Sales questions to ask on the phone: how to uncover needs and qualify leads

Why do questions matter so much on a phone sales call?

Once your opening statement has caught the prospect's interest, questions earn you the right to talk about your offer. They tell you what this person needs, so that everything you say next is about them, and a cold call starts to feel like a helpful conversation.

Many callers do it the other way round. They describe the product at length, then finish with a closed question that hands the prospect an easy exit:

• A real estate agent asking 'Are you thinking of selling your home soon?'
• A trades business asking 'Do you need anything fixed right now?'
• A membership seller asking 'Would you like to join our club?'

Each one invites a quick 'no' before you have learned a single thing about the person. Prospects warm to a caller who shows genuine interest in their situation. The only way to help someone is to find out about them.

Drop 'How are you?' on a cold call, too. I never recommend it with someone who doesn't know you: they are already thinking 'If you don't know me, why would you care?' Go straight to your reason for calling, as shown in cold call openings that grab interest.

How do you ask open questions that cannot get a no?

Open questions begin with what, why, where, when, how, which or who. The prospect has to expand on the answer, so you hear their priorities and often their frustrations. Closed questions starting with 'do', 'are' or 'would' can be answered in one syllable, and the conversation stalls.

Rules that stop questions sounding like an interrogation

• Ask one question at a time. Ask two at once and the prospect answers only the easiest.
• Ask no more than three questions after your opening statement on a first call, or it starts to sound like an interrogation.
• Stay silent after you ask. Don't fill the pause or suggest an answer. The prospect needs thinking time.
• Invite more. When an answer sounds important, simply say 'Tell me more about that.'
• Stay flexible. If a prospect rates their supplier five out of ten, leave your script and ask 'In which area could they improve?'

Which types of sales questions should you ask, and in what order?

Strong questioning follows a sequence: learn the situation, uncover a problem, explore what it leads to, then let the prospect describe the payoff of solving it. When prospects describe that payoff in their own words, they persuade themselves.

Find the hot button

You are looking for the prospect's motivation to buy. Skip 'What are your needs at the moment?' (you should know). Ask about one thing they are likely to need, such as 'How much is it costing you to clean your offices at the moment?' Or try the three benefit question, which offers a choice instead of a yes or no.

Many callers get a clear clue about what is wrong with the current supplier, then move on to their next scripted question. Going deeper into the first pain mentioned is where the sale is found.

Why ask emotional questions as well as logical ones?

People buy on emotion and justify with logic. Logical questions cover price, timing and technical details. Emotional questions explore outcomes, peace of mind and relief. Customers buy to avoid pain and gain pleasure, and the sooner they can picture the relief, the sooner they decide.

Check your own question list. If every question is about specifications and budget, add some of these:

• What is the main outcome you would want from a service like ours?
• Why is that outcome important to you?
• How would achieving that make you feel?
• What would happen if you hadn't reached that goal by this time next year?
• What impact does this have on your reputation with your own customers?

Ask them in a warm, unhurried tone, or they sound like a survey. If tone is your sticking point, start with how to build rapport on the phone.

How do you qualify leads by phone before sending a quote?

When an inbound lead asks for prices or a proposal, it is tempting to send it straight away. Qualify first. I learned this the hard way: in a busy period I skipped my qualifying questions and sent proposals to people who were not the decision makers. None of them returned my follow-up calls.

Before you write a word of the proposal, ask:

• Who else will you be speaking with about this decision?
• When would you be looking to move forward if the proposal suits you?
• May I ask how many other quotes I am competing with?
• Why are you looking at other suppliers?
• What problem are you trying to solve, and roughly how much is it costing you at the moment?
• Before I send this, what are the top three considerations you will use to make your final decision?
• What amount of budget have you set aside for this?

You need to know what ball game you are in: what the prospect expects to pay and how they will choose. Sending a sample? Ask 'What criteria will you use to evaluate it?' If a need is vague, clarify it with a choice of opposites: 'Are you looking for someone experienced, or someone keen to learn the industry?'

The answers either give you what you need for a compelling proposal or lead you to the real decision maker. Then book your callback, as in how to do the follow-up call.

How do you show you are listening on a phone sales call?

On the phone the prospect can't see you nodding, so your listening has to be heard. These habits make it audible:

• Pause before you reply. A moment of silence tells the prospect their answer landed, and they often add the detail that matters most.
• Repeat back once, at the end. Summarise what they want after your questions, not after every answer, or it sounds rehearsed.
• Take notes as you go. Use their exact phrases in your summary and proposal. If they said 'flat out', don't say 'busy'.
• Stay on their topic. Follow an answer with a related question, not your next scripted line.
• Don't close too soon. Ask 'Why is that?' before you mention your offer, and if objections come, you will know what matters to them (how to handle objections).

If your calls are recorded, listen back to one a week and note each time you talked over the prospect or changed topic after they mentioned a problem. For a second pair of ears, one-to-one sales coaching can include a review of your recorded calls.

A simple question plan for your next call

1. 1

   List three benefits

   Write down three benefits your product or service gives customers like this prospect.

2. 2

   Turn each into a problem question

   Ask about the problem each benefit solves, such as 'How much time do you spend on...?' or 'What happens when...?'

3. 3

   Prepare one deeper question for each

   Have a follow-up ready, such as 'What does that lead to?', so you go deeper instead of moving on.

4. 4

   Add your qualifying questions

   Decide what you must know about decision makers, timing and budget before you quote.

5. 5

   Summarise and ask for the next step

   Repeat their needs back once, then ask for the appointment, the order or a booked callback.

Write the plan into your call script so it sits in front of you on every call. Telesales scripts shows how to build questions into a full call structure, and the book Don't Get Hung Up! sets out seven ways to ask questions, with many more examples.