You get on a call with a certain prospect for the first time. You’re both strangers to each other and you have no idea what’s going on in their mind. And you want to make sure they’re the right fit for your product.
But how?
How do you know you’re talking to the right person? How do you know exactly what they’re looking for? And if they turn out to be the right fit, how do you know what to emphasize when you pitch to them later?
The answer is simple – sales questions!
Sales questions are the key to finding out what’s on your prospect’s mind. And what better time than the discovery call to ask away?
Asking the right questions at the right time helps you ace your discovery calls by connecting with and understanding more about your prospects. So we’ve covered 10 such sales questions that help you understand your prospects’ needs, wants, and everything you need to create your perfect sales pitch.
Open-Ended vs Close-Ended Sales Questions
Let’s take a look at the two categories of sales questions.
What Are Open-Ended Sales Questions?
Open-ended sales questions are the questions you ask your prospect to build rapport with them while also uncovering their needs and pain points. Generally, they start with question words like “what”, “when”, “why”, and “how.
For example:
- What is your current role in your organization?
- What issues are you facing in your role at the moment?
- When did you start facing this issue?
- Why do you want to solve it? What’s at stake?
- How would you describe your ideal solution to your problem?
- Have I understood your concerns correctly? Is there anything else I should know?
What Are Close-Ended Sales Questions?
These are questions that you can ask to detect needs that your prospect may not yet realize they have. These questions can also be used to find out their implicit thoughts and uncover withheld information. These questions generally begin with verbs like “do”, “is”, “are”, “have”, etc., and usually elicit yes/no answers.
For example:
- Do you have an existing solution to your problem?
- Are you satisfied with your existing solution?
- Is the product within your budget range?
- Are there any other product/products that you’re using at the moment that you plan to integrate with ours?
- Would you like us to schedule a demo next?
10 B2B Sales Questions to Ask on Your Next Discovery Call
1. “What are your responsibilities as {your prospect’s role} at {company name}?”
This is one of the first and foremost questions that you should ask your prospect during your discovery call. On the surface, it seems like a rapport-building question to get to know them better.
However, this question also helps ensure you’re talking to someone with sufficient knowledge of the company’s needs. Additionally, it helps you make sure they have the decision-making authority to take a call regarding the purchase of your product, so you know you’re talking to the right person.
2. “How can we help you (or) What issues are you facing at the moment?”
The purpose of this question is to get them talking about their needs, wants, interests, and pain points at their organization. Their team could be facing a certain roadblock that they seek to solve by purchasing your product or service.
The information gained from the answer can be used to gauge whether the prospect has the right needs for your product or service. If they are precisely what your product seeks to solve, you’re on the right track.
3. “What is your ideal outcome? What are your goals for the next quarter?”
This question helps you understand your prospect’s expectations as a customer. Are their expectations realistic? Is their ideal outcome achievable? Have your previous customers been able to achieve this same outcome?
If your answers are yes, yes, and yes, then you’ve hit the jackpot! You can rest assured knowing that your prospect won’t have unmet expectations.
4. “What is your most pressing concern regarding this issue?”
This is a question meant to elicit further information regarding your prospect’s expectations. The previous question tends to uncover information by scratching the surface whereas this one seeks to look at it from a deeper perspective.
This makes sure you’re not missing any key points regarding your prospects expectations from your product. Partially met expectations make unsatisfied customers.
5. “How severe is the issue? How much is it costing you?”
This question can help you understand the depth of your prospect’s problem. The greater the cost of the issue, the higher their need for a solution. The cost of the issue to your customer can also help you ascertain your customer’s satisfaction with the price of the product.
Moreover, the greater the cost of the issue, the more severe it is, and consequently, the quicker they want a solution for it. This helps you determine your prospect’s urgency for a solution.
6. “Who have you been working with so far to solve this issue? Why have they failed?”
When pitching your product or service to your prospect, you should be well-versed with their perception of alternative solutions in the industry. Your product should be superior to those of your competitors’ and your pitch needs to back it up.
For this, understanding why their existing solution failed to fix the issue is a must. It is crucial in understanding how you can take your competitor’s spot by showing your prospect how they won’t come across the same obstacles as a customer to your company.
7. “How do you evaluate new products?”
This question is intended to discover what standards your prospect expects from newly purchased products and services. This could be timely customer support, easy user interface, efficiency, and quality of service.
It also helps you understand what they expect from your customer success team once they’re a customer. Happy customers renew their contracts with you and turn into advocates for your product to other organizations in your target market.
8. “Do you have the budget for our product?”
You could land yourself the most ideal prospect you could ever find but unless they have the budget to purchase your product or service, it’s not going anywhere.
Of course, you don’t have to reveal the price of your product for an answer to this question. It is merely aimed at discerning whether or not they’re willing to close on a fair deal. If they’re tight on budget, you could offer alternate, cheaper plans that still solve the needs and issues pointed out earlier on in the call.
9. “Have we covered everything? Is there anything else I should know?”
This is intended to ensure you’re not leaving anything out that may have been overlooked during the conversation. The discovery call is the best (and probably only) opportunity to find out the most about your prospect and you need to make the most of it by covering as much as ground possible.
This question also gives your prospect some space to recollect what’s been discussed during the call and try to remember whether they’ve missed anything or left something important unsaid.
10. “When’s a good time to follow up with you?”
A discovery call that fails to fix a follow-up time is a discovery call in vain. After a long and hard session of finding out your prospect’s pain points, budget, expectations, and need for your product, you’d want to make sure they stay connected.
A fixed time for the follow-up call is precisely what can help you in this regard. Your prospect is most probably not going to ask you to fix a time for the follow up so it’s on you to make sure you do.
Leave Nothing Unsaid
These 10 questions will help you understand what gets your prospect to buy. More importantly, they also give you an idea of what they expect from your product and how you can keep them happy as a customer.
If your customer is delighted with your service, they’ll return to renew their contracts with you repeatedly. And the best way to find this customer is by asking the right sales questions.
Ask and you shall receive!
