In Dimensions of Professional Selling® sales training, participants learn about the Exploratory Process™ as an effective means of uncovering customer needs/gaps, desired outcomes and expectations. This kind of insight is a prerequisite for a successful solution presentation and providing authentic value to the customer.
Five types of questions can be used at various points in the Exploratory Process to facilitate our learning: Overview, Focusing, Realization, Closure and, sometimes, Dimensional/Insight questions. Overview questions are intended to initiate the flow of information and collect general information from the customer. Following our Positive Contact™, Overview questions provide a logical and comfortable way to begin a productive conversation. Effective Overview questions help us immediately get into the customer’s “Odds Are” and uncover less obvious gaps.
Here are examples of effective Overview questions:
- Tell me about your role and responsibilities here at ABC Company.
- What would you say your company is best known for?
- I’d like to know more about your business. What are you most proud of when it comes to your company?
- Describe your ideal customer or prospect.
- How do you attract new customers?
- What does a typical day look like here at ABC Company?
- What is your department’s role at ABC Company?
If our Overview questions are lacking or skipped altogether, we will not have a complete view of the customer’s perspective, and the discussion will likely feel abrupt when we prematurely dive into more specific details without a broader perspective.
