You Don't Have to Answer Every Question

Today's selling point from communication expert Dianna Booher has an excellent point - you don't have to answer every question! If you're uncomfortable with a question, there are ways of deflecting it without stammering or turning beet red! Booher explains:

Growing up, we had to answer every question the classroom teacher asked, and that feeling of "must" still lingers. There are several ways you can deflect a question you don't want to answer, with or without giving a reason: "If I understand your question correctly, you're really asking if...," and give your own interpretation. "Your question prompts me to ask you something first. Is..." "I don't think that question has an answer." "The answer to that question would be purely speculative."

You can also use humor to deflect a question: "What a question! Do you want to get me fired?" (said with a light tone). "Don't we all wish we had the answer to that one...I'd settle even for half an answer." "You must have spent all night phrasing that question; give me a couple of weeks to come up with an answer, will you?"

If you're unsure whether the questioner has manipulative intentions, you can always ask the reason for the question or explain your reluctance in a straightforward way: "I'm curious. Why do you ask that question?" or "Under the circumstances, I don't think I want to answer that question" or "Such a question makes me a little uncomfortable. I'm not in a position to know all the related facts."

Sometimes not answering the question is the best response.

Author of 42 books, Dianna Booher, CSP, CPAE, delivers keynotes, breakout sessions, and training on communication and life-balance issues. Her latest books: Speak with Confidence, Your Signature Life, Your Signature Work, E-Writing, and Communicate with Confidence. www.Dianna-Booher.com

The Worst Tele-Prospecting Questions You Can Ask - Part 2

Today we're sharing the second part of this article from sales trainer Jim Domanski. Make sure you're not asking any of these questions during your prospecting calls!

Worst Question #3: What do you like about your current supplier?

In effect, here's what you are saying to the prospect, "Tell all the great things about your current vendor so that you will convince yourself not to make a change. Remind yourself why you made this brilliant choice in the first place so that you can pat yourself on the back."

Forgive the sarcasm. But this question is definitely maddening. It does nothing to help your selling cause. It builds your competitor up and because the prospect is articulating their merits it'll be awfully hard to knock them down.

Instead, ask the prospect what they like to see in a vendor. Let the prospect tell you about the ideal service they would like to get. See how you compare. Don't even bother with the current competitor. Who cares? It's not what they do, it's what YOU do.

Worst Question #4: Is there anything you don't like about your current vendor?

Think about this one for a moment. The prospect doesn't know you from Adam or Eve and out of the blue you are asking him/her to divulge the faults and flaws of your competitor. How often do you think that's going to work?

It's not.

Sure, if you get lucky you might find a flawed vendor and an annoyed prospect. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut. But in the vast majority of the calls you make, this question will get you a blunt "no." Like Maddening Question #3, the prospect is reminded that there's nothing wrong with their current supplier or, at best, better the devil they know then the devil they don't. Net result? Resistance to change.

Stick with what they'd like to see in a vendor. Determine what elements are the most important (price, delivery, selection, terms etc.) Create a general question like, "Are you getting all those elements all the time?" Ask if they've ever been caught short? Ask what they do if there's a delay or if a product is unavailable? Ask if they have a back up plan?

These questions can open doors, not close them.

Worst Question #5: what do I have to do to earn your business?

And finally...

This maddening question has been around for decades and has been driving your prospect nuts for just as long. In their mind what you are really saying is this, "Make this easy for me because I don't really want to work at it. Tell me what you want so I don't have to probe and find out."

Prospects resent this. It's lazy. And those that give you an answer often give you ridiculous answers like, "I want free shipping on every order over ten bucks...and oh...I want 120 days... oh... forget the days, how about consignment?"

Look, if you don't know how to probe for needs, start learning now!

Questions can work for you or against you. Think about your questions before you ask!

By Jim Domanski of Teleconcepts Consulting. Please visit Jim's web site at www.teleconceptsconsulting.com for additional articles and resources for tele-sales professionals.

The Worst Tele-Prospecting Questions You Can Ask

Today and tomorrow we will be featuring sales trainer Jim Domanski and his tele-prospecting advice. Specifically, how you can avoid asking the worst tele-prospecting questions ever! I know I've been guilty of a few of these at some time or another, so you probably have too. Don't worry - they're easy to fix!

Questioning a prospect is a good thing, right? Questioning builds rapport, uncovers needs, gathers information, and identifies possible objections. There are lots of benefits.

Or so it would seem.

But the truth of the matter is that there are some questions that telephone users should utterly avoid. They annoy your prospects and they can threaten the success of your call. Here are the four most maddening questions of all time. Purge them from your calling process.

Worst Question #1: How are you today?


Nothing, absolutely nothing, puts a prospect on the defensive faster than this question!

While YOU might think it's a real rapport builder the vast majority of your prospects think just the opposite. When surveyed well over 90% of prospects felt that the question is trite and insincere. They found it 'wastes time' but perhaps more significantly, it puts them on their guard because it creates a stereotypical (and negative) image of an invasive "telemarketer" who is trying to sell them something.

Look, the bottom line is this: you don't really care how the prospect is, do you? You want a sale, lead or an appointment. And they KNOW that. They know you don't care. They know it's a filler question.

So why would you use it?

It buys you absolutely nothing and it may cost you a lot. It may tarnish your 'professional' image.

Worst Question #2: Did I catch you at a good time?

This question is a real sales killer. Hands down.

While asking a prospect 'is now is a good time' is polite and considerate, what it really does is provide a ready-made excuse to terminate the call. Picture the scene: how many times have you asked that question and the prospect says, 'Ya, sure...It's a great time! I wasn't doing anything important. In fact, I was just sitting here with my feet on the desk hoping that a sales rep would give me a call and pitch me?"

Rarely happens, right?

Of course, some prospects do say yes but the majority don't. At the moment they say 'no' you flounder and stumble around a bit and murmur something about calling later or 'when is a good time.' If the prospect does give you a time, they are never there when you make your follow up call. Waste of everyone's time and energy.

I am all for polite and courteous tele-prospecting. But instead of putting your call in the chopping block, try this, "_____, If I have caught you at a good time what I would like to do is ask you a few questions, get a feel for you situation and see if there might be a way ...(insert your benefit).'

Positioned this way, the client gets a feel or a sense that you have been polite about the 'time' thing but you are not really asking about the time; you're asking about questions. If you move seamlessly into your first question, your client will likely answer.

This subtle but extremely effective technique can dramatically change your contact rate and help you convert more contacts to sales or leads. Use it.

By Jim Domanski of Teleconcepts Consulting. Please visit Jim's web site at www.teleconceptsconsulting.com for additional articles and resources for tele-sales professionals.

Quote of the Week

"A vision is a clearly-articulated, results-oriented picture of a future you intend to create. It is a dream with direction." -- Jesse Stoner Zemel

I love the idea of a "dream with direction." We've been taught since we were little to dream big, but those dreams often seem unrealistic and unattainable. Having direction is what really makes dreams possible.

Direction means your dream has a plan, with action steps that take you closer to it day by day. It also means your dreams are possible - and whether you reach them is up to you!

5 Steps to Believing YOU Can

I think this article is perfect for a Friday, especially if it's been a long, hard week and you're in need of a pick-me-up to power through the day. Today sales trainer Rochelle Togo-Figa shares the steps to believing in yourself - no matter what life throws your way. Be strong, believe in yourself, and have a great Friday!

A key step to creating success in your life starts with believing in yourself and believing you can do it. When you have a powerful positive belief system, nothing can shake your foundation. It is the core of who you are.

Do you believe in yourself? The best way to answer this question is to look at where your life is right now. Do you have all the things you really want in your life? Are you satisfied with what you've accomplished? Do you believe your wishes/dreams will come true?

We may want to believe we can have anything we want, yet something gets in the way of that happening. And that "something" can be limiting thoughts. Those nasty little thoughts sneak in and keep us from feeling good about who we are.

It's not unusual after you take on something big in your life, like starting your own business or doing something you've never done before, to have all your doubts and fears come up. Some familiar thoughts you may have are, "Can I do this?" "What if I fail?" "Am I good enough?"

I can remember when I decided I wanted to take my business to the next level; I was so excited. I knew it was time to play a bigger game but then those nasty thoughts started to creep in. There was always this little voice in my head saying, "You don't have what it takes. You're not smart enough. What if you fail?" I knew if things were going to change, it was up to me to make those changes. I then took the steps to shifting my thinking forever.

Here are 5 steps I created to help you to believe you can:

1. Love yourself for who you are. Before you can let love in, you must first learn to love who you are. We are all whole and complete just as we are. We all came into this world as magnificent human beings fully expressed. Sadly, many people walk around feeling there is something wrong with them and with the world. And, they're never satisfied with what they have or who they are. They never appreciate what they've accomplished because they're always thinking "what's next?"

The good news is nothing's wrong, there's nothing to fix, there is no where to get to because you're already there. There is nothing you need to do to make yourself better because you're perfect just as you are.

2. Trust. So often, we walk through life with an expectation that things "should be" a certain way. And, when that doesn't happen, we're upset, frustrated, and angry. We then make ourselves and others wrong. We start walking around complaining and blaming others.

There were many times when I was frustrated about my business. I had limiting thoughts like, "Why don't I have more clients? I'm never going to make the money I want to make."

I then took on practicing a new way of thinking. I consciously changed my thoughts and focused on trusting it would turn out. And each morning, I would think of what I wanted in my life and business and say, "I trust it will come to me." When I did that, the door of abundance opened up and new opportunities flowed in.

3. Appreciate your accomplishments. If you want to attract more abundance into your life, slow down and allow yourself to be present to your accomplishments. When we take the time to do this, we're opening up a space of more of the same to come to us.

Think about it this way. If you spend most of your time thinking about what you don't have, what do you think you'll attract the most? That's right! You attract that which you focus on the most. Most times we rush through life thinking about the next thing rather than appreciating what have right now.

When you take the time to appreciate your accomplishments, you are allowing yourself to bask in the victory of what you have achieved.

4. Be Grateful. Quite often, people dwell on what they don't have and complain why they don't have what they want. And the more they do that, the more they perpetuate the same. Remember, like attracts like. They focus on the future and that some day they'll have more money or more clients.

It's just as important to your happiness to take time to be grateful for the things you have right now and have already accomplished. When you do that, you're immersing yourself in the positive energetic forces of life that are around you. And, what you focus your attention on most is what comes to you. The more you are grateful for, the more you open yourself up to attracting more of the same.

Here's a brief statement taken from Joe Vitale's book, The Attractor Factor. "Feel thankful for your life, your lungs, your home, it doesn't matter. Once you feel gratefu l, you are in an energy that can create miracles."

5. Choices. You are where you are because of choices you made. The choices we make in our lives help to make us who we are today. If you don't like what you have, you can change it. When you decided to start your business that was a choice you made.

Each day we have thousands and thousands of thoughts. We may not think we can choose our thoughts but that's because we think we have no say in how we think. However, the truth is, if we don't like the thoughts we have, we can change them and choose more positive thoughts.

Every day you get to choose how the day is going to go. So why not make it a great one! It's a conscious choice you make to believe in yourself and you can start today.

Rochelle Togo-Figa, The Sales Breakthrough Strategist, is the creator of the Inner Game of Sales, a proven step-by-step sales process that will help you close more sales, sign on more clients and make more money with ease and velocity. To sign up for her free sales articles and teleclasses on closing more sales, visit www.SalesBreakthroughs.com.

What Are You Putting Off?

Today sales trainer Kelley Robertson shares some important advice on getting things done - rather than putting off what you don't want to do.

If you're like many people in sales and in business, you are probably NOT doing something that you should be.

It might be cold calling, attending networking events, writing an article for an industry magazine, improving your product knowledge, or enhancing your selling skills. Perhaps you need to follow up with a challenging customer or research a new prospect's business so you can properly position your solution.

Let's face it, sometimes-actually quite often-the tasks people put off doing are the precise ones that will help them increase their sales. Unfortunately, these activities are usually less enjoyable so it's easy to procrastinate and focus on doing something that is more enjoyable.

Here's a suggestion.

Each day, focus on completing one activity that you don't particularly enjoy BEFORE you do anything else. Resist the urge to do something more enjoyable and resolve that you will complete that one task. Stick with it until you have finished that activity.

The major benefit of this approach is that your productivity will dramatically increase and your stress level will decrease. If you develop this habit, you will defeat procrastination and notice an improvement in your results.

As President of The Robertson Training Group, Kelley has helped thousands of professionals improve their business results with his engaging approach to sales training and speaking. Learn more at www.robertsontraininggroup.com

Subject Line Matters!

As email prospecting becomes a bigger and bigger part of sales, salespeople have to become more and more creative to stay ahead. Getting a prospect to open your email has become increasingly difficult...sales trainer Mark Hunter explains why.

When you're sending an email to a person who may not know you well, do you know why it is so important to make your subject title short and clear?

I have one answer: Smartphones. It has become increasingly common for people to handle all of their email on their phones. What this means is that they are cruising through their email in-box on a much smaller device, and they are making quicker decisions as to where to allocate their time.

Your ability to capture someone's attention may come down to as few as 15 characters in your subject line! Be sure you are choosing them wisely. I wish the days still existed when we had a couple of paragraphs to really gain someone's attention. Sadly, though, some people are deleting emails before they even open them — based solely on the subject line.

I will even go as far as to say you should ALWAYS assume that any email you send to a customer or prospect is going to be read on a smartphone (and only a smartphone). The more refined your writing skills become, the greater likelihood you have of sending emails that actually get read!

Your subject line matters. More than you maybe realized.

Contact Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter for your next Conference or Sales Meeting. To see and hear Mark Hunter now visit www.TheSalesHunter.com