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Qualifying/warm and fuzzy

by socialentry
1 replies
I'm not very good at qualifying and extracting sensitive information, so I wanted to know what others had to say.

The consensus amongst co-workers seems to be flatter the prospect and then show curiosity toward the prospect's business and then it is easy(er) to get information out of them.

In general, what kind of info are you looking for?

Do you rebutt at all if you are in that phase? Do you sometime short-circuit and go into the pitch(or not) it if the prospect is getting impatient? Can you recover if the prospect say something like "That's private information" or "send me information to see, I want to see if your company is legit/you're really from X comapny"?

If you feel that you are making the prospect uncomfortable, how do you "back off" a notch?

What I find is that whenever I probe, it's just too obvious that i'm trying to probe to find ammunition for what I'm selling,

Thoughts? Other tips?
#fuzzy #qualifying or warm
  • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
    Originally Posted by socialentry View Post

    I'm not very good at qualifying and extracting sensitive information, so I wanted to know what others had to say.

    The consensus amongst co-workers seems to be flatter the prospect and then show curiosity toward the prospect's business and then it is easy(er) to get information out of them.

    In general, what kind of info are you looking for?
    Don't flatter them. Just be polite and interested in helping their business.
    I ask "To see if my service would apply to you, do you mind if I ask a few questions?" See? You just gave them a great reason for you to ask questions. And by you asking questions now, they will feel that your service applies to their business.

    Let's assume you are selling online services. The questions I ask are;

    How do you advertise now?
    What seems to be working?
    Do you have a website? Tell me about it. Who built it. What results do you see?
    Any other online promotion?
    Do you ever get customers that tell you they found you online?
    Do you want more of them?
    If you found a way to increase your sales from online sources, is there anyone besides yourself that you would have to consult with, before you move forward on the idea?


    Originally Posted by socialentry View Post

    Do you rebutt at all if you are in that phase? Do you sometime short-circuit and go into the pitch(or not) it if the prospect is getting impatient? Can you recover if the prospect say something like "That's private information" or "send me information to see, I want to see if your company is legit/you're really from X comapny"?
    Why would you need to rebut from the answers to the above questions. If they say "Nobody ever finds us from online. We aren't online at all". I just act like everyone says that, and like it's just part of the buying process. I would say "Of course, before you're online ...nobody can find you online. You mentioned that you are in the Yellow Pages. Have you noticed a drop in Yellow Page calls over the last few years?" (They always say Yes)
    "Where do you think those customers are looking up businesses now?"

    "Them "I guess online"

    You "That's right. And the people going online are looking to buy. Would you like some of those sales too?"

    Originally Posted by socialentry View Post

    If you feel that you are making the prospect uncomfortable, how do you "back off" a notch?

    What I find is that whenever I probe, it's just too obvious that i'm trying to probe to find ammunition for what I'm selling,

    Thoughts? Other tips?
    You want them uncomfortable. You want them feeling an itch that you can scratch. If you mean making them feel uncomfortable because thee information is private, you should ask those questions when they are more interested in your proposition. (meaning later in the presentation, when they are asking questions) Then they won't mind answering them.

    You said;
    "What I find is that whenever I probe, it's just too obvious that i'm trying to probe to find ammunition for what I'm selling,"

    Your attitude is wrong. It isn't ammunition. You are asking questions to see if you can help them. To make sure they will benefit from your offer. To make sure you answer their questions, to insure they don't make a mistake.
    To save them time, not listening if it isn't a match.

    You aren't "flattering them" You are showing an interest. Aren't you interested?
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