It’s counter intuitive that a list of discovery questions will not help your salespeople lead customers to value until they first know the answers. Without the answers to illuminate the road to value, your salespeople will get lost in a sea of questions, because each customer is unique.
Imagine you’re directing someone to a destination: They’ve misinterpreted your directions, and they are now lost. How are you going to get them back on course when all you have are written directions?
After working as a business partner for 5-years at one of the largest question based sales methodology companies, it was my experience that most salespeople find themselves in the same dilemma when they try to direct customers to value with questions. The customer’s answers never follow the sequential nature of the questioning model, because it’s too inflexible to adjust to the fluidity of a business conversation.
To get customers back on course, salespeople don’t need better directions, they need a map. If salespeople, for example, know the answers behind the questions, the answers will paint a picture/visual story that salespeople can use as a map. With this map, they can guide customers with directed questions to unrecognized or misunderstood problems, and thereby, create more value for their product.
-Michael