How You Can Get Taken With a Question

Good, better or best?

A good salesperson never asks a closed-ended question when closing a sale.  What is a close-ended question?  A question answered with a yes or a no.  Be aware a good salesperson is always closing and uses both types of questions to get you to say yes.  I will continue to discuss how this works in future posts but for now let's look at the little closes.

For example, you choose a printer and now it is time for the attachments.  It is the job of your salesperson to get ink, paper and an extended warranty plan in your basket. Here is where open-ended questions continue.  What is an open-ended question?  A question that gets a full answer.

Here's an example:  "Ms. Consumer, some people buy the combo pack of ink while a few people get just the black but most people get the dual pack!  Which pack can I get you today?"  You see, a yes or a no is not a choice here.  Also a customer unaware of what is going on will probably say the dual pack.  Why?

Well, according to the salesperson the dual pack is what 'most' people get.  When a salesperson confronts a consumer with a question they’re not sure of people gravitate toward what most people do.  Here, the salesperson has not only got an attachment but has upgraded this consumer to a dual pack.

It is a clever question using some, few and most to lead the customer where they're supposed to go.  It is an art form to get the inflection in the voice just right using a little enthusiasm with the some, (some actually spend this much money) no enthusiasm with the few (most people aren't that cheap) and a lot of enthusiasm with the most.  Try it yourself!

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The definition of a chump:

a gullible person, a sucker; someone easily taken advantage of, the target of a scam.

Learn from a former salesperson and trainer how salespeople drive sales. Learn how to keep more money in your pocket where it belongs! There are two ends of every sales stick!  One end cries 'chump.'  The other end boasts 'champ.'  I know which end of the stick I want to be.  How about you?