13 Consultative Sales Questions for the Inside Sales Professional

Consultative Sales Questions for the Inside Sales Professional

Consultative Selling for Inside Sales

Consultative selling is not just the domain of the outside sales professional. In fact, if your entire organization is not focused on assisting the buyer in discovering their needs before pitching the deal, you’re missing a critical component to your contemporary sales approach.

Inside sales representatives – those dogged pharaohs of the phones, sultans of the speed dialers, and executors of the Excel files – play a critical role in establishing the tone and tenor of the seller-buyer relationship. And, as we at The Brooks Group advise during our IMPACT Selling sales training program, consultative selling can be the most critical differentiating factor.

With today’s buyers in control – able to summon product and service info and data about your company with a few taps of the keyboard or screen – your sales professionals need to be adept at selling not just your offering, but also the concept of themselves as strategic advisors. Able to solve buyers’ business problems, and focused on a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship, your strategic advisors hold the key to breaking through the clutter.

But, how to do this in just a simple, introductory phone call? The good news is that the consultative selling approach can be applied to the “cold call,” making it a warmer experience for both parties.

train your team with consultative sales process

 

Proven Consultative Selling Questions

In our experience of working with inside sales organizations to win at consultative selling, we have zeroed in on a palette of questions that can set the scene. Though the heart of consultative selling is a tailored approach, we find that these 13 questions have proven to be winners – over the years, and in hundreds of industries:

  •  What are some of the major challenges within your business in the past 12 months?
  • What impact have these had on your profits/morale/success?
  • What, if anything, is something you would never want to see changed?
  • What do you like most about your current supplier?
  • What kind of time frame are you working within?
  • What kind of budget range do you have in mind?
  • What have you seen that’s particularly appealed to you?
  • What process do you use to make this type of decision?
  • Who else, other than you, of course, is involved in this decision?
  • If you could change anything about your current situation, what would it be?
  • What is the single thing that’s most important to you about this decision?
  • If we were able to solve your problem, what would this mean to your organization?
  • What would solving your problem mean to you personally?

Of course, it’s up to you to apply a modicum of specificity to these consultative sales questions as a means of driving home a message that is in the wheelhouse of your prospect’s interests.

For more than 40 years, The Brooks Group has partnered with sales organizations around the globe—helping them to hire, train, coach, and develop salespeople and sales managers to reach maximum performance levels.

If we can help you set your team up for consistent sales success, let’s start a conversation.

The Essential Customer Service Skills That Translate to Increased Sales

The Essential Customer Service Skills That Translate to Increased Sales

In a world where the customer is king, the secret to growing your business is keeping your customers happy. The skills outlined in this whitepaper will help your team provide exceptional customer service during every client interaction they have—and translate their efforts into additional revenue for your organization.

Written By

Michelle Richardson

Michelle Richardson is the Vice President of Sales Performance Research. In her role, she is responsible for spearheading industry research initiatives, overseeing consulting and diagnostic services, and facilitating ROI measurement processes with partnering organizations. Michelle brings over 25 years of experience in sales and sales effectiveness functions through previously held roles in curriculum design, training implementation, and product development to the Sales Performance Research Center.
Michelle Richardson is the Vice President of Sales Performance Research. In her role, she is responsible for spearheading industry research initiatives, overseeing consulting and diagnostic services, and facilitating ROI measurement processes with partnering organizations. Michelle brings over 25 years of experience in sales and sales effectiveness functions through previously held roles in curriculum design, training implementation, and product development to the Sales Performance Research Center.

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