Paul Castain's Blog

12 Questioning Mistakes & How To Avoid Them

Posted March 23, 2013

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Our ability to ask awesome questions can make or break the deals we work so hard to get in front of!

That shouldn’t shock you, in fact, I wouldn’t blame you if you responded to that with a “DUH!” (all caps too) with an eye roll for dramatic effect,  but . . .

Having said that, most people make a ton of mistakes when it comes to questions and the “Determining Needs” step.

If you are making these mistakes, I can pretty much guarantee you that you are losing deals!

That’s why we need to go there girlfriend!

Here’s What You’ll Learn In Today’s Session . . .

1)   How to seriously challenge the questions you’re asking now and bring them up like 700 notches by doing one simple exercise. Actually, that’s not completely true because I also mention something else you can do that will bring it up to like 800 notches. Its like that amp in Spinal Tap that goes to “11”!

2)   Why focusing exclusively on “Pain Points” is limiting you and how to correct that bad boy right quick!

3)   How to identify your prospect’s “Hot Button” immediately! You do understand that they don’t have all day to play “20 Questions” right?

4)   Why asking one type of question will get you into trouble and how asking another type will lead to Jedi Mastery and no, its none of that “open ended” “closed” questions stuff!

5)   Why the timing of when you ask your questions is critical.

6)   Why focusing on the most vocal person in a meeting is a huge mistake and how to facilitate discussions with EVERYONE on their team.

7)   The problem with the sequence of your questions versus the natural flow of your conversation with your prospect(s).

8)   Something we forget to do when we race to the next question on our list (besides listening)

9)   How your enthusiasm actually can get you into trouble and move the discussion prematurely towards price.

10)               How to dig deeper when someone answers your question.

11)               A questioning mistake that will give your competitors an edge. Actually, you might be screwed already so you’ll want to do the assignment I offer to get you back on the inside track!

12)               One of the biggest benefits you’ll get by asking better questions and quite frankly, most people miss this one completely!

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Paul Castain
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Paul Castain, Founder & CEO
paul@yoursalesplaybook.com

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