What are some questions that sales reps should never ask a potential customer?

I guarantee Tibor Shanto will say: "What keeps you awake at night?". I was trained to ask that to prospects a long time ago and that doesn't work particularly if you are talking to someone where you have no credibility.

Looking forward to hearing the rest.

"How serious are you about this [project/purchase/buying process]?"

It's a needlessly blunt/aggressive question that will likely produce a vague answer at best, even from buyers who are indeed serious. There are better ways to measure a buyer's motivation level than a vaguely worded question. A lead scoring system is just one way. Gut-feel analysis of verbal and non-verbal cues is another.

I'll freely confess to the sin of asking this question. Once.

:-)

Craig, you know me too well, when ever someone asks me that question, I say the dog next door. The other one I find an odd question is "what do I have to do to get your business?" Seems to me if you have to ask, you're in the wrong job.

Here are five that I think sales reps could ask more often. Wondering if any of these are on people's "don't ask" list. Tibor?

1. What do you need?
How they answer this will tell you a lot about how broadly or narrowly they’re approaching the situation or problem.

2. What are your priorities?
Including and beyond the problem or need at hand. Getting a sense for their priorities (directly & individually as well as for their group and organization) will help you understand the relative value and urgency for solving this specific problem.

3. Why is this important?
What made this a priority in the first place? What underlying reasons or objectives does it serve? The answer may be strategic or political or various points in between, but you need to understand the context into which you’re selling.

4. What does success look like?
Understand how the prospect defines success. They may not know, or may have calculated or interpreted success wrong. But if you sell them a great product that solves a different problem and/or achieves a different outcome they didn’t expect or prioritize, they’re still going to blame you.

5. What’s in it for you?
For what other reasons does the prospective buyer want to do this? A raise or promotion? To play a part in an organization-wide initiative? Superficial priorities may be just as important in helping you drive urgency and progress towards getting the deal done.

My other new favorite (which I feel like I get more often now than ever):

"Can I have 30 minutes of your time?"

I asked a sales rep recently to see an agenda for that request before committing (mainly to see what he would say). He responded that he wanted to get to know my business better, and see if there was a good fit for his solution.

That was his pitch for the meeting. Hmm...

I love all these answers. I've been asked all of them by so many sales people - and they always come at totally inappropriate times in the discussion.

Another I hate that always comes at the beginning of a sales cold call: "How are you doing today?"

I don' t know who you are, I don't have time to talk to you in the first place, I'm already sorry I answered the phone, and you want to chit chat? Get to the point!

Matt, I feel your pain. I get that question quite often lately too.

Ahh, Thank you for letting me rant. I feel so much better now. ;-)

"Would you like to grow your business?" It's rhetorical and too personal. Most sales reps ask this question as part of their "No Brainer" catalogue; with the expected answer to be Yes of course. But the challenge of asking questions like this is that you insult the intelligence of your prospect. Business owners want to grow their business but on their terms. Asking this question implies that you also have a deep enough relationship with the Customer; deep enough to question/challenge their decision making skills

Alternatively, your prospect could simply say No. End of discussion....loss of sale.

Any of the repertoire (if you want to call it that) of obvious answer questions that some very inexperienced salespeople think will trap the prospect and seal the deal...like "You want to improve your business processes don't you?" It's just so ridiculous...and beyond belief that this kind of drivel is still being taught by some "managers" or "trainers"