Last Sunday we bounced around the important idea that all sales come from conversations. With the obvious implication that you need to get more conversations with potential clients (rather than trying to automate or outsource everything).

But how do you handle those conversations?

Well, the accepted wisdom is that you need to ask questions. And I'm not going to disagree.

But in my experience, most people ask questions the wrong way.

I'm not talking here about open vs closed questions, problem questions, leading questions.

I'm talking about the purpose of the questions you ask.

Ask most people what the purpose of the questions they're asking in a meeting with a potential client is and you'll hear things like “to find out what they need”, “to find out if I can help them”, “to price qualify them”, “to build rapport”.

Notice anything in common with those questions?

They all benefit the seller, not the potential client.

Your potential client gets nothing from those questions: they're all about giving you useful information. They come out of it no better off than they went in.

Of course, you get useful information which helps you know what you might need to do to help them. but the process of questioning hasn't been all that great an experience for them, just a grilling.

And it hasn't set you apart from your competitors either. You asking a bunch of questions to find out what they need feels pretty much like everyone else asking questions to find out what they need.

Nothing wrong with asking these questions. But they're not enough if you want to stand out.

My advice is to also ask questions that really get your potential clients thinking. That help them see things in a new light. That trigger lightbulb moments where they have to stop and really think hard about something.

Questions that they benefit from. That they learn from.

Obviously there aren't any standard, canned questions that you can use that do this in all circumstances. 

But you can come up with these insightful questions if you do some preparation.

Think through the work you do with clients and make notes on the surprising things you find. Especially things that run counter to what accepted wisdom is in your sector.

If everyone says you should specialise, but your clients have been successful positioning as generalists, that could be the foundation of a good set of questions.

If everyone says “stories sell” but you've had success using facts and data, that can be the basis for good questions.

It's not easy to come up with insightful and insight-generating questions. If it was, everyone would be doing them.

But if you put your mind to it, you can identify questions to ask that will help your potential clients understand their situation better, not just tell you what they already know.

And if your potential clients come out of a meeting feeling smarter, it won't be long before they'll become paying clients.