I want to cover two guiding principles for all those in selling

First and foremost you are not selling; rather you are helping your customer to buy. Secondly, your value as a salesperson is not measured by what you know, but by the questions that you ask. All great sales begin with great questions. All great salespeople begin as great question askers. Small companies that ask great questions can beat big companies that don't. Master these two principles and you have a great foundation for a successful career in selling. So, let's look mat these two principles in a little more detail

The first principle is based on the fact that Behaviour Follows Intention. Whatever your intention it will come out in your behaviour. You can't stop it. It's a human thing and on the receiving end we will either pick up the intention consciously or subconsciously. Have you ever been in conversation with someone and they are saying one thing and you just don't believe them? It's because they are not being congruent when they are delivering their message. They say one thing - the words and the rest of the message in terms of tone and non-verbal is not backing up what they are saying. If you are determined to sell to your customer then your behaviour will come across as such. Most people don't want to be sold to, because they believe that is following the seller's agenda. However, they do want help buying that is following their agenda. If you want to change your behaviour, change your intention. Don't sell; rather help your customer to buy. If you truly believe that you are there to help your customer to buy and that means you walking away from the deal if it's not appropriate for your customer - then you will come across as far more credible and trustworthy. People will buy from people they trust.

The next principle is based on a quote by Ben Franklin "Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I might remember. Involve me and I will understand." It's a brilliant quote because selling is about getting your customer to understand and so involve them in the process. You do this by asking great questions questions that make them think. If you are a walking talking brochure then you are not adding value to your customer. You have to make them think make them think and you demonstrate great depth of knowledge and this builds trust. People buy from people they trust.

Here is an exercise that you can do to demonstrate the power of questioning. It's about opening and closing a deal in 4 easy questions. You will need a volunteer to work on.

a) Ask your volunteer what they would like to own that they do not already have. (use the word own, not buy)

b) Ask them what owning this product would do for them. How their life would be improved by owning this product. (they are telling you the benefits to them)

c) Ask them how much they would be prepared to pay for this product name their own price (they set the price point)

d) Ask them that if you had this product and you could sell it to them for the price mentioned would you have a deal (the close and they should say yes)

The power of this simple set of questions is that you have conducted a successful sell. You have achieved it by only asking questions. The customer has done most of the talking. You have sold the product and not mentioned anything about it you just asked questions - it's what good selling is all about.

In summary, the foundation for success help them buy by asking great questions!

Learn more about this author, Colin Wilson.
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