Basic Sales Qualification Questions
Budget Questions
"How do you handle budget considerations?" "How will this product/project get funded?" "What sort of budget do you have in mind?" "We've got a number of options available; what were you looking to pay so I can match the right solution at the right price for you?" "Is there budget allocated for this project?" "Whose budget will support this initiative?" "Have you arrived at a budget or investment range for this project?" "Are funds allocated, or must they be requested?" "What is your expectation of investment required?" "So we don't waste any time, are there any budget parameters to remain within?" "Have you done this before, and at what investment level?" "What are you looking to spend on this?" "Are you working within a budget for this?" "Does your budget to solve the problem, match the severity of the problem?" "The last time something like this happened, how much did it cost you to fix it?" "What are your time and budget goals on this?" "As important as this is, I don't imagine you have a blank cheque to get it done...how much are you working to, to get this fixed?" "If you had unlimited funds, I could very easily put together a package to solve all the issues. Since I know that is not the case, I'll stay within the limits you give me. So, what is your overall budget for this?" "So what is your range on this? I mean, in a perfect world, what is the minimum amount you would like to see me get this done for? Then, what is the maximum you could possibly put into this, if it became absolutely necessary?" "Now, will you handle this solely from your department's budget? Or would you be working with other departments?" "So, what is your department's input in terms of the overall budget?" "You said the problem is costing you £X a year. So how does your budget to fix it match up with that?" "From what you've told me, this issue cost your organisation £X every month. So what are you going to invest to stop that?" "With what you told me I can see that your organisation will spend £X over the next few months if this problem is not resolved. So, how much have you budgeted to prevent spending that money again this year?" "From what you've told me, your competition is enjoying a huge advantage over you because of this. How much have you budgeted to take the lead back?" "Ok, so we know this is costing you X amount of sales every day/month/quarter/year. (Calculate a figure that is close to the cost of your top package) Have you budgeted at least that amount to fix this?" "So what do you think it is worth for you to get rid of this problem?" "This is a multi-faceted problem that will take time to get completely right. But for right now, how much do you have to take the first step?" "How much have you budgeted for the first step in this project?" "How much can you afford right now?" "What did you plan on investing in this?"
Financial Probing Questions
"What is it costing you?" "Do you know in what other areas the problem is costing you money?" "Can you put an amount on the problem in terms of cost: Weekly, monthly, annually?" "Can you see how much money you/your organization loses every day by not solving this issue?" "How does the problem ultimately affect your pricing/selling costs?" "How much does this problem cost you in man hours/time?" "Looking at this from a point of lost sales, how much is just one sale worth to the company?" "How much is the issue/problem costing you in time/money/resources/staff/energy?" "Can you make an educated guess as to how much it costs you?" "What kind of return or payoff will you be looking for if you get a successful resolution of the problem?" "What are you working with at the moment? Just a ball park... " "How do you handle budget considerations?" Accountability and Clarity Probing Questions "Who is ultimately responsible for this?" "Why are you seeking to do this work/project/engagement?" "Who else is aware of it?" "What has made you want to look into this now?" "What kind of timeframe are you working within?" "Is there anything I have overlooked?" "Have I covered everything?" "What alternatives have you considered?" "Do you have any questions you'd like to ask me?" "What other factors have we not discussed that are important to you?" "Are there any other areas I haven't asked you about that are important?" "What else should I know?" "Have I asked you about every detail that's important to you?" "How soon would you like to move with this?" "Does this affect other parts of the business?" "What's your role in this situation/issue/problem?" "Who supports this action?"
Action Oriented Probing Questions
"What number would you put on this issue in terms of prioritization?" "How much more productive could your people be if the problem did not exist?" "If you were your competition, what would you do right now?" "If you could design the perfect solution, what would it look like, how much would you spend, and how long would it go for?" "What sense of urgency do you have here?" "What three key outcomes do you want from solving the problem?" "What are your top three requirements that this solution just has to have?" "If you could have things the way you wanted, what would it look like?" "What are you using/doing now?" "How important is this need (on a scale of 1-10)?" "What options are you currently looking at?" "In a perfect world, what would you like to see happen with this?" "What is your strategy to fix this problem?" "What are you currently doing to address the problem?"
Questions for identifying symptoms for big picture problems
"Why isn't this particular service/product/situation/issue working for you right now?" "How long has it been an issue/problem?" "Why do you think the issue/problem has been going on for so long?" "How much longer can you afford to have the problem go unresolved?" "How is it impacting your organization/customers/staff?" "How severe is the problem?" "When do you need the issue/problem fixed by?" "Why have you been dealing with this for so long?" "What bothers you the most about this situation/issue/problem?" "What has prevented you from fixing this in the past?" "What kind of timeframe are you working in to fix this?" "How long have you been thinking about it?" "Is this problem causing other problems?" "Does your competition have these problems?" "What is the biggest problem that you are facing with this?" "What other problems are you experiencing?" "What alternatives have you considered?" "What are the intangible effects of the problem?" "Does the issue cause problems with employee morale?" "Does the issue cause problems that negatively affect the motivation of your staff?" "Can this problem affect productivity?" "Is this problem unique to your organization?" "Is this an industry-wide problem?" "Is it regional or geographical?" "When you went to your existing supplier and shared your frustrations about this problem, what reassurances did they give you that it wouldn't be repeated?" "How did these problems/issues first come about? What were the original causes?" "What have you done in the past to address the problem?" "Does this affect other parts of the business?" "What kind of pressure is this causing you and the business?" "What options have you tried?" "What are the long-term effects of the problem?" "How does the problem ultimately affect your current customers?" "How does the problem ultimately affect your prospective customers?" "How does the problem ultimately affect your sales teams?" "How does the problem ultimately affect your other employees?" "How does the problem ultimately affect your sales process?" "How does the problem ultimately affect your reputation/goodwill/brand?" "Do you feel this problem/issue has given your competition a competitive advantage? If so, how?" "Who did you work with last time and why?" "How often do you think the problem has come up when you weren't aware of it?" "What are the long-term effects of the problem? If you were in your competitors' shoes, how would you take advantage of this?" "Do you know what your competition is thinking/planning about this?" "Do they suffer from the same problem?" "Does this affect other parts of the business?"
Questions to Ask Yourself
1. What regions will you serve and not serve? 2. What is the lowest you're able to discount? 3. What is the ideal size of your customer? 4. What industries do you serve? 5. What are your tradeoffs? 6. Who are your buyer personas? 7. How quickly are you able to go from sale to handoff/implementation?
Business Impact Questions
53. What does quantitative success look like for your business? 54. What are your necessities from this deal should it happen? 55. What spillover benefits or qualitative results would you like to see from this deal? 56. What are your normal daily tasks so I can better understand how we could help you? 57. How do you see your business needs changing as your company evolves? 58. Which teams/departments would be affected/would benefit from this? 59. Should we make a deal, who would need to be ramped up/trained on your end? 60. To what extent does seasonality impact your business?
Competitor & Industry Questions
61. Have you tried a solution like ours in the past? 62. If/when you tried to address this issue in the past, what was the result? 63. Why did you choose to consider us? 64. What do you know about us, our product, and/or our service? 65. Are you exploring any other options or consulting with any other solution in our industry? 66. What is it about [competitor] that has you considering them? 67. How did you hear about us? 68. Would we be replacing a current solution/supplier, or is this your first time working with a company in this industry? 69. Which company or provider are you currently working with for this? 70. Do you have a contract with one of our competitors? 71. Why did you initially choose to go with that company? 72. Why are you considering changing suppliers/partners at this time? 73. What specifically are you looking for in a deal with a new provider/partner? 74. Why are you unsatisfied with the current solution/state? 75. Is there any chance you'll decide to stay with your current solution, or are you definitely moving on?
Advancement Questions
76. What's the best way to communicate with you moving forward? 77. It seems like this would be a good fit for you. What do you think? 78. Do you have any concerns I can address at this time? 79. Are there any reasons why we can't move forward at this time? 80. Based on what I've described, do you believe what I'm able to offer can address your needs? 81. Does this sound like something that would be beneficial to your business? 82. Right now, what would you say could stop us from working together? 83. Do you have any concerns about how our product/service would work?
Awareness Questions
8. What is your name? 9. What is your email address? 10. What is your phone number? 11. What is your company name? 12. What is your company website? 13. What is your company's location? 14. What is your job title? 15. Is your company business-to-business or business-to-consumer? 16. Does your company offer products, services, or both? 17. What industry are you in? 18. How many employees does your company have? 19. How many customers does your company have? 20. How old is your company? 21. Would you like a demo/consultation? 22. Would you like to subscribe to our blog? 23. What is your social media handle? 24. Which of the following are you most interested in learning more about?
Closed - Not Now Questions
90. Would you consider us in the future should things not work out? 91. Why is it that you've decided to say no at this time? 92. Could we connect again in six months?
Resurfaced Lead Questions
93. What's changed in the past [timeline] that makes you want to consider working with us again? 94. Is [price range] still the budget you're looking at? 95. Has anything else pertaining to our deal changed since we last touched base?
Upselling Questions
96. Has our product/service lived up to your expectations? 97. Have you seen improvement to your revenue with our product? 98. Have you thought about renewing/reordering? 99. Is there anything we need to address that would keep you from reordering/renewing? 100. Have you looked into our solution on [blank]? 101. Do you need assistance in [area], which we have a solution/offering for?
Talk about a mutual connection
Bringing up the name of a mutual connection can increase your credibility. It's one of the elements of a top sales questions to ask potential clients. You can continue the conversation by saying: "One of my clients, [Name] at [Company], mentioned to me you are [a good fit for, looking for...] This will pique their interest and they'd be curious on why a mutual contact thought that they might need your service.
Sales Probing Questions
How can we help?" "Could you please give me some background to this?" "Can you tell me more about the present situation/problem?" "Tell me more about it." "How long have you been thinking about this?" "Why do you think it is happening?" "What goals and objectives do you have for this?" "What is your biggest challenge with this?" "What are your key objectives with this?" "What do you like about your current supplier?" "What are you using/doing now?" "Do you have any preference with regards to the solution?" "What three key outcomes do you want from this?" "Can you please tell me about that?" "Can you give me an example?" "Can you be more specific?" "How does this look/sound/feel to you?" "Why are you seeking to do this work/project/engagement?"
Pricing Questions
How did you first find out about us? Tell me a few basic facts about your company? If this information is available from their website, ask them to confirm its accuracy. For example, length of time in business, size of company, revenue, number of employees etc. What are your expectations? For example, ask them how soon they want the service to be completed/product supplied - ascertain the timeframe and any urgency. Are there other companies in the frame? If affirmative, ask for the top two or three. When you were shopping around for this business and you selected us, what did you think we can offer that is better than the competition? Which companies have you used in the past? Are you considering any alternatives to us? You've mentioned these other companies. How can we be top of your list? Are there any 'extras' we can offer on our quotation that will make us more competitive? Have you seen our website/brochure/article - or another online source? Was it a personal recommendation? At this stage, try and ascertain a name/company? You'll know what the budget was for that particular work, which will help you to price accordingly for this work. Do you anticipate buying more, less, or about the same amount of this product or service next year? If the answer is less, is there something else that you will buy in its place? Do you regularly attend trade shows? Which ones? This provides you with additional information on potential competitors. Which professional/trade associations are you a member of that are specific to your line of business? Your potential customer will be up to speed with current prices if they are regularly in touch with peers/colleagues. Do you usually shop online for this product or service? What search strategy do you use? Are there any newsletters/professional magazines that you read regularly? What other information can I provide that will help you make this purchase decision? Who (in addition to yourself) makes or influences purchasing decisions within your organization? Find out names/titles of decision makers and influencers. How long will it take you to make your decision? Do you believe our product/service will enhance your profitability? If so, how? How important is price in the decision process? What do you know about our current pricing structure, including discounts and product options? Do you know what we currently include in the price of our product/service?
Come up with a personal question ice-breaker
It's important to have some icebreakers as those can help you to size up your prospective client. Try to look around the office. Find personal touches like certificates, awards, hobbies, family photos. This could help you create witty questions to ask a customer. Choose something you can relate to and bring it up in your selling questions. You can say "I see your fishing photo there. I go fishing every weekend. Do you go often?" With these type of customer questions, you can narrow down their mood and personality.
Open Ended Questions
May I ask you some questions about your business? Could you tell me about your business? You specialize in X. Why did you choose that niche? Were your telephone transmissions of data fast enough? What are your goals for the next [3, 6, or 12] months? What does your boss hope to accomplish in the next year? How does your company evaluate new products or services before buying? Why would you commit time and resources to something that's low to medium priority? Tell me about your average day. How would this solution impact your daily work? What's holding your team back from reaching your goals? Was budget a barrier in solving this problem previously? Why is this a priority for you now? Who are you doing business with now? Why did you choose that vendor? Is there anyone else you think I should speak with? What is the business problem you're trying to solve? What are the priorities for your business/team this quarter? What are your biggest pain points? What events are you attending this year? Where do you see the biggest opportunities for growth? When is a good date to follow up?
Greet Them Warmly
Not everyone likes engaging in unexpected calls. But if you greet them like an old friend, they might reconsider. You can start the call by saying: "Hello [Name], how have you been?" Calling them by their name will create a sense of respect and familiarity. Sure, "how are you" is a good greeting, but "how have you been" is superior. With these top sales questions, the prospect will start thinking if they've met you before. Thus, it gives you a great opening to the conversation. However, make sure you get to the point after your warm greeting. You don't want them to view your approach as a misdirection. That's one of the first thing to keep in mind when making questions to ask a customer.
Questions to ask customers about your product
On a scale of one to 10, how happy are you with our product?" "Why did you give us that score?" "Can you explain the weaknesses or challenges you've found in our product/service so far?" "What do you love about our product/service?" "How likely are you to recommend our product/service to a friend or colleague?" "How has adoption and internal use gone in your team?" "Do you feel you've received outstanding customer service?" "Are you ready to renew today?" (Only if the first seven questions have had positive answers) "What can we do to earn your business for another year?" "Would you be interested in our new add-on Feature X?"
Mention information from their LinkedIn profile
There are many valuable things you can find on your prospect's LinkedIn profile. It could help you construct the high gain questions you need to ask. You can tell them something along the lines of: "I visited your LinkedIn company profile and saw one of your major projects this year is..." By using their LinkedIn profile as your reference in your customer questions, they'd see how interested you are in discussing something of value to their brand instead of pushing your services into their faces.
Needs Analysis questions Based on Goals
What are your short-term goals? Long-term goals? What is your boss or team hoping to accomplish in the next year? What are your desired outcomes? What deadlines are you currently up against? How do your team's objectives play into your department's strategy?
Needs Analysis based on Weakness
What do you perceive as your team's greatest strength? Weakness? Which trade associations do you belong to? If you could change one thing about your organization, what would it be? From your perspective, what do you perceive your needs to be? How important are they? Do you struggle with [common pain point]? Which resource could you use more of? How does your company evaluate the potential of new products or services? Who has your business now? Why did you choose that vendor? What are your buying criteria and success criteria? Where would you put the emphasis regarding price, quality, and service? What level of service are you looking for? What do you like best about your present supplier? What don't you like? What do you look for in the companies you do business with? What might cause you to change suppliers? What do you like best about your current system? What would you like to see changed? How do you typically reach purchasing decisions? Would you rather cut costs, save money, or increase productivity? Which product features would lead to a purchasing decision? If you've considered a similar product in the past but didn't purchase it, why? On average, how long does it take for your team to purchase a product?
Questions to ask customers to close the deal
What will it take for us to do business?" "How soon can we begin?" "What is my best shot for winning your account?" (If they're a returning customer) "What did we do in the last sale that impressed you most?" "What's the best time to touch base before you present the product to stakeholders?"
Cold Call Tips
When you're pleasant but predictable, you lose your chance to build rapport with your prospects. You only have limited time to create a connection with them, so make sure you don't waste it on an empty filler. it takes an average of eight calls to make someone agree to talk with you on the phone Make your approach memorable
Show your interest
Yes, a warm greeting is essential. But remember they wouldn't stop on their tracks just because of your personalized greeting. To make them listen further, mention the research you've done about their company. As you can see sales questionnaires without being anchored to research may not be so useful. You can say something like this: "My research about your company shows you're in the process of..." Make them feel you're really interested, and you've done your research before hopping on a call with them. Moreover, they won't feel like you're trying to sell them something right away.