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Why Sales Are All About Asking Questions and Listening

Here is an example. You are a founder selling a product, and your prospect is asking you to send them three proposals, what does it mean?

They are not giving you enough context to understand their real needs. Why three, what are you they going to do with those proposals, what are they trying to accomplish, and who are going to look at those. Are they going to compare them with your competitors. ..etc?

Just doing the proposals is not going to make you successful until you understand in details what those proposals are going to do for the prospects, then you can craft just the right ones.

To get the details, you have to ask questions, dig in, and listen to everything you are told. Only then will you know enough to sell what you've got.

Transcript

How to Ask Better Questions ·

The Startup Chat with Steli and Hiten

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  1. What Is One Trick That Every Founder Should Know About SalesAsk questions, and ask the right questions, don't assume you know the answers.
  2. What Is a Good Example of a Simple Bit of Information That Could Be Easily MisunderstoodSay you said that you bought a house last week. What did you buy it with? Was it money? What money? What currency? US dollars or maybe Euros.
  3. How Can Good Questions Help Business People Talk to Their EngineersIf you are a business person, simply by asking the right questions you can understand your team better.
  4. How Do You Learn to Ask Better QuestionsJust ask yourself who is the best listener you know, who is the person that asks the best questions?
  5. Can You Ask a Bad QuestionHere is one example. If you're looking for advice or help with something, don't ask people what they did in your situation, just ask them what you should do.

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