| Turn Up The Heat | | | | continues?" "How are your customers affected?" |
| If he had a long enough lever and a place to put | | | | "What opportunities does this situation represent |
| the fulcrum, the Greek mathematician | | | | for the company and for you?" Good leverage |
| Archimedes said, he could move the world. | | | | questions identify what's at stake for the buyer's |
| "Leverage questions" offer that kind of power to | | | | company, but the very best ones aim at |
| salespeople. These are open-ended questions | | | | discovering the customer's personal hot buttons. |
| designed to uncover the hot-button emotional | | | | Unless the buyer owns the company, boosting |
| issues that actually drive a customer's buying | | | | productivity or decreasing waste are not gut |
| decision. What key benefits do buyers want to | | | | issues. Here's a gut issue: "How will I be better off |
| gain by making the purchase, either for their | | | | if I bring this solution to my employer? Will I look |
| companies or, more critically, for themselves? | | | | like a genius? Will I get a promotion? A bonus? |
| In other words, leverage questions are queries | | | | Some recognition I crave?" |
| that allow the salesperson to find out, from the | | | | By clarifying what's really at stake with a business |
| buyer's perspective, "What's really in it for me?" | | | | problem or opportunity, leverage questions |
| This tells the salesperson which needs are most | | | | increase the customer's desire for a solution. And |
| critical to address when presenting product | | | | they let the salesperson know how to present a |
| features and benefits. What's more, by clarifying | | | | product as the right solution to the right issues. |
| the actual stakes of the decision in the customer's | | | | In The Field: |
| mind, leverage questions serve to "turn up the | | | | Leverage questions offer the highest payoff |
| emotional heat," making the expected gains even | | | | when they are used in the context of a full-scale |
| more desirable to the buyer. | | | | sales strategy - a strategy that tells you how to |
| Leverage questions turn up the heat by clarifying | | | | build up to asking such questions and what to do |
| what's at stake for the buyer, not just the seller. | | | | with the information after you've uncovered it. |
| As you ask open-ended questions to investigate a | | | | That's what Action Selling Sales Training |
| customer's needs, you will come upon some | | | | Workshops teach. |
| needs that seem to have a particular urgency. | | | | The national sales director of retail-photocopy |
| Whenever you suspect this is the case, ask a | | | | giant Kinko's puts it this way: "By learning to sell |
| leverage question to confirm your hunch and | | | | via the Action Selling sales skills process, our |
| clarify the situation. Examples of leverage | | | | salespeople now know where they stand at |
| questions: "How has this problem affected your | | | | every stage during a call and can proceed |
| company?" "How has it affected you, personally?" | | | | strategically. They are better able to manage a |
| "What are the consequences if the problem | | | | sales call from start to finish. |