 year old retired weaver opened the front door of his little two up and two down terrace house and stepped onto the pavement.    He watched as the driver opened the rear door of the car and a somewhat portly gentleman eased himself out.  

The gentleman concerned was dressed in white tie and tails.   But then he should have been, as he had left St. George’s Hall immediately after his concert,  to keep an appointment that had been arranged some months ago.   A great gourmand was he and having been made aware that there was a regional delicacy that he had hitherto not tried, he instructed his agents to find him a place where he could taste the best Yorkshire Puddings ever made.

After much research by his aides it was universally agreed that Minnie Wilson, wife of the aforementioned Fred made the best Yorkshire puddings ever tasted and the appropriate arrangements had been made for the gentleman to partake of a late dinner at the home of Minnie and Fred.

Pavarotti walked towards Fred and smiled as he said ‘You must be Signor Wilson.  I am very pleased to meet you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for inviting me to your home’.  ‘Nice to meet you Mr. Pavarotti’ said Fred.   “Come inside and meet the Missus’.

Fred led the way through the tiny front room into an equally tiny kitchen.   ‘Minnie’ he said.  ‘Here’s that Mr. Pavarotti fella that sings’.   Minnie, somewhat diminutive in height and rather rotund  turned round and smiled at her guest.   She put out her hand and Pavarotti took it in his and kissed it gently.   ‘Grazzi Signora, how nice to meet you thank you for inviting me into your home’.   He handed her an elegant little bag which contained two bottles of excellent wine.   One white and the other red, both from his native Italy.   ‘Perhaps you would accept this little gift to accompany our meal tonight.

Fred looked at the wine and turning to Pavarotti said ‘nay lad it’s very kind of thee, there’s nowt like a glass of good wine, but tha can only drink a drop of Tetley’s bitter with roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.  Pavarotti inclined his head ‘I bow to your superior knowledge, but perhaps you will keep the wine for another occasion’.

Pavarotti and Fred sat down at the little table in the kitchen and Fred poured two large glasses of Tetley’s bitter.   Pavarotti took a sip and tried hard not to grimace.  It was not to his liking.  Fortunately for him, at that very moment Minnie placed a  plate in front of him on which rested a very large Yorkshire pudding.  It was golden brown, stood two inches high on the plate and was covered in a light but delightfully aromatic gravy.  Pavarotti looked up at her and said ‘Signora, what is this?   ‘Yorkshire pudding she replied’ with a look of disbelief on her face ‘what does tha think it is?’

‘Signora, I thought that in England, a pudding was something which followed the main course in a meal’.   ‘Not in this county lad” she said.  ‘Tha’s in Yorkshire now and tha eats thi Yorkshire pudding first’.

Pavarotti took a mouthful of his Yorkshire pudding and then another one.   He smiled at his hosts who were watching somewhat anxiously and said ‘bella’ and proceeded to eat the remainder with great relish.   Minnie gave him another pudding which was dispatched with the same appreciation as the first one.   He then took a furtive sip of his pint of Tetley’s bitter, which tasted somewhat better than it did on his first encounter.

Minnie removed the plates and then placed fresh ones on the table, all heaped with thick slices of roast beef, which was crisp on the outside and slightly underdone in the middle.  There were some fluffy  roast potatoes, carrots and brussel sprouts.   A jug of gravy was set in the middle of the table.  Fred handed Pavarotti a jar of horseradish sauce.  Pavarotti took a sniff at it and smiled as he said ‘I don’t care what this tastes like, but it is surely a remedy for blocked sinuses’.   He nevertheless placed a heap on the side of his plate, having first watched Fred do the same.   He demolished his food rather quickly and took frequent sips from his glass of beer.   He took little persuading to accept a further plate full of food and his glass of  beer  which now tasted like the nectar of the gods was almost empty.

Minnie finally produced a home made apple pie which was served with lashings of ice cream.  Her guest patted his stomach and said ‘I wonder if I have room for this’ and of course he had.

The table was cleared.  Pavarotti stood up and removed his napkin from inside his collar.  He placed his hands on Minnie’s shoulders and kissed her on both cheeks.  ‘Signora’ he said ‘that was the nicest meal I have eaten for a long time.

They moved into the front parlour after the dishes had been washed.   Pavarotti had volunteered to help, but he was not permitted to do so.   ‘Women’s work’ said Fred.  

Fred poured Pavarotti a glass of an inexpensive and rather revolting port.  ‘So tha’s a singer’ he said as he handed a glass to him.   ‘How about singing for thi supper then?   Pavarotti smiled and said ‘of course Signor” I would be delighted.

‘How about ‘The sun has got his hat on’ then said Fred.  ‘Sorry’ said his guest, ‘I am not familiar with that’.   ‘Well, does tha know ‘Brother Bertie Went Away’ or ‘If you were the only girl in the world?’

‘Sorry Signor’ said Pavarotti, ‘neither of those are in my repertoire.  I could however sing you the aria ‘Una Furtiva Lagrima’.   Fred thought for a moment and then said ‘Naw, If you are going to sing something from L’Elisir D’amore,  I would rather hear ‘Quanto e bella, quanto e cara’.   Pavarotti gave him a piercing look and said ‘Signor, you have been making the micky of me?’.    ‘Just a little bit’ he replied.   My wife and I may live in humble surroundings, but we do appreciate good singing and we love your voice.

Pavarotti stood in front of the fireplace, filled his lungs with air and proceeded to sing Fred’s favourite aria.  He followed on with pieces from Verdi, Rossini, Handel and Mozart and concluded with the beautiful Donaudy song ‘Vaghissima Sembianza’.   When he had finished, he bowed to his hosts who applauded him, as did many of their neighbours who, having heard the source of the delightful singing, crowded round the front door and window of 22 Wesley Terrace, West Bradford.

Pavarotti said ‘I must leave, I am due in New York tomorrow.   Thank you for your company, thank you for your hospitality and thank you for the Yorkshire puddings.  Perhaps you will come to New York as my guests next month when I am performing at the Metropolitan Opera.   I will arrange for your tickets to be sent to you in the next few days.

Hank Note: Jim Craven is a Yorkshireman transplanted to New Zealand, where I met him. I thought you'd enjoy this charming little tale of his.

LIVING IN THE MOMENT

By Hank Trisler 

I attended a conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina Del Rey. You just don't get a better conference venue than the Ritz. The host organization spared not a dime of expense. The rooms were spacious and had a sweeping vista of the harbor. The food at every meal was simply outstanding and the wine flowed like, well, wine.

I learned a lot about software, hardware and the people who have learned to drive them well. I learned that you can always spot an extroverted programmer: He looks at your shoes when he's talking to you.

These people were girded with a panoply of electronic devices; laptop computers over which one could hunch and squint, teeny-tiny cell phones to yank out of ones' pocket and have animated conversations with unseen others. I saw a person deploy both of these devices simultaneously, while he was in a meeting. And texting? Don't get me started.

At the beginning of each session, the facilitator had to ask the crowd to turn off computers and cell phones. What a colossal waste of time and energy. The host had spent untold thousands of dollars to put on a terrific conference. People had traveled thousand of miles to attend a terrific conference, and there the damned fools sat, talking on cell phones. And if there was a problem, what were they going to do about it? If their office was burning, do you think their hose would reach that far? I think not.

Problems come in two varieties: 1) those that will work themselves out by the time you get back and 2) those that will wait for you. If the folks at home can't reach you, they can't share their problems with you and you can focus on what you were supposed to be doing in the first place.

One of the central issues in the selling business is: "What is the best possible use of my time right now?" Once you have determined that, the next task is to stay with that job until it is done and damn the distractions. Wherever you are, be there.

I learned this painful lesson more years ago than I care to divulge. I was attending a full-day seminar entitled "Time Power Squared," being conducted by a sterling fellow named Chris Heagerty. There were about a hundred of us huddled in a room at the Hyatt House, taking notes with abandon. We had each paid $395 for this seminar and that was one heck of a lot of money in those days. It's amazing how avidly you take notes when you pay that much for a seminar. In the morning session I had accumulated eight pages of single-spaced, hand-written notes on a legal length tablet. I was pumped up.

I called my office at the lunch break. Why? I don't know, it was just what I did. Rather like a subliminal message from God: "Hank, call your office." I did it automatically. 

My secretary recognized me right off; she was good. "Hank, thank God you called," she said. 

I'd been in business long enough to know that calls that begin like that are seldom good news for me. "What's the problem," I asked. 

"It's Bob Walker and he's madder than a mashed cat," she said. 

"What's he mad about?" 

"I don't know, but he said if you don't call him right back, it's all going in the dumper." 

"What's going in the dumper?" I pleaded, with a sense of growing doom.

"I dunno, he hung up." 

There is an unwritten rule prohibiting any salesperson from going to a pay phone with more than one dime (yes, phone calls cost a dime, then). I got out of line and went to the gift shop for change. When I got back, I asked the other people in the line if I could have my place back. Even though the request was not funny to me, they laughed. I waited, dancing from one foot to the other, while three more people called their offices to get bad news. 

I was a man deranged by the time I reached Sylvia, Bob's secretary. "Hank, thank God you called," she said. 

"I've been hearing a lot of that this morning," I said. "What's the problem?"

"Bob is just insane. He won't even talk to me. He's been running around all morning, slamming doors and banging file cabinets and yelling, 'I'm gonna get that S.O.B.'" 

I was concerned. "Well, let me talk to him. I'm sure we can straighten it out."

"I can't. He's on the other line, yelling at his attorney. I'll put you on hold."

She cut me off. 

I rummaged around for another dime and called her back. "Sylvia, you cut me off," I screamed. 

She said, "I know and I'm sooo sorry, but I was nervous and my finger slipped off the button and. . ." 

"Stop sniveling you twit and let me talk to Bob," I bellowed. 

"I can't. He just left. Burned rubber all over the parking lot." 

As I mentioned, I had eight pages of notes from the morning session. From the afternoon session, I had nothing but one page of doodles and incredibly filthy words. I was physically at the seminar, but mentally and emotionally I was out trying to solve a problem over which I had absolutely no control. I lost half the $395 I paid for the seminar, but that's okay, I got that back in a week. What mattered is I lost a half-day of my life, which I will never get back and all from failing to heed the advice: "Wherever you are, be there." 

Portable electronic appliances aren't the only devices designed to prevent our living in the moment. Take "call waiting," as an example. This is the rudest invention ever devised by man. You are on a call with me and your call waiting clicks in. You excuse yourself to talk to someone not more important than me, but to someone that might have the off chance of being more important than me. If that isn't rude, I don't know what rude is and I'm personally offended. 

The past is a canceled check; the future is a promissory note. Only the present is the coin of the realm and the only time you can absolutely count on. Wherever you are, be there.

PROVE IT!

By Hank Trisler

Back when the earth was still cooling and the great beasts roamed, I owned a company called Raintree Realtors, in San Jose. Our people performed well above the average in our area and I was justifiably proud of them.

During a listing presentation one evening, I made a statement that I had made on many prior occasions. I said, "The average listing on the San Jose Real Estate Board takes some 68 days to sell, while my company’s average listing sells in less than 40 days." This was powerhouse selling and sure to impress my prospective client.

The homeowner responded with, "Those are interesting numbers. How did you come up with them?"

I was thereby presented with a whole new set of problems. Those were good numbers, I was sure. I had used them often with no problems. I think I even calculated them out once, but I did not have them in writing. I found myself saying, "Err, Ahh, well now those figures are well known, errr, ahhh."

My prospect, a vice president of sales for a large semiconductor company, was not particularly impressed with my veracity. Oh, I got the listing, but I had to dance like Fred Astaire to do so, and would probably have been better off had he listed with someone else. My client now had me branded as a purveyor of "Ca Ca de Toro," and used this information to make me suffer each time we talked. He made me prove everything I said for the balance of our relationship. No matter how I tried, I could never re-establish a trust relationship with this man.

I decided then and there to never again say anything I couldn’t prove. I’d love to tell you I’ve been successful in that effort, but it’s just too hard. I have, however, found ways to prove more statements that I had ever believed possible.

A Proof Source Book is a wonderful tool to add credibility when it is needed most. Make a list of those statements you are inclined to say in the course of a sales presentation, then think of a way to offer proof on each statement. Get your proof in writing and put it in your Proof Source Book. The next time you’re challenged, you’ll be able to prove you are indeed a teller of truth.

In the example I offered earlier, I got a printout of a report from our local real estate board showing the average number of days from submission to sale. I then ran the numbers for our company and put a letter in the file verifying the number of days our average listing took to sell.

"You mean you wrote the letter yourself? What kind of proof is that?" you might well ask.

"Good enough," I answer. Clearly, get the best proof you can and verify it by a neutral third party if at all possible. If it isn’t possible, however, write it yourself, or have someone you know write it. As long as it’s true, you can’t be proven wrong and people believe the printed word more readily than the spoken word.

It is not enough to tell the truth. We must tell the truth in a manner that will be believed, which is credibility. A Proof Source Book is a great aid to credibility.

"Wait just a darned minute," you might continue, "Just last month you were blathering on about facts don’t matter. Now you want me to compile a whole book full of facts to prove everything I say. ‘Splain this inconsistency."

There is no inconsistency. We do not offer facts to actually prove product/service benefits, but to prove that we are telling the truth. Facts still don’t matter. What matters is the emotional response that offering proof engenders. If the customer feels we can prove what we say, he is more likely to believe us. It’s still an emotional reaction.

Never prove what the customer already believes. I have so often seen this in the real estate bidness. The client says, "What are homes in this area selling for?"

The Realtor replies, "About $800,000."

The client says, "That’s what I thought."

Then the Realtor whips out a Competitive Market Analysis (a form of proof) and proceeds to bore the socks off the client proving that which he already believed.

If the customer believes what you say, don’t waste time proving it, just go on to something else. Offering proof when you are already believed not only wastes time, it actually undermines your credibility.

Weasel Words. There will still always remain things that you believe to be true, but simply cannot be proven. In those instances, cultivate the use of "weasel words," so called because they suck all the meaning out of the words around them like a weasel sucks the yolk out of an egg. Phrases like "could be," "should be," "might be," "about," "around," "approximately," "if I could would you?" "If I would could you?" and "If the good Lord’s willing and the creeks don’t rise," keep you safe from locking yourself in. An old boss of mine told me "If you don’t lock, you can’t lie," and that has always served me well.

Liars have short careers in the selling profession. Be prepared to prove whatever you say and if you can’t prove it, don’t let yourself get locked into saying it.

CRITICISM

by Hank Trisler

So I missed a shot yesterday morning. It happens in tennis. My partner said, "If you'd move your big, flat feet, your big fat ass might follow them and get you to the ball." 

That statement was none the more welcome for being true. I've never learned to gracefully accept criticism and find a lot of people share my view on this. Criticism hurts.


"Constructive Criticism" is an oxymoron. Criticism, by its very nature is destructive. You criticize to destroy the behavior you find offensive.

As managers, salespeople, parents and spouses, we need to correct other people to help them bring their behavior in line with our perceptions of acceptability. The tricky part is doing this without pissing them off so badly they visit physical damage on us. Try this three-step process for delivering criticism and see how it works for you.

START. This is what I'd like to have you do that you are not doing now.

"I'd like to see you meet ten new-to-you people every day."

"I'd like to have you pick up your bedroom every day, after school, before going out to play."

"Please consider moving your feet in the general direction of the ball."

STOP. This is what you are doing now that I'd like to see you stop doing.

"You're production might improve if you stop going to the movies every afternoon with a pint."

"Please stop throwing your clothes on the floor, rather than throwing them in the closet."

"Stop yelling 'YOURS' every time the ball doesn't come directly at you."

CONTINUE. Probably the most important part of the whole sequence. Leave the other party with a feeling of approval and let them know you like them.

"I want to be sure you keep on being a valued member of our team. We need your positive attitude and sense of humor."

"The dedication to your homework is wonderful. Keep on keeping on keeping your grades up." (Kids like this kind of talk.)

"Be sure to keep bringing balls to the game. That's the only reason we let you play."

If you employ the "Start, Stop, Continue" method of delivering criticism, you may well get away with it, but it's still tricky, at best. Most people never learn to do it well. Good luck.

THREE WAYS TO TRAIN

Knowledge + Attitude + Skills = Behavior

by Hank Trisler

A lot of what passes for training these days is some old dog standing up in front of a group and telling them "How I Done it." It consists of war stories and cute-sounding phrases, most which are largely ineffectual and only partially true. That sort of training is a blast for the trainers, but often bores the learners and seldom does much to change behavior.

"What's that you say? Behavior? My job is to teach 'em how to sell, not change their behavior," one might well say. And one might well be wrong. Our job is not so much to teach people what they don't know, but to help people behave as they don't currently behave. Behavior is comprised of Knowledge, Attitude and Skills, as exemplified in the Pawn Broker's Globes above. (I used to say Pawn Broker's "Balls," but that often brings about tittering, another word almost certain to induce tittering.) Let's examine these three words and how you can use them to improve the results of your training programs.

KNOWLEDGE. If a person isn't performing in a certain way and couldn't if his/her life depended on it, the problem is a lack of knowledge. The best ways to convey knowledge are lecture and reading. Lecture has fallen into disrepute, largely due to its overuse and poor quality. Trainers love lecture, as it's the easiest form of teaching to prepare and deliver. You just jump up and run your jaws. It's also the most fun, from a trainer's point of view.       

The key to effective lecture is to see how little of it you can use to convey the bare minimum of knowledge necessary to do the deed. Good lecture is strewn with real world examples and supported with visual aids and written material, from either pass-outs or text books.


The subject of effective lecture has already filled libraries, so I'm not going to bore you with more of it here. The key is to see how little lecture you can get by with and how much learner involvement you can use to supplant the lecture.


ATTITUDES. If the thinking is stinking in your sales force, look to yourself first. Attitudes are caught, not taught. As long as we're slinging platitudes, try, "What you are speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you say." Sales critters are like children, in that they will obtain and reflect the attitudes of their leaders. The very best way to get an honest, positive, "can do" attitude in your team is to have and project those qualities yourself.

SKILLS. A tried and true training formula taught me years ago went:

• You tell them how.
• They tell you how.
• You show them how.
• They show you how.
• You drill for skill.

A truly skillful performance will only occur after it has been repeated often enough to commit it to the unconscious mind. Now, you can do this in the field, which is where a lot of us "old dogs" did our learning, but it's godawful expensive compared to drills you can perform in the classroom.


One of the more effective drills I have found is the three-person instant role play. The group is divided into three-person teams: salesperson, customer and a neutral observer. A problem, or objection is displayed and then the salesperson has sixty seconds to deal with it. At the end of the minute, the observer tells the team what he saw and how it might be improved. Then you change roles and go for the next problem. The key is to do things fast, to avoid boredom and to quicken reaction times. Greater detail and lots more exercises are available in NO BULL SALES MANAGEMENT. Get hold of a copy, it'll make money for you.


Practice does not make perfect, practice makes permanent. If you let your people practice flawed techniques, you'll end up with flawed people giving flawed performances. Your weekly sales meeting is a terrific place for practicing for a half hour, or less. It warms the folks up and get's minds moving, in addition to honing skills.


Any thoughts on training that you'd like to share? This would be an excellent place to do so.

MY GREATEST REGRET

 by Hank Trisler

No, it's not a tattoo. That's one of very few things I've not had a run at. Regrets are actually worthless, as you can do nothing about the past. That ship has sailed.


Failure to act is far more regrettable than any mistake you might make. Malcolm Forbes said, "In looking back, I'm far more sorry for the things I didn't do, than the things I shouldn't have done.


My greatest tragedy of omission is I've lost track of the buyer of the first car I ever sold. When I left the automobile bidness, I also left Seattle and couldn't conceive that I'd ever need the names of my customers again. WRONG!


If I had my hand to play over, I'd never again lose track of a customer. No matter what I might be selling, or where I might be selling it. The only way a customer could get out of my files would be to die out of them.


You'll be exactly the same person in ten years as you are today with the exception of the books you read and the people you meet. The books are another story for another day, but the people is the entire point of this rant.

NEVER FORGET A CUSTOMER. NEVER LET A CUSTOMER FORGET YOU.