webinar: using anxiety questions to finish the year strong

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Using Anxiety Questions to Finish the Year Strong

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Ever had one of these prospects?


Feel you’re running around in circles?


What is an anxiety question?

How to create good anxiety questions

Three key opportunities to use an anxiety question

Five specific tactics to improve prospect engagement throughout the sales cycle

Today’s ObjectivesObjectives for today


Designed to surface customer’s view of current conditions.

Aimed at getting prospect to momentarily experience the consequences of not having your product or service.

Verifies shared understanding and confirms what we heard customer say.

Raises issues that didn’t surface on their own. Used to differentiate and create need for your products and services.

Anxiety

Confirming

Probing

Open

Key question types


anx·i·e·ty/aNGˈzīədē/ nouna feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.


Anxiety questions are designed to:

Cause an emotional responseOpen an unexpected dialogueShift the prospect’s thinking purposefully and productively


Anxiety?

What happens if...

What’s the impact of...

How does this affect me...

Have we thought of everything...


Anxiety questionsMay be only way some prospects will respond to you, your product or service

Aimed at getting prospect to momentarily experience consequences of not having your product or service

Should create an emotional impact or an emotional response with the buyer:– Tune into their motivation,

their WII-FM!


“What is the impact of not meeting your target this year?”


PollHow many of you are using anxiety questions today?


Creating anxiety questionsFirst:

Think of a feature of your product and capabilities it enables Relate those capabilities to difficulties your prospect is facing, or would like to avoid

Then: Create lead-in that relates to consequences of your prospect not having your product's capabilities"Have you ever wondered how to improve/achieve ....” "Have you ever wondered if there was a way to avoid/prevent …”"I understand you are under pressure to control costs; have you thought about if there were a way to solve _____(insert problem your capability solves) it could improve your return on investment and reduce overall costs?”

Follow a positive response with: “We’ve got some experience in this area, can we talk about how you're dealing with this now?”


Anxiety question test points1. Does it cause anxiety?

2. Does it get them to think about the future?

3. Does it risk rapport?


14

Anxiety questions should be…

Not confrontational, but instead educational or instructional

Knowledge / expertise-based

Respectful


When to use an Anxiety Question


Maintaining Engagement


Five tactics to maintain engagementPrepare

Focus on customer / prospect needs, wants, and process

Listen actively

Never leave without the next meeting

Create a timeline, beginning with the first meeting


An excellent anxiety question

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water

or do you want a chance to change the world?”Steve Jobs to John Sculley (Pepsi executive), 1983


“You’ve gotta ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’…..

- Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry…..Well, do ya, punk?”


SummaryAnxiety questions– Get prospects to momentarily experience the consequences of

not having your product/service

Follow an anxiety question with a positive response– “Can we discuss some options for dealing with this issue….?”

Use anxiety questions to– Uncover additional problems

– Disrupt prospect’s view of the solution

– Create urgency


Questions


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Save the date!

Conquer the “No Decision” Blackhole

October 6, 2016 | 11:00AM PDT

Closing: Take Control of When They’ll Buy

October 20, 2016 | 10:00AM PDT


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Natalie Pitchford | Managing Partner, ValueSelling [email protected]

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webinar: using anxiety questions to finish the year strong

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