In the first article in this series, we explored how asking the wrong questions could dissuade good prospects from working with you. These “value sensitive” prospects are willing to pay well for good financial services, but they need to know you understand their challenges and their dreams for their businesses. Asking the right questions can help value sensitive prospects see you as a different kind of provider...one they are willing to pay a premium price.
Asking one simple question at the beginning of your sales calls will allow you to steer the call in a manner that leads to the prospect feeling heard, understood, and ready to work with you. That question is:
“What led you to reach out for this call?”
Most prospects will give an answer that’s close to their biggest pain point, but not exactly it. Often, their answer will reference past events or experiences. When this happens, you need to ask questions that will help you understand the prospect’s past.
Understanding their past
As mentioned in the previous article, you don’t want to ask traditional, transactional questions during your sales calls. Those types of questions encourage the prospect to lump you with your competitors as “just another accountant/bookkeeper.” Instead, you want to ask more probing questions about their past. Some of these questions are:
- Did your company hit its financial targets last year?
- Were you able to pay yourself enough to meet your personal financial goals?
- Did you have enough money in the business’s bank account to meet your obligations?
- Did you have money left over at the end of the year?
No questions about their bookkeeping software, average number of monthly transactions, or how many bank accounts they have.
True, the questions that will help you understand the prospect’s past don’t have much to do with accounting or bookkeeping from a traditional standpoint, but you don’t want them to. This call is about setting yourself apart and providing value to the prospect. You will discover all you need to know about the prospect’s bookkeeping, tax, and payroll needs after they have decided to work with you.
Getting your prospect to open up
You might be thinking, “Some of those questions are pretty sensitive. A prospect won’t give a stranger this information on the initial call!”
There is one other thing you can say at the beginning of your sales call that will help your prospect open up, and that is:
“I’m interested in learning more about how I can help you. May I have your permission to ask a few personal questions about your business?”
This does two things:
- Shows respect. By asking permission to ask personal questions about the business, you are giving the prospect the opportunity to decline. This shows the prospect that you respect them. That respect makes these sensitive questions seem less intrusive.
- Signals the questions are going to get real. Asking permission to ask personal questions sets the tone for the rest of the call. You’re letting the prospect know the questions are going to get real. This allows you to provide them with a taste of the value they will get from working with you...value they will be willing to pay for.
Understanding your prospects’ past is just one small part of the consultative call process. But what if their past experiences weren’t the impetus for them to schedule the call with you? Next time, we’ll look at another powerful set of questions: those that explore where the prospect is currently. If you want to jump ahead, check out our “Value Starts With Hello” e-book at www.profitfirstprofessionals.com.
Author Bio: Billie Anne Grigg is the Senior Strategic Guide at Profit First Professionals and the founder of Pocket Protector Bookkeeping. She has more than 20 years of small business bookkeeping and cash management experience. Billie Anne is passionate about elevating the bookkeeping and accounting community so we can help small businesses thrive.