37 B2B Sales Questions for 2020

B2B Sales Training

B2B Sales Training 101

Nothing is quite as important when you’re talking to a prospect or decision-maker as the questions you ask.

Here are 37 customer-focused, non-manipulative, open-ended sales questions that will help your salespeople consult with buyers and move them towards the close. I’ve included a mix of problem-resolution questions, agitation questions, solution questions, needs-based questions, feature-benefit questions, objection testing questions, and even a few feeling questions.

They’re all designed to help your sales team members use the time they have with a prospect wisely, and gain a sense of what the decision-maker is looking to accomplish.  Of course, some of them require building more trust and rapport than others. And some might not be relevant to your environment. But, using a few of these will definitely help your team members understand exactly how to present your offering…

37 Questions Taught in B2B Sales Training

  1. What do you like about your current supplier?
  2. What kind of time frame are you working within?
  3. What would solving your problem mean to you personally?
  4. If we were able to solve your problem, what would this mean to your organization?
  5. How severely has your department been affected by these problems?
  6. How do you describe your company to your prospects?
  7. How do you describe your company to your friends?
  8. When will you be ready to implement a solution?
  9. How much support for addressing this problem do you have from your supervisors?
  10. How much support is there from your direct reports?
  11. How can I help you gain support?
  12. How did you select your current provider?
  13. How did you discover your current supplier?
  14. How much of your time, each day, is spent working on this project?
  15. How much of your time, each day, would you like to spend working on this project?
  16. What are some of the major challenges within your business in the past 12 months?
  17. What impact have these challenges had on your profits?
  18. What impact have these challenges had on your morale?
  19. What impact have these challenges had on your success?
  20. How receptive is your company to looking at an alternative supplier?
  21. How else might we improve your effectiveness?
  22. What steps, if any, have you taken to alleviate this problem?
  23. What sort of budget do you have in mind?
  24. What’s your top priority in approaching this decision?
  25. How has your industry been impacted by changes in the economy?
  26. How pleased are you with your current level of productivity?
  27. What do you mean by that?
  28. How broad a search are you conducting for this purchase?
  29. How does this problem affect your customers?
  30. What will the end-result look like to you?
  31. If you were to rank, in order of importance to you, benefit 1, benefit 2, and benefit 3, how would you do that?
  32. What will serve as a “deal-breaker”?
  33. What general expectations do you have for your vendors?
  34. What’s your top priority in approaching this decision?
  35. What implications does this decision have for your career?
  36. How would you like to move ahead?
  37. What is your deadline for making this decision?

We’ve been training salespeople on proper questioning for more than forty years because good questioning is key to closing deals.

In fact, it’s a step that’s built into our award-winning sales process, IMPACT Selling. If traveling or time away from the field is a problem for your business, check out our IMPACT Selling Virtual Instructor-Led Training Program as a viable substitute!

 

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Written By

Michelle Richardson

Michelle Richardson is the Vice President of Sales Performance Research. In her role, she is responsible for spearheading industry research initiatives, overseeing consulting and diagnostic services, and facilitating ROI measurement processes with partnering organizations. Michelle brings over 25 years of experience in sales and sales effectiveness functions through previously held roles in curriculum design, training implementation, and product development to the Sales Performance Research Center.
Michelle Richardson is the Vice President of Sales Performance Research. In her role, she is responsible for spearheading industry research initiatives, overseeing consulting and diagnostic services, and facilitating ROI measurement processes with partnering organizations. Michelle brings over 25 years of experience in sales and sales effectiveness functions through previously held roles in curriculum design, training implementation, and product development to the Sales Performance Research Center.

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