March 17, 2015

30 Effective Questions to Ask to Close More Deals


To fall in love with anyone, all you have to do is answer this set of 36 questions with each other.

Recently, this was the topic of an article that I read on The New York Times' website and how the writer tried this technique out. Ever since I've read it, I've seen these 36 questions everywhere and although I have yet to try it with my significant other (although, we're past the beginning stages of using these questions ;) ), I understand the premise why they would work.

There are psychological triggers behind asking questions and they create a connection with the questioner and answerer. They can compel someone to become more curious or interested. There are four different brainwave states that can be visited in the question and answer stage.

All of these brainwave states will not happen at once, but they do outline why some questions would resonate with you more: Specifically, with the Beta and Theta waves. Most of the time, we are in the Beta state, which controls alertness, focus, and helps prepare us to answer questions. The Theta state allows for deep thinking, problem solving, and developing the answer. The Theta state, although mostly resides in the subconscious end, is something important to note because it is the gateway to learning and memory.

With the right questions, at the right time, the answers can open many doors and set off these brainwaves, especially in sales. Even though, as a sales person, you may not be trying to get someone to fall in love with you personally or intentionally set off these brainwaves, but you want someone to fall in love with whatever you are selling. Without asking key effective questions, you're really just feeling around in the dark "hoping" you'll close the deal.

Clearly, that's not ideal, which is why we've come up with this list of 30 questions. Mostly all of these are sales related questions, but they all can be repurposed for different uses when building some type of relationship with someone in business.

What kinds of questions are you asking? Are you asking the most effective ones? Take a look at these 30 effective questions to ask opportunities to see if any of yours made the list. Maybe you'll find some to use on your next calls.

(Bonus: scroll to the bottom to download 20 more questions!)

30 Effective Questions to Ask to Close More Deals

1. Who are you?
2. What is your role?
3. What does your to-do list look link on a day-to-day basis?
4. Does any task you do every day give you a headache?
5. When is the best time for you to talk?
6. What tools and platforms are you currently using?
7. How many people are on your team?
8. How many people work at your company?
9. If there was one thing you could do all day for your company, what would it be?
10. What do you think will move the needle forward at your company?
11. What are your goals over the next month, quarter, and year?
12. How can I help?
13. What is your biggest challenge currently?
14. What would you use our product/service for?
15. What are your KPIs and metrics you are measuring?
16. Can you tell me more about what your company does every day?
17. Would you be able to tell me how many customers you are working with?
18. How long have you been at the company?
19. What is your favorite tool to use every day?
20. How do you know if something is working or not?
21. Where is your company based?
22. Would you be the decision maker?
23. Who else on your team would be using our tool, platform, or service?
24. What are you worried about with our service?
25. How did you find out about us?
26. What do you hope to accomplish with our service?
27. Can you give me specific examples of challenges you are facing?
28. What's currently working for you?
29. What would you like to change with your current goals and daily tasks?
30. Do you use any other tools or services currently that ours would potentially replace?

I wouldn't suggest you asking all of these questions to every single one of your opportunities; however, each represent good jumping off points and/or some can give you great insight into how you can sell better to these opportunities. You'll be able to get to know each opportunity based on these questions while their answers will provide you context into how to better serve their needs to close the deal. These questions will also benefit the opportunity as well, as they provide an added layer of insight into their own decision making process.

Want 20 more questions? Click below to fill out the form to get the other effective questions to ask your opportunities to close more deals...