Sometimes you just need to ask yourself, ‘why?’ A tried and true method of knowing if a company is worth prospecting into.
Often when prospecting, we find ourselves in conversations that articulate something like this:
“We really need to see your reporting capabilities and also need to ensure we can see a holistic view of the customer.”
But the real question you should be asking is why? Why is a question that more often than not leads to further questions. So in this instance, why do you need to see reporting capabilities, may lead to something like, because we need to estimate efficiencies, or in order to predict future strategies.
So here is my nugget of help for today…
When someone says to me they really need to see “reporting” the next question to ask is “Why is that so important to you?”
They will commonly answer the question with something like this “well, it is difficult for us to get information in our existing systems and compile it into management reports.”
As you can see, this is still not truly validated nor a business pain until you follow it up with a few more questions, which may include in addition to why’s – who’s, what’s, where’s, and how’s:
- How long does it take to compile reports and with how many people?
- Who in the business is impacted by this?
- What is the overall issue with your current reporting that this is a top priority?
- What does your management do with this information – i.e. make decisions, if so what types of decisions?
Starting off with a single question can quickly diversify into areas which previously have been overlooked, but which can contribute in a major way to your sales prospecting conversations. You can use it to build on an existing relationship, or create a new one.
Good sales prospecting research can be invaluable in making leads that much stronger. And this can be enhanced when paired with the right open ended questions. The simple rule of starting with a question will also set a course, which helps get to the root of any negatives. Every question leaves the door open for some good follow up to help quantify it.
