What are your options?

By James Olsen

n NE OF the biggest wastes of time \-ffor us as salespeople is chasing business we cannot get. If the information we possess about what a customer wants is not thorough and complete, what are our odds of getting the order?

What is the information we need to close? We need to find out all the information necessary to actually get the order, before we begin to work for our customers. When asking for this information we need to ask the customer about all the options they will consider.

Have you ever lost an order because you didn't ask one more question? I have. It's frustrating. To avoid this problem, we ask our customers aboil all the options possible.

Example:

Us: "When do you need it to ship?"

Customer: "Two weeks or sooner."

Us: "Would one week shipment help?"

Customer: "Yes, it would. I am getting low."

Now we have more closing information. If we can find something quicker, it will be an advantage. Not a huge advantage, but in a competitive market it may be all the advantage we need.

In addition, we will discover other advantages throughout the inquiry process when we ask "what are the options?" questions on other specifics.

C ontinuing the example :

Customer: "No, I don't need it sooner. Two weeks is fine."

Us: "Can you live with three weeks?"

Customer: "You know, I probably can live with three weeks."

Another advantage. The seller who just takes the inquiry without asking probing (options?) questions is left in the dark. There may be only two suppliers who can ship our order in two weeks; there may be 20 who can ship it in three. Three weeks gives us more time to find a better deal, even if the market doesn't help us.

We ask the options question on each of the specifics of the inquiry: Shipment: one week, two weeks, four weeks?

Type of s/ocft; Eastem, western, high, low or medium reputation, reman?

Item: lx4-could you use a 1x3?

Grade : #3. 3&Btr.. 3&Btr. lj-l57o #4, highlined #3?

Ial/y; Nobody buys "good random." Get an exact tally and all options.

Species: Can you live with Fir/larch? Does it have to be eastern?

Price: What are you thinking on price?

Many sellers are too intimidated to thoroughly question their customers about inquiry they get from them (especially on price). They feel the customer will get upset and say something like, "Why are you asking all these questions, just give me what I want!" If the customer gets upset we say, "John, the reason I'm asking you these questions is because I want to get you exactly what you want, not just come close."

(What we are really saying is, "I am serious about your business and mine. I want to get you exactly what you want, and I want you to get it from me. I'm not here just to quote.")

If the customer won't share information with us in the inquiry phase, will they all of a sudden open up at closing? Of course not. Our customer's attitude during the inquiry will give us plenty of clues on how to close. It will also give us an idea what the chances are of getting the order. (Thus telling us how much time to spend on it.)

The "We" Nlode

Our attitude from the second our customers tell us they are looking for something is that the order is ours. A good way to project this is to talk to our customers in the "we" mode.

Examples:

When do we need to bring this in? What kind of tally are we thinking on this one?

Speaking in the "we" mode will be uncomfortable at first, but you will get used to it. I have never had a customer say, "Hey, what's with all this we stuff." If we want our customers to treat us like partners, we must speak like partners.

Pre-Closing Off Inquiry

We pre-close our customers when we take inquiry correctly. We get them to engage and spend time with us. This by itself will tilt the odds in our favor. Asking probing questions helps us find the true need of our customers before closing.

Taking inquiry thoroughly will lead to more orders and less wasted time for us.

- James Olsen, Reality Sales Training, specializes in sales taining for the lumber industry. Reach him at james@ reality-salestraining.com or ( 503 ) 544-3 572.

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