1 Question You Must Ask If You Are Into B2B Sales!

If you are into B2B sales, you know well that you are in for a roller coaster ride

But if you are prepared for the ride, you’ll enjoy it. Otherwise it will turn out to be a nightmare

When it comes to B2B sales, there are multiple stakeholders involved (read decision makers)

The biggest puzzle with B2B sales is finding out who the decision maker(s) is/are!

And that’s why the most important question you should ask your prospect is

“Who else will be involved in the decision making?”

Simple question to ask but a lot of salespeople have inhibitions asking this question in the first meeting

They think that it’s too early to ask & maybe a bit too bold. This is not true.

What’s important is the tonality and body language while asking that question. Politeness never hurt anyone!

Also, when you ask this question, the prospect will start taking you more seriously. When you are transparent and expect transparency, you will get it!

The biggest advantage is that when the deal is not moving forward, you’ll have some idea of how to make it work.

Let’s say you pitched to person A who said person F and Q will be the decision makers. Now ‘A’ has stopped taking your calls. But since you know who F and Q are, you can reach out to them someway or the other! (figure that out :P)

You’ll not go around in endless circles hoping that the deal will work. Hope is the worst business strategy.

Few more follow up questions which can help you reduce the sales cycle time –

1) What does your buying cycle look like? (you’ll get tremendous insights asking this question)

2) If all stakeholders agree, how soon do you think we can get started? (this is a test close which will help you gauge how serious the client is – use it sparingly)

Here’s my co-founder (Joesph Dass) and I discussing this issue –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd2mzJZmD5Y

Watch it.