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Qualifying Questions
Ending the First Month in the New Year
Whew! Month one in and done.
Are you off to a good start? Did you start and stop and start again? Did you hit your target for the January yet?
This is a good beginning, whatever the outcome. You are a starting a new process and you are completing your first milestone. Take a look at your actions and results and find something to celebrate – even it’s just sticking to the program!
You are likely in this for the long run and not just a quick accomplishment, so slow and steady wins th…
New Year’s Celebrations, anyone?
Starting something new takes time to incorporate into our lives. We see it when we put last year’s year on checks (who writes checks anymore?) or on documents. New things take getting used to.
And it’s likely that we don’t build enough celebration into new activities…would you agree?
Setting short-term milestones or hitting daily targets are celebration worthy accomplishments that will keep enthusiasm up and focus strong. We know it’s easy to get distracted or to make setbacks seem lar…
Take Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Starting new practices and habits isn’t a smooth process. After the initial excitement and inspiration wears off and old habits start to call to us, we feel pulled in a couple of directions: moving toward the future that we envision and desire and being tethered to a familiar way of doing things. We start to tell ourselves that the current reality is not so bad….and maybe we just need to live with it.
Fear. Resignation. Hopelessness.
When we know that breakdowns will occur or we may f…
New Actions in Action
Actions are the only things that produce results. New actions feel awkward at first and sometimes that awkwardness stops us from continuing them.
If you know this might happen, then it’s not a surprise when it does. That’s why you want to keep actions to a very few and repeatable if possible. Feeling awkward lessens with practice. And how we know we are doing something new IS the awkwardness of it…so that is good news!
Have a reasonable expectation of what new actions will produce. Give…
Get It in Writing
Have you finished writing your goals for the new year yet?
If this is your first-time setting goals and putting them on paper, then give yourself a break. Did you get started and distracted? Did you lose your way? Did you need help with articulation but didn’t ask for it? No worries, just sit down and finish it. Even if you only have a couple of things written down, it’s a start.
If you have written goals before and had good results and still haven’t finished, well…are your goals inspiring…
The Second PR Word
This is the second in a series of four blogs about P R words. What did you gain from the last blog to learn more about the PRoblem that your client/customer is facing? Let’s keep looking at our next P R word….
PRiority
- What matters MOST to them NOW?
- What are the key and essential elements of the problem they are trying to solve or the vision they are trying to realize?
- What are the motivating aspects of this process and decision that is driving them now?
This part of the sales i…
The 4 PR Words
Nope, it’s not about public relations. This is the first in a series of four words beginning with P R that are critical to ask and to know.
P and R are the first two letters of FOUR words that impact the sales interaction and the outcome. These are questions we should be asking them and ourselves about what is in the mind of the customer/client and what is driving their decision-making. Let’s look….
PRoblem
- What is behind this purchase and decision?
- What is the ‘current reality’ that th…
Guardrails #2
To continue with the guardrail conversation… setting boundaries.
A boundary that helps guide the conversation is the ability to say “No.”
Say NO when the client/customer asks for things that cannot be done – either within the current budget or timeframe.
Say NO when the client/customer asks for additions without adding to what they are paying for it.
Say NO when the client/customer asks you to ‘take it out of your commission’.
Say NO when the client/customer asks you to do something that you know is…
Guardrails #1
In the very simplest of terms, as a sales professional, our job is to make it easy for our customers/clients to say yes… and to buy from us.
To do that, we need to truly be responsible for the entire sales interaction and how it goes, and where it ends up.
Guardrails help that.
By guardrails, I mean guiding the conversation so that it doesn’t veer off course and stays in the lane for the intended outcome. Guardrails include asking questions that will direct the discussion and get the answer…
GRATEFUL QUESTIONING
How can we bring gratitude to questioning? When do we need it the most?
Let’s look at where questions start. Are they coming from a place of interest and helpfulness?
Are the questions originating from compassion and a desire to understand?
Are the questions courageous (tough to ask but we know we must) and considerate (asked in a
way that is respectful and kind)?
When a sales interaction is successful (in that it produced a sale or an appointment), take a moment to present and to be gratef…
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