Whether it's a prospect's question, an objection or even a problem you're trying to solve with your own sales performance...

Sometimes the best answer is another question.

I had a coaching conversation with a rep this week that started in a completely different place.

He came to me wanting to tweak his cold calls.

So we started looking at his calls.

But pretty quickly, the conversation went somewhere else.

We started talking about how he actually feels in the role.

His confidence.

Some self-limiting beliefs.

And eventually, whether he even thought sales was for him.

That's why I love coaching.

Because sometimes the problem someone brings you isn't actually the problem.

And salespeople do exactly the same thing with prospects.

A prospect asks:

"Does the car have a panoramic roof?"

And the salesperson immediately answers:

"Yeah, it does. It's brilliant. You can open it all the way."

Sounds good.

But what if you questioned the question?

"What's important about the panoramic roof?"

"Well, I've got a bald head and I always get it burnt."

😂

Now you know something.

And more importantly, you can have a better conversation.

The same thing happens with objections.

A prospect says:

"Your price is too high."

Most salespeople immediately start defending the price.

"Well, you have to consider the ROI..."

"Our product has more features..."

"We're actually very competitive compared to..."

Stop.

Question the question.

"Compared to what?"

Or:

"When you say it's too high, what are you comparing it against?"

Or simply:

"What makes you say that?"

You don't need to have the perfect response to every objection.

You need to understand what the objection actually means.

Because "your price is too high" could mean:

A. They genuinely don't have the budget.

B. They don't see enough value.

C. They're comparing you to a cheaper competitor.

D. They're negotiating.

E. They don't want to buy from you.

Those are five completely different problems.

Yet salespeople often give the same answer to all five.

Pick up the phone.

Seriously.

I was off for 9 days recently.

When I came back, I had:

976 emails.

99% of which were rubbish.

There were plenty of prospecting emails in there.

What I didn't receive?

A voice note.

A cold call.

A salesperson trying to actually have a conversation with me.

And that's interesting.

I'm not saying email doesn't work.

It does.

But the bar is higher than ever.

Everyone can send an email.

Everyone can automate an email.

Everyone can personalise an email with AI.

So when everyone is doing the same thing...

Doing something different becomes an advantage.

Someone replies to your email with an objection?

Pick up the phone.

Someone sends you a vague response?

Pick up the phone.

Someone says they're interested but wants more information?

Pick up the phone.

99% of the time having a conversation is the best possible move you can make as a seller.

Here's another thing I've noticed this week.

Salespeople are terrible at celebrating their own progress.

You close the deal you've been working on for three months.

"Great. What's next?"

Straight onto the next prospect.

The next target.

The next problem.

The next month.

Take a minute.

Seriously.

Look back at where you were six months ago.

Look at the conversations you can have now that you couldn't have then.

The objections you can handle.

The confidence you've built.

The deals you've won.

You might be surprised how far you've come.

Don't confuse ambition with never being satisfied.

You can want to get better AND recognise that you're already better than you were.

Give yourself some credit.

What question could you ask instead of answering?

Next time a prospect asks you something, don't automatically jump in with the answer.

Pause.

Get curious.

Question the question.

You might discover the answer isn't what you thought the problem was.

Till next time,