Turning Dumb Questions Into Smarter Ones

We tell our clients and prospects all the time that there’s no such thing as a dumb question and to ask away. But does that rule apply to us as well?

Unfortunately, no. We in sales are held to a higher standard. And, we should be. Clients and prospects expect us to come in prepared and ask smart questions.

There are so many bad/dumb questions asked in our profession, too many to put in an article, that I decided to group them into 5 categories. And, even that number, the number of categories, could be expanded.

But, we’ll keep it simple and give a couple of examples in each category of questions asked that need to be reworked and why.

1. You could have gotten the information elsewhere – Questions like “Can you tell me a little bit about your business”, or “Who are your biggest competitors?” or “Tell me about your job” are now bad questions.

Pre-Internet, you could get away with asking some of these questions because the information was unavailable or expensive. Not now. Now if you ask them it shows a lack of effort before the call.

The way to fix these questions is to bring your research into the question and make them more specific. For example, “Many CFOs we’re working with have been recently asked to take on additional responsibilities like strategizing & negotiating acquisitions. Have you taken on new duties as well?”

2. Puts them on the defensive – “Are you the decision maker?” is never a good question to ask. It puts them on the defensive and rarely gets an honest answer. Much better is to ask them to walk you thru the decision process.

“Is there anyone else in the company I should meet with?” is another bad question. What if they say no? Instead ask, “Who else might be impacted by this issue?”

Don’t ask, “Where does your current vendor need to improve?” Instead ask, “How do you handle it when (bring up a possible problem that you solve)?”

You want to create positive tension on a call. Challenge them a bit but protect their ego.

3. Cheesy, overused or manipulative – The list of these kinds of questions is massive. They’ve been used thousands of times and have no impact (unless it’s negative) on prospects and clients.

If you ask, “What are your needs?” you might hear, “We’re good. Everything’s running great.” Or, “Well, my daughter needs braces. Can you help?”

“What keeps you awake at night?” was a good question 30 years ago. Now it puts you in the “unimpressive” or worse category if you ask it. My answer to that question is “howling coyotes”, “spicy food” or some other smart aleck reply.

Same with “If I could wave a magic wand, what issue would you like fixed?” It invites derision. Or you’ll hear about things you can do nothing about. Instead, ask specific questions about potential pain in areas where you have differentiation.

“If I could show you a way to decrease costs in (whatever area you sell) would you be interested?” You most often hear this on prospecting calls and it just doesn’t work.

4. Puts you in an inferior position – These kinds of questions diminish your power as a salesperson. When you ask, “What will it take to earn your business?” you’re almost begging them to come up with a demand.

If you ask, “What is your budget?” the focus is now on the guesstimate they put together last year & not on the real problem and what it will take to solve the problem. It implies you’ll keep your proposal under that number. Instead focus on pain & impact. Talk about the budget later (if at all).

5. Too general – Some questions are so general, they don’t get the response you desire. For example, to create dialogue in a presentation asking, “Do you have any questions?” rarely does the job. It’s too open ended. Plus, when you think about it, it calls for a yes/no answer. Instead, be more specific. Try, “What were your thoughts about (the topic you just presented)?”

Bottom line, most bad questions come from poor preparation, not thinking through the impact. The problem with these kinds of questions is they usually trigger bad answers. Dumb questions get dumb answers. Vague questions get vague or useless answers. And you run the risk of being categorized yourself as “not impressive” or “generic salesperson” and may get mentally dismissed right away.

Here’s what you can do instead:

1. Build a database of questions you’ve asked or others have asked that you like or have worked for you in the past

2. Flag questions that hit one of the problem areas mentioned above

3. Correct or eliminate them from your database.

4. Continually add questions and edit them once a quarter.

Have a great week!

Bob