If asking better questions is what makes your selling easier… then that doesn’t just apply to the questions you ask your buyer.
You’ll also need to look at the questions you ask yourself.
For instance, a while ago someone said:
“What should I do to encourage people to buy from me?”, which might sound like a good questions, but actually it isn’t helpful at all.
Much better would be a question such as: "Who are the people who won’t need any encouraging?"
Because you don’t need to do any encouraging, or convincing, or persuading. Instead, your buyer will convince themselves, so long as you ask them the right questions.
Besides: If you feel that you need to convince or encourage a buyer, you’ve not done your homework yet.
With ‘homework’ being:
Finding out exactly who is the kind of buyer who is ready to engage with you, right now, and who has the budget to get your coaching or consulting solution – so that you can ignore everyone else.
Because a vast majority of sales struggles are down to a simple error in judgment: trying to engage with people you shouldn’t be trying to engage with.
Sure, you can try and follow up with people who need education on why buying is a good idea, or you can make compelling arguments, or layer on bonuses, or give discounts, to try and get people over the line or reply back to you.
But why would you?
Doesn’t it make far more sense to figure out the perfect, ready-right-now buyer, who is happy to reply and to meet and talk – and only talk to those people?
Because those people exist, you know. But you’ll talk to them far less than you could, if you keep trying to bark up the wrong trees, wasting time on the wrong people.
There are companies and individuals who are waiting for someone exactly like you to show up, who will enroll themselves, and who’ll volunteer the sale.
“Take my money” is not just a meme from The Simpsons – it’s a thing people actually say. Just like "How does it work?", "When can we start", "Where do we pay?" or "What are the next steps?"
But, not everyone: only those who are the right match, who have the budget and who have the urgency – only those are the ones who enroll themselves, voluntarily.
And I promise: those are the most fun buyers to talk to.
So instead of trying to convince or encourage people who aren’t ideal, focus on the highly qualified buyers who just need the clarity required to make a decision, and help them make that decision.
Everyone else is either a bad fit (ignore those candidates) or they are a not-now prospect, in which case you stay in touch until the time is right for them.
Time is precious, so figure out who is the right prospect, and spend your time on those people.