Open-ended questions are one of the most vital tools for those who sell (if followed up by listening). They help gather information, qualify sales opportunities, and establish rapport, trust and credibility. With such core value to the sales process, the professional leaves little to chance when it comes to owning a repertoire of powerful open-ended questions... questions that are answered by more than a simple yes or no... questions where the prospect or customer gets directly involved in the sales discussion.

The key here. . .
Ask the question and let the prospect or customer give you their answer.
No leading.
No prompting.
No interrupting.
Just in case you've not had the opportunity to put yours down in writing, here are some of our favorites in the general class (you'll likely have several additional questions specific to your industry, but these'll get you more than started).
Write down the one's you find valuable. Commit them to memory with your team. Practice them on your drive in or on the way to your next appointment. Print them out. Tack them up near your phone. Pass them on to your sales team. It's all about sales™. 
just sell®…

the open-ended questions . . .

information gathering
What prompted you/ your company to look into this?
What are your expectations/ requirements for this product/ service?
What process did you go through to determine your needs?
How do you see this happening?
What is it that you'd like to see accomplished? 
With whom have you had success in the past?
With whom have you had difficulties in the past?
Can you help me understand that a little better?
What does that mean?
How does that process work now?
What challenges does that process create?
What challenges has that created in the past?
What are the best things about that process?
What other items should we discuss?

qualifying
What do you see as the next action steps?
What is your timeline for implementing/ purchasing this type of service/ product?
What other data points should we know before moving forward?
What budget has been established for this?
What are your thoughts?
Who else is involved in this decision?
What could make this no longer a priority?
What's changed since we last talked?
What concerns do you have?

establishing rapport, trust & credibility
How did you get involved in… ?
What kind of challenges are you facing?
What's the most important priority to you with this? Why?
What other issues are important to you? 
What would you like to see improved?
How do you measure that?

now go sell something

by Wilma Springer, DTM, PDG

Elect Club Officers before the club goes dark for the summer.This avoids the gap in identifying the officers and gives you someone to follow-up with at the start of the Fall term.

Elect only those who are returning students.This insures that someone will be there when you need him or her.

At the same time, collect October 1 membership renewals.With officers and dues in place for students who return in the Fall, the Club will be ongoing and will be able to serve the members.

Create a tickler in your follow-up file to contact the Club President after the start of the Fall term.This will insure that the club gets started up again and to provide a resource to help them with recruiting new members.

Be ready to assign a mentor for a short time each Fall to help the club get restarted and on track for success.This may even be a club coach opportunity depending on the total membership.

While it takes a little diligence on our part to sustain a university club, the rewards are worth the time spent.

by Sam Manfer

Learning how to sell the decision maker is a critical skill for any sales person. By effectively selling to decision makers, you can reduce your sales cycle, avoid objections and many obstacles, and eliminate your competition.

Grabbing a high level corporate officer for a meeting is next to impossible unless you are strategically positioned. Most people get rejected because they lack credibility in all the right places. For those that are fortunate enough to get the meeting, most are never able to get invited back. So here are some concepts to consider.

Ask for help! People you know, know people. If you ask, they will help connect you. However, frame your request specifically for what you want. You may have to ask more people, but you'll avoid random information from someone just trying to be helpful. For example, If I want to meet a Sales VP for a small - medium size company, I'd ask, "Would you help me? Do you know any senior level sales executives in companies with business to business sales over $100 million dollars that have over 20 sales people in their organization, etc.?" Then "Are you close enough to this person to introduce me, or do you know someone close enough that you could introduce me to so that I could ask for their help?"

Use your Golden Network. 99% of surveyed executives respond that if someone they trust from their staff makes the introduction, they will host a meeting. The reason can be as lame as "I think you should meet this person" and you will be seen or at least heard via phone.

Simply stated your Golden Network is anyone you can call and say your name without mentioning your company and they will know who you are. You have developed credibility with them. These are the people that have benefited from working with you in the past and present. Unfortunately, you have pushed them to your subconscious and rarely thing about using them.

Make a list of these people in a targeted company and a list of people in your own company and outside both that have credibility in the targeted company. If you ask, these people will introduce you to the exec or someone along the path to the exec.

Your request for the introduction has to emphasize learning what's in it for the person you want to meet. For example, "I'd like to learn the expectations s/he has for me and our services so I can focus on delivering them." Don't push what you have to offer or what you can do for this exec. Pull the perfect scenario.

Attain Credibility. This is your VIP pass to get anywhere. Use the credibility you have earned to get places and get others to transfer their credibility to you through introductions and referrals.

Credibility comes from respect, trust and results. Transferred credibility is very fragile. It is yours to lose the minute you open your mouth. Your opening statements must tell who you are and has to give the person a reason to continue with you. This powerful person is asking, "Why should I respect you?" Next, your behaviors will have to give the impression of sincerity and believability. "Can I trust you or is this about you?" Finally, what you deliver will have to give this person what s/he wants. "What results did you provide?"
Respect, trust and results move you up the pyramid from being able to meet to being used as a resource to enhance or protect his/her career - something very important to the upper levels. If you fail with any of the three, you stay at the current level.

So your first words have to start earning credibility Try something like, "This is who I am." (20 or less words) - the respect piece. "Now tell me about you, your situation and your company." (it's about him/her, not you) - the trust piece. "You said you wanted this, this, etc. Here is how I can deliver them to you" (information s/he needs) - the interim results.

Communications. The way you talk with (not to) high level people will determine your future. Ask questions to learn and understand what is of value and important to this senior manager. "What is your vision of the perfect solution". Then listen for critical words - risk, effort, value, and consequences. Clear up any ambiguities. Confirm what was said to be sure that s/he knows you understand. You can expose and entice a little if certain things weren't said, but don't try any convincing drills. "Have you considered this?" or "Are you aware that...?" Don't ask interrogating, qualifying questions in the beginning - these are about you.

Target your presentations only to the issues s/he acknowledged and show you can deliver these values and minimize risk of failure better than your competition. If you miss the mark, your meeting will be short - no results, no credibility. You may choose not to present at that time. Say you want time to prepare something that really addresses what was said - builds respect and trust.

Follow Up. Getting invited back should be the goal of anyone trying to connect with high level people. This is when you start reaping the benefits. The only way back is if you deliver the results that reward the executive. It is personal. To insure success, know his/her measurement. This is how you will be judged. Just ask, "How will you measure success?" Track results in that metric and report back to be sure that s/he is happy and you're associated with that satisfaction. If so, great. Ask for more business or referrals. If not, set a course together to correction. Always set the stage for follow-up or else you'll be stuck with subordinates.

by Rick Danzey, DTM, ID

Corporate clubs are often started in order to meet the identified needs of the corporation for staff training and enrichment.But who in the company is responsible for employee training?True, the owner, president, and manager all share responsibility.However, in most organizations of size to support a Toastmasters club the responsibility for training falls on the Human Resources manager.Yet, training is the least concern of most HR managers with all of the other aspects of their job taking priority.Additionally, they may view the Toastmasters as competition to their job as they will not have control of the club once it is started.They become more of a barrier to starting a club than a resource for starting one.So, how do we get past the barrier and start a corporate club?

In order to get a club started in most organizations you need to “sell” the senior decision-maker and to do that you need to get in front on her/him.While there are many techniques, there is a method being used today by sales and marketing organizations that will help open the door to the decision-maker’s office.Let’s go over the steps.

Before doing any targeted campaign we must do our homework.The homework involves identifying the various corporate opportunities within our District, identifying the decision-maker and preparing for the campaign.I recommend bringing your marketing team together to identify companies within the District.Don’t restrict yourself to only those you think will work with you.This is pure brainstorming and all answers are “right” answers.By the time you finish you should have a long laundry list of companies with which to work.Now, challenge the team to rank the companies in the order in which they believe they could independently support a Toastmasters club, from most likely to least likely.Start working the list from the top to the bottom.Now comes the research portion.Gather as much information as you can about the company, especially the senior leadership and how to contact them. 

Step two is making the initial contact.This is done via a professional letter focusing not on Toastmasters International and how great we are but on the research you are doing about trends in the industry and your desire to conduct a 15 minute interview to learn from his/her experience.The last line is "I will be calling you in the next week to set an appointment so that we may meet and discuss your experience."The focus is on getting the opinion of the senior company leader, not on you as a Toastmaster.

Step three is make the phone call to the Senior Leader and get an appointment to meet with her/him for no more than 15 minutes reiterating that you 1) respect their time and 2) are gather information from their vast experience..

Step four: the interview.Have a list of about 10 prepared questions in hand to gather information.The general rule is the one getting the most information wins!Ask permission to take notes and DEFINITELY watch the clock. 

This is called a fact and feeling interview.Get as much information from the leader as possible about the value of communication skills to their organization as well as his/her personal development.Remember, we all love to talk about ourselves.As time is drawing near, move to the most powerful question you can ask."If I could show you a program that (insert the needs identified by the leader) would this be something you and your company would be interested in?Hopefully the answer is yes - then you give a value statement of Toastmasters membership without giving a laundry list of features.Close with "We could do a demonstration meeting for your staff as soon as you can provide the time.Let's check our calendars."If the original answer was "no" don't take offense to it but politely ask what it is that they are uncomfortable with having a Toastmasters club in their organization.This is called getting an objection and answering it.If the answer is still no after addressing the objection, thank her/him for their time and move on. Maintain your professional posture at all times for you never know when you may get a call back.

Finally, in all cases, do a follow-up thank you.

This is a proven technique and worth your time to prepare for and conduct.Let us know your success.

by Alfred Roy Herzing, DTM PIP

To rebuild Low Membership (or Opportunity) clubs, I recommend you put on a Speechcraft Program.Speechcraft is a four, six, or eight-week program that teaches speaking skills to non-Toastmasters.Properly run, a Speechcraft will result in a quick infusion of 10 - 15 members to the club.

In planning your Speechcraft, make sure that the meetings are held at the same location at the same time as the regular Club Meetings.So during the Speechcraft program, the Speechcraft meetings replace the regular meetings.You don’t want to have a Speechcrafter participate in a program on Thursday night and then when you want them to join your club on Wednesday night you lean that Wednesdays are their class nights. 

Market your Speechcraft to Non-Toastmasters - talk about getting an edge in today’s tough job market, make yourself more promotable, etc.Create a sense of urgency by indicating on the flyer:LIMITED TO 15 OPENINGS.For company clubs, get a quote from a high ranking official in the company stating their support of the Toastmasters program.

Charge enough for the Speechcraft to cover your club’s expenses, and the first 6 months dues.That way at the end of the program you can offer the Speechcrafter the option of becoming a member of the club at no additional cost.Using this technique, I have had about a 70% success rate in converting Speechcrafters to members.Sometimes we get 100% of the Speechcrafters that complete the program to join the club!You can make people more comfortable with paying a higher fee by offering a money back guarantee. 

Often in low membership clubs, there are problems in having complete, high quality meetings week after week.Speechcraft solves this problem.The few existing members provide the educational talks, and the Speechcrafters provide the rest of the program.Speechcraft also provides the answer for those members that complain about not knowing what to talk about for their manual speeches.No problem, next week we need a 5-7 minute speech on “How to Organize a Speech.”The speaker can use the Toastmasters Communication & Leadership Manual, Speech #3 for research material.But the speech can apply for other manual speech objectives.

I recommend that you don’t sell the Speechcrafters immediately on becoming Toastmasters.Initially, just sign them up for the six or eight week program.Then near the end of the program, start talking to them about joining your club.Point out that they have been developing a skill that must be practiced, or it will be lost.Tell them about the no cost option of becoming a member.If they have fully participated in the Speechcraft program, point out that they get credit for the first three speeches toward a CTM and their first recognition within the Toastmasters program.Who could say no?

An excerpt from "Getting the Second Appointment"

by Anthony Parinello

What's your definition of the word "Selling?" Here's mine:

"Representing your products, services and solutions in the best interest of the other person or party -- so that their requirements, needs and visions are overachieved in a time-frame that they define."

There are four activities that can help us implement this more accurate definition of selling when we're pursuing second appointments Important note: Only two of the four involve making "buy" recommendations which means that we're "selling" during those activities. Let's look in depth at all four:

Exploring
To explore means to search out, to investigate the unknown, to learn something new.

Exploring typically means asking questions like: "Tell me all about how your business operates." Or: "How many employees work here?" Or: "How many different locations do you have?" Or: "How much do you thinkyou spend each month on network services?" Or: "How many output devices do you currently have in your department?"

Quick quiz: If you were to choose from a hierarchy of players that included a Recommender (someone who's opinion is respected), an Influencer (someone who can change the minds of others), a Decision-Maker (someone with the "yes" power), or an Approver the person with the ultimate veto power), who would be your first choice for a conversational partner when it comes to Exploring?

If you said "Recommender," congratulations - you're on the right track. The most important thing to bear in mind here is that it's usually a waste of everyone's time trying to get these people to decide to buy from you!

Initiating 
To initiate means, "to begin to put into motion, or to introduce knowledge relevant to the subject or discussion at hand."

Initiating is the point in our sales process where we begin to map our products, services and solutions to the needs we've uncovered during our exploring activities.

Given the four players we're working with who would be your first choice as the person to interact with when it comes to initiating?

Of course - we want to match our initiating sales activity with the Influencer(s), those analysts who serve, perhaps in addition to other formal roles, as the important advisors to the organization's Decision-Makers and Approvers.

It's important to understand what Influencers can - and can't - do for you. Anyone who's sold professionally for more than, say, a year or so knows that these people, like Influencers, are not the best people to target for "buy" decisions or your "sales" efforts.

Sponsoring
What comes to mind when you think of the word "sponsor"? Words like, coach, champion, mentor, or backer. A sponsor is someone who has a strong belief in your idea, and/or will vouch for your credibility.

When applied to our sales process, sponsoring means acting in such a way that the best interest of others can be served.This, of course, connects back to that definition of selling we looked at a little earlier.

Given the four people within the organization we could be connecting with - Recommender, Influencer, Decision Maker, and Approver -- who is the best candidate for us to target as the sponsor of our sales process?

You've got it, of course. It's the Decision-Maker, reason being that they know what's going on and who's making it happen. They have direct access up and down the hierarchy. It's not a problem for them to connect with the Approver and relate to the Influencers and Recommenders. Successful Decision-Makers are in alignment with the entire enterprise and for the most part are upwardly mobile.

Leveraging
Whenever you are leveraging, you are consciously drawing another person's attention to any one (or all) of the following circumstances:

1. Your products, services and solutions can measurably add value to your prospect's/customer's enterprise.
2. You can clearly articulate and demonstrate (with referrals, case studies, and/or testimonials) that you can deliver this value.
3. Your conviction about your products, services and solutions is unshakable and evident.

When it comes to leveraging, whom within the organization would you target? Okay, this was a little bit of a trick question. You must be prepared to engage in leveraging with Approvers - which is the answer I bet you came up with. And . you must also be ready to leverage with Decision-Makers, too. Just like Approvers, they are interested in hard dollar and soft dollar value, and you must be willing to make your case to your sponsor before you make it to the Approver who will be giving the final go-ahead on the sale.

Let me emphasize that you must be willing to articulate, with credibility and passion, both hard dollar and soft dollar value results in your discussions with Decision-Makers and Approvers. Sometimes salespeople focus exclusively on one or the other, and that cuts down your opportunity and I know you don't want to do that!

by Keith Rosen

My wife and I were about to undertake our last remodeling project. Being a consummate consumer, I wanted several qualified companies to bid on our next project. After calling ten contractors, I scheduled an appointment with the five that called back.

Following our meetings, one gave me a price on the spot and two never responded with an estimate. Two contractors mailed an estimate, and one of them followed up a week later.

Guess who got the job. Just by making a five-minute phone call! What fascinated me most was that only one contractor called back to discuss his proposal and ask for my business.

How can these salespeople afford not to follow up? Conducting my own research, each one said they needed more business, yet didn't know the status of the majority of proposals they sent. I sensed that following up regarding their proposal was not their typical M.O. Instead, here's what they said.

• I thought you were using someone else.
• I didn't think you were ready to buy.
• I thought you felt the price was too high.
• I didn't want to bother or pressure you.

While these contractors formulated their own conclusion, they never bothered to confirm if their assumptions were, in fact, true! They were operating under the costly assumption, "The prospect will call when they're ready."

I asked Bill, one of the contractors, "If you're sacrificing valuable time to drive to an appointment, deliver a presentation, write a proposal and then don't follow up and ask for a prospect's business after taking all of the steps that earned you the opportunity to do so, who are you really helping?" Then it hit him between the eyes. "My competition!"

Bill realized something that only a select few have. While prospects need his remodeling knowledge and skills, they also need his help in making their purchasing decision.

Bill recently called me with some exciting results. After making thirty phone calls to past prospects, he spoke with ten prospects he had met with. Bill sold three more deals ($78,000) in one week that he never would have sold.

In many businesses, especially the ones that sell directly to consumers such as home remodeling, cold calling consumers via the phone is no longer an option to generate new leads. Aside from canvassing door to door, networking, asking for referrals, posting job signs or traditional (and sometimes costly) marketing/advertising campaigns, what else brings in more business? Follow up calls.

How many prospects are waiting for your phone call so they can send you a deposit? How many people are out there waiting to begin working with you?

Bill and I sat down to crunch the numbers. I shared this observation with him. "Consider that you can make about fifteen calls per hour (one hour per week). Assume that out of fifteen contacts, you make one more sale. (Average sale $10,000.) Four hours a month equates to four more sales. Over a year, that's $480,000 in volume. This exceeds the yearly volume of most contractors just by making one hour of follow up calls each week!"

If you take a moment and look at your callback list, how much business does that equate to? Now ask yourself, "How much of it am I willing to give to my competition?"

Since your competitors aren't paying you commission, here's your opportunity to utilize a simple, efficient three-step follow up system that will bring in more (free) sales.

1. Get Permission. Whether you need to follow up after an initial conversation or once a prospect receives your proposal, tries out your product, speaks with references or needs to check their schedule before they meet with you a second time, it's just good business sense to get permission before doing so. For instance, you inform the prospect they will be receiving your proposal next Friday. Before you leave the appointment ask, "May I follow up with you to discuss and answer any questions you have regarding my proposal?" Gaining permission to follow up eliminates your fear of appearing overly aggressive or pushy. Now, they're expecting your call.
2. Schedule A Meeting. Now that you've gotten permission, schedule a time that you will be calling or meeting with them. Immediately put it in your day timer or PDA. This eliminates the time consuming game of phone tag and having to hunt your prospect down in order to schedule yet another time to meet or review your proposal, reducing the number of calls you'll have to make or respond to.

3. Just Follow Up! Depending on the sheer number of prospects you connect with, start by putting aside at least one hour each week that's strictly devoted to this practice. Considering your ROI, it's time well invested. Otherwise, something else will always take precedent.
   
   Instead of thinking about how many calls you need to make, consider how many sales you'll be giving to your competition if you don't. If something as simple as following up provides you with a competitive edge, then your next sale is just a phone call away.