Inside sales training should improve sales performance. The best inside salespeople are innately curious about their prospect’s situation so, as part of what they learned in inside sales training, they ask effective questions that deepen their understanding of the client’s goals, challenges and needs.
Successful inside sales training reps have learned that the more accurately they can describe what the client needs, the better they can target their solution to help the client succeed. They take every opportunity to leverage what they have learned to expand their knowledge. How? They artfully use the kind of inside sales inquiry that is based on confirming questions.
The goal of confirming questions is simple: to make sure you focus on what is really bothering the customer so you don’t waste their time (and yours) on a side issue that doesn’t have priority.
Here is how we recommend you use inside sales training confirming questions in a way that is not annoying (the way the classic therapist simply parrots back their patient’s concerns):
- Establish common ground at the beginning of each interaction.It is helpful to confirm what you learned the last time you talked and to set the agenda for the current conversation. You can say something like, “The last time we met, we talked about the problems your customer service team was having in solving customer issues efficiently and effectively. Is that still your most pressing problem?
- Use the same language.Whether you’re meeting face-to-face or on the phone, jot down the key words the customer uses to describe their situation. When you “speak” a common language, the customer really feels heard. It shows you “get” what is bothering them and are really paying attention. Taking notes allows you to remember the most important points of the conversation and to reflect back in a way that shows you consider the exchange important enough to write down. Then when you get to the stage of proposal writing, your language will be familiar and you will describe the client’s needs the way they see them.
- Demonstrate your knowledge and credibility.Make a plan so you can ask your confirming questions in a variety of ways. Use phrases such as, “Is it accurate to say that…” or “Did I understand you correctly when you said…” You may not always get agreement but that’s good. What you are looking for is accuracy. You want to be sure you fully understand the client’s needs before you begin to design a solution to their problem.
Download the Top 7 Barriers to Inside Sales Success and How to Overcome Them
