What are some good problem probing questions to ask during an appointment ?

I would say the "problem" and the "implication" questions should have already been asked and that is how you got the appointment. once at the appointment, you should be pushing the pay off.. what's in it for them... and building on the value.

It sounds to me like you are taking 1 step forward with setting the appointment, and then 2 steps back once you are there.

when I get an appointment for web design or SEO... it is a foregone conclusion they are closeable. They no longer are trying to get rid of you.. or blowing you off.. or saying ok yeah here is my e-mail.. they are investing time, and being blunt.. you seem to be wasting that time.

You need to yes your way through the pains of their operation. ( with the previous call you should already have an idea what these are.) this builds TRUST, that you understand their pain. then you start relating each of those pains to the service you are providing. ( the value )

Here is an interesting article: PepsiCo Decries Same Consumer Trends That Are Battering Retail

The struggle is real... even for Pepsi... online is taking over. If a company like PepsiCo is feeling the impact of online.. how do you mr. / mrs. business owner think you are going to make it without a website?

I personally, try to make very clear that a property such as a website is a piece to the greater puzzle. be it other online efforts or offline efforts or both. The website should act as the hub.

I STRONGLY believe a "local" business should have 2 sites. a MOBILE site and a responsive. The mobile sites function is to get the phone to ring, or to have GPS get them to the front door... THAT is it. The responsive site ( aka the desktop site ) should be a bit more in some cases, and a lot more in others. The concepts or cornerstone content etc come in to play depending on the market space.

This portion of the conversation ( 2 website build ) is answering 2 pains... How do I get more customers? and how do I build authority and BRAND? The later being total BS.. BUT its what they want to hear, its what they BELIEVE they need. Its simple human nature really.. this thing they created.. they WANT people to recognize the name. THAT is success. ( sad really ) but its the first question that drives financial success... but that stuff is boring and over their head.

So speak to them in a manor that delivers both.. what they WANT, and what they NEED. A website delivers your business for the whole world to see ( even tho all the SEO efforts will be to maximize local traffic ) bringing those customers to your door step.

Feel free to pick at some of these:

- What's the site speed performance like? (use something like Pingdom to precheck)
- What are you currently doing for SEO?
- What Social Channels have you tried? (FYI: most companies don't setup a Google+ account, this really helps with local businesses and services like restaurants, accountants, labourers etc... the more business info on Google+ the better, use this as a quick win to jumpstart some confidence).

If you're stepping into web design for them, I've always found the problems of conversion, with design as the 'cure' as the best way to get straight to the point.

So conversations like:

- How well is your landing page converting?
- Do you have a landing page?
- How quickly is someone migrating from your landing page to your contact page or order page?
- What's your bounce rate like?
- Have you tested your above the fold content?
- Basically anything along the lines of do you know what works and what doesn't?

Anything that they are not aware of, for instance some business owners might not know what bounce rate is --- so you want to educate them. If they still don't know the answer, move onto another topic ASAP. You don't want to dwell on information they aren't coherent with, you want to move to problems they're aware of - long, sticky, grindworthy problems that you can identify as a strong painpoint.

"Fix this before you improve that" mentality drives a hard sense of urgency. As savidge4 mentioned, you need to know what they want and what they need. But to pitch it to you better, ask them what the want, but sell them what they need.

'What does success look like for you?'

I'd probably take spin selling and light it on fire. Never read it but from what your telling me the book it making it way to complicated. You want to ask these questions when your setting up the appointment not while your pitching and you should ONLY be pitching to qualified prospects. What is a qualified prospect? Someone who has

1- A want, need, and desire for what your selling already.

2- The ability to pay you ( they cant be broke)

3- The authority to say yes ( has to be the decision maker.) ( all decision makers must be there)

If you have those three things established then you don't need to ask all those questions. They already know there business and its problems. Pitch them on why your the right person to fix it. When you get on a call to close a deal you should be asking for the order within 2 minutes of being on the phone and be spending the next 10-15 minutes rebuttaling.