One of the most important skills any sales professional needs to develop and perfect as soon as possible, is the ability to recognize, and effectively handle buying questions. As a trainer, I have heard new sales agents (and some more experienced ones as well) give great presentations, only to lose the deal by not picking up on the clients buying questions, and so they end up talking themselves out of a deal. 

What I hope to accomplish with this Hub, is to give you all the basic principals and ideas of what to look for, and how to convert these questions into sales. So let's get started shall we...

At it's most basic definition, a buying question is any question the client asks that indicates that he/she has already decided to buy. Now let me explain. As you are answering questions from your clients listen for questions about things such as:

• delivery options
• closing costs
• time to close
• service or maintenance options
• warranty information
• return policy
• available stock
• multi unit discounts

All of these are questions that can indicate that your client has heard enough and is ready to buy. Now this list is in no way all inclusive, it's just to give you an idea of what to listen for. When you hear one of these questions you will need to remember the following...

The only answer to a buying question is, and should always be, a close.

Thats it. There is no second option. When a client starts asking buying questions you need to close them. If they object, handle it as you would any other objection, then go right back into a close, not your presentation. Remember, at this point they have already been sold on your product, now you have to sell them on the terms of the deal. Too many times, sales associates will handle an objection and then jump back into their presentation, this gives the client time to come up with more objections, and perhaps to change their mind altogether. 

When I first began selling cars, I had a customer once who came in looking for a new car. We went through the lot and found one he liked, and proceeded to give him the highest quality presentation I had ever given. After we test drove the car, we went back into the show room, we went over payments, and all of the financial terms and he was happy with the deal, but he never said he'd take it. So we went back to the sales office and sat down where I went through the brochure on that particular model and pointed out all of the options and features. He asked me about the colors we had in stock, about our service department, how long it would take to get all of the paper work done, and things of that nature. I would answer each question, but he simply wouldn't go ahead and say he'd take it. I pitched every benefit I could think of, and when I was all out of ideas, and he was getting up and getting ready to leave, my sales manager came in and introduced himself. I'll never forget what happened next. My sales manager simply looked at the customer and said "So, you're all set to take your new car home today right?". Without missing a beat, this customer who had just avoided everything I threw at him for the last two hours, said "Sure am". 

I could not understand what in the hell I had done wrong, and how my sales manager had gotten him sold so quickly. After everything was done and the customer left in his new car, my sales manager told me what I had been doing wrong. His simple lesson explained everything so clearly that I still remember it to this day. He looked me in the eye and told me that "selling these cars is easy, watch Price is Right sometime, everyone want's a new car. Selling the features is great, but don't forget the most important part... ASK FOR THE MONEY GENIUS!"

As I went back over the encounter in my head, I realized that I had never actually asked him to buy the car, I kept waiting for him to tell me he wanted it. This was my first non-retail sales position, and I was used to people telling me what they wanted and then offering them add-ons and accessories to go along with the sale, I had never been in a position where I had to actually convince them to buy in the first place. Every one of those buying questions he asked me was a chance to close that I missed. Don't let those chances pass you by. I was lucky and had a sales manager that was keeping an eye on me since I was still new, otherwise the customer wouldn't have got his car, I would have lost the commission, and the dealership would have lost the customer.

Learn to identify buying questions and your closing percentages will go through the roof. So until next time, go make the sale!