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Asking great questions should be a part of every sales call. But, there may be a difference between the questions you are asking and great questions. Great questions solicit candid, thoughtful feedback, which leads you closer to making a sale. Based on fifteen years of sales experience and countless hours of training and courses on the topic, here are what I believe to be the five best questions that you can ask while in front of a prospect….

1) Who signs the order or agreement?
I used to ask who the decision-maker is, but I have been burned too many times on that question. My experience tells me the following: (1) the decision-maker is commonly not the person who signs your deal and (2) the decision-maker likes to pretend they are in charge of the decision, when they are really not. These two points are especially relevant in strategic sales applications. I would argue that most sales people know who signs the order less than 50% of the time. Now, that does not mean that you will not earn the business, it just infers that you leave yourself open for the competition to align themselves with the correct person. I have never come across anyone who has not been truthful when I asked “who signs the order?” People who do not have the authority to do so, will not put themselves out there if they cannot execute the agreement.

2) What is my competition saying about me?
This is the quintessential assumptive question. If they are talking to others, this question will uncover who they are and what their positioning is. Or if they are not talking to others, this question will generally open up discussion around whether the buyer intends on inviting other companies to participate in the opportunity. You may be thinking, “Why introduce competition when there may not be any?” Again, my experience tells me that buyers will elect to include another vendor (or not!), whether you bring it up or not. Give this question a try, I think you might be pleasantly surprised by the discussions it generates.

3) Even though you want our product, what are the reasons why you would not be able to buy it right now?
This is a terrific question because it gets to the heart of several possible sales obstacles. First, while the person you are speaking with may want your solution, it does not mean that the organization is really committed to buying it. Your question will uncover the true obstacles to closing this sale. And it makes it easy for this person to defer the challenges to your sale to another person or department, if appopriate. Second, this question speaks directly to the timing of your prospective order. Sometimes this response will validate that this is a pressing issue for the potential buyer, but usually it will tell you the real timing of the opportunity. And yes, depending on what you are selling, your conversation may be one or two years ahead of their actual buying schedule.

4) After you say yes, what has to happen?
After experimenting with lots of different ways to ask this, the question above has proven to be the most effective at determining what the REAL decision-making and buying process is. I have found no other way to get to the heart of what happens next. The beauty of this question is that it includes the person you are engaged with as part of the buying process; yet, uncovers who else is involved and what other buying influences exist. The importance is not only in asking this question, but listening intently to the answer. This will reveal the keys to your success with regards to this order.

5) After we earn your business, what is the best way to encourage you to speak with others about your good experience with us?
This question addresses several relevant parts of your sales campaign. First, by starting off with an assumptive question, you can quickly qualify the buyer’s interest in you, your product/service or your company. If they did not want you to “earn” the business, their answers to this question would likely divulge that critical piece of data. Next, one of the best ways to grow your business is to cultivate a customer to an extent that they pro-actively tell others about you. This is no easy task. That is precisely why you ask the question before you close the sale. This way, you know exactly what you need to do in order to encourage this buyer to recommend you to others. Understanding the “triggers” to what motivates a buyer to talk favorably about you is paramount.

While there are many good questions to ask during a sales call, I have found these five to be the most beneficial. If you already using these, then measure yourself in terms of how often you are doing so and also what responses prospective buyers give you. If you are not asking these questions, then I recommend that you start right away. I believe that one’s ability to close business is often related to the quality of the questions he/she asks!