Handle Sales Objections by Mastering Questioning Skills

Posted on 08/10/2016 in Online Sales Training

A critical sales skill for all experience levels of sales professionals is questioning skills. Improve your skill at asking great questions and you will see improved relationships with your customers and better sales results will follow.

The STAR questioning methodology includes Informational, Opportunity, and Commitment question types. Take time to prepare skillful questions and you’ll see improved relationships and results.

Examples of great questions to ask when you hear these common objections from your customer during a sales call:

Customer says: “We have been buying Product X from the same supplier for many years and are content with our current situation”

  • Informational Questions: “What services/ capabilities do they provide to you?” “How long have you used them?”
  • Opportunity Questions: “What caused you to switch to them many years ago?” “What do you specifically like about what they do?”
  • Commitment Questions: “If we could provide the same/additional services as you currently get, would you be willing to approve us as a second source?”

Customer says: “The cost to our company to approve a new supplier of Product X is very time consuming and expensive.”

  • Informational Questions: “We can often do some steps for you. What is the process to get approved? And which steps are the most costly?”
  • Opportunity Questions: “What would you like to improve about the current product?” “If you could change one thing about the current product, what would be of most value to you?”
  • Commitment Questions: “If we agreed to do some of these steps – which would save you time and money – would you be willing to evaluate our product?”

Customer says: “We already buy Product X directly from a manufacturer” (imagine that you work for a reseller or distributor)

  • Informational Questions: “Who is the manufacturer? What led you to select a manufacturer rather than a reseller?”
  • Opportunity Questions: “What would you like to improve about your current situation? Have you had any issues such as delivery delays?”
  • Commitment Questions: “I’d like to schedule a meeting to introduce you to the various manufacturers that we represent. Agree?”

Customer says: “Your price is too high.”

  • Informational Questions: “Compared to what/who?” “Do you differentiate the total cost of using these products from the price?” “By how much are we too high?”
  • Opportunity Questions: “What if we could show you that your total costs will decrease substantially even though the price is slightly higher?”
  • Commitment Questions: “What if we schedule a meeting to show you specific cost savings?”

For additional STAR sales training services on questioning skills visit the links below and send an email to  info@salestrainingandresults.com.

Essential Selling Skills series is an online sales training program containing over 6 hours of self-paced sales training. The series is divided into 12 individual sessions with session 6 devoted to Questioning Skills and session 7 to Listening Skills.

One-on-One Coaching for Selling Essentials - a customizable coaching package.

Questioning Skills Sales Meeting Kit: managers toolkit to lead a sales meeting on questioning skills for the entire sales team.