Ask the Right Questions

Posted by David on March 2, 2011 under Marketing, Tools to Increase Farm Sales | Be the First to Comment

Since the type of “selling” I embrace means not just ramming products down my potential customer’s throat, but more of a search to find where my products might fit for them, I must be an expert interviewer…very good at asking questions…the right kind of questions, to understand the situation. I want to help the prospect make an informed decision about purchasing my farm products.

Over the next few days I’m going to outline several types of questions that must be included in every interview. Each type of question has a distinct purpose. Each are designed to get the specific information you need to determine if a sale can be made.

They have somewhat of a sequence also. For instance one question I’ll be covering is the commitment question. You wouldn’t get very far starting your interview with a question asking for a commitment! The prospect is in no position to make much of a commitment at the beginning of an interview. Except maybe to listen and answer questions!

The first question we’ll cover:

Confirmation questions.

Confirmation questions are used to make sure you have accurate information or understand what type of problem they would like to solve by purchasing your farm products.

An example of one these type questions might be:

You mentioned on the phone you were looking for 100 % grass fed beef, is that still the case?

You mentioned you want to purchase more local foods when I spoke with you at the farmers market, is that correct?

Notice you are confirming what you already know and verifying it to be correct. The prospect could answer to the first question; “Oh no we were interested in pork”  The other side of a confirmation question is it can expose inaccuracies in your information.

Imagine in the first scenario you take off telling them about grass fed beef and they want to hear about pork!

Use these type questions to establish that you are all on the same page in the beginning of the interview.

Some more ways to ask confirmation questions.

Are you still looking for ways to buy more local foods?

Is pesticide use a major concern for when buying produce?

You are trying to determine what is going right now with confirmation questions. They help frame the interview around the current situation that is of interest to the prospect.

Use confirmation questions to get the interview started on the right subject and based around where the prospect is focused. There is no need to discuss things that have no interest to the prospect.

This conveys that you realize their time is valuable and you have no desire to spend time interviewing them about products they don’t want to discuss.

Practice this and watch your ability to focus on what they want to hear help you acquire new customers

Until next time….

The Secrets of Selling Your Farm Products Revealed