STRATEGIC QUESTIONING IN TRUST BASED SELLING

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STRATEGIC QUESTIONING IN TRUST –BASED SELLING

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Strategic questioning helps gather more detailed information about the buyer’s position, requirements and expectations thus improving buyers and sellers understanding about a particular problem and the possible solution. Strategic questioning involves questions meant for; Probing- these questions go beyond the obvious information to provide in-depth information. Evaluation questions-these are open-ended questions aimed at uncovering how a buyer of a product feels about it by expressing the buyer’s attitudes, tastes and preferences. Tactical-questions meant to divert the topic under debate in case of minimal interest of value in a certain discussion. Reactive responses-gives responses to information gathered earlier by the other participant and probing for more details of an earlier discussion.

Steps and purpose of ADAPT questioning sequence

Assessment questions-they elicit the real information about the buyer’s position. They address buyer’s targets, operations of their companies, markets changes and the buyer themselves.

Discovery questions-provide further details meant to fully understand buyer’s problems. They aim at discovering needs and levels of dissatisfaction by the salesperson.

Activation questions-helps the consumer evaluate all the possible impacts of their needs. Their interests are activated to help discover information which has remarkable impacts to the buyer’s organization.

Projection questions-helps the buyer switch on the benefits derived from the solution of the problems. This aims at creating a perceived value of creating a solution to a problem. (e) Transition questions-smoothen the change from the discovery of needs to the proposed solutions characteristic, merits and benefits to be derived.

REFERENCES

Cespedes, F. V. (1992), “Sales Coordination: An Exploratory Study,” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 12 (summer), 13-29.

Ganesan, S. (1994), “Determinants of Long-Term Orientation in Buyer-Seller Relationships,” Journal of Marketing, 58 (April), 1-19.