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What Are Your Most Probing Sales Questions?

by maverick8
4 replies
Hey Guys & Gals,
When talking to a new prospect or when prospecting what are you most probing questions?

The questions that really make the prospect sit there and make then think and uncover pain.
#probing #questions #sales
  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Originally Posted by maverick8 View Post

    Hey Guys & Gals,
    When talking to a new prospect or when prospecting what are you most probing questions?

    The questions that really make the prospect sit there and make then think and uncover pain.
    Having a list of questions limits you to the scope of your list of questions.

    Start anywhere, go everywhere.

    You have a brain and a mouth. Find out about the prospect's reality. What they believe.

    Your product or service may not be the best fit for them. That's OK. Qualify quickly so this isn't a problem.


    The problem with most salespeople isn't their questions. It's their assumption that what they offer is something the prospect needs. Their desperate need to make the sale.


    Another part of this issue is that all prospects lie. Including you and me when we're prospects. We do this to protect ourselves from getting ripped off. That's all right and you should expect it. And it means that most people will not share the truth, or anything close to the full truth, with you when they first meet you.

    This is where rapport-building comes in.

    So there are things to learn well before you start asking probing questions. Otherwise, all you'll get is lies and coverup. Ever seen the show "House"? The doctor knows that all patients lie. They don't share how bad the problem really is. If patients lie to their doctors, why wouldn't we expect them to lie to us?


    A number of skills need to be developed to become successful at selling. Questioning alone is not enough. This is why sales is the poorest-paying, most miserable job around, and also the highest level, most rewarding profession available. How you experience it is up to you, the salesperson, not the prospect.
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    • Profile picture of the author SubUrbanHype
      "What is the most challenging thing going on in your life/business right now?"
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Probing questions merge with qualifying questions.

        Kanigan has a real grasp on this. The only thing I would add is that I wold start with a list of questions that I would memorize...and then, after they are automatic, use whatever the moment calls for.

        I have two suggestions for you;
        Get Kanigan's courses. They are inexpensive and give you what you need to get the ball rolling in an interview (over the phone or in person. It's nearly the same)

        Buy Spin Selling. If you want to know how to uncover pain and aggravate the pain...then offer the solution. This is the book to read.

        Here's a link.
        SPIN Selling: Neil Rackham: 9780070511132:...SPIN Selling: Neil Rackham: 9780070511132:...
        I could give you the questions I use myself, but they vary depending on what the prospect says.
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        “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought.” - Matsuo Basho
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  • Profile picture of the author misterme
    I don't prospect per se because I have incoming calls, but I qualify prospects. And a good part of that happens with questions. Part of asking questions is to have them see you as the best probable answer to what they're seeking AND having them commit to that perception. Read Cialdini on his consistency principle. That's where I got the idea from.

    "Consistency is a principle that asserts that people want to be and to be seen as consistent with their existing commitments" - Robert Cialdini
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