Someone’s interested in what you sell. You know because they filled out a form on your site or contacts you some other way. How do you build the momentum and move them through your pipeline?
Ask questions like these in your initial messages and conversations to not only keep leads engaged but also to give yourself the best chance of providing them a solution they need.
General communication questions
Ask questions that get you on the same page with how and when you’ll communicate.
- Do you prefer email or texting for quick follow-up?
- Is it easier for you if we chat on Zoom?
- Would your rather watch a video or read an overview?
Discovery questions to encourage collaboration
Ask questions that make it feel like you’re on the same side — because you are!
- What’s going on right now that makes you want to find [SOLUTION TYPE]?
- What exactly do you want to do with [SOLUTION TYPE]?
- Who on your team will see the greatest impact by solving [PROBLEM]?
- Explain what you’ve been doing or tried to do already to [DO WHATEVER THEIR JOB IS, ACCOMPLISH A TYPE OF GOAL, PROVIDE A CERTAIN SERVICE].
- What have you liked or not liked about [RELATED SOLUTION TYPE]?
- Is [POTENTIAL RELATED PROBLEM] making it hard to [DO WHATEVER THEIR JOB IS, ACCOMPLISH A TYPE OF GOAL, PROVIDE A CERTAIN SERVICE]?
- What’s going to be the greatest challenge/obstacle when implementing [SOLUTION] for [PROBLEM]?
- Who are the people that need to get on board with adopting [SOLUTION]?
- Where are they at in the process? Do they feel it’s as important as you do?
- As we move forward, what’s the most effective way I can hep you get them on board?
- What’s going to prove to your team that [SOLUTION] is worthwhile?
Pre- and post-meeting follow-up questions
Remember how you’re on the same side? All your follow-up should feel like a natural progression of people working toward solving the same problem.
- Here’s the agenda I’ve come up with. [BASIC AGENDA] Anything else you specifically want to talk about?
- What specific things do you want to see in action?
- Would it be helpful to see [RELATED SOLUTION] to give you more context?
- First impressions after seeing how [PRODUCT] helps with [PAIN POINT]?
- Would it help to see a comparison of [PRODUCT] with [OTHER PRODUCTS]?
- We got to discuss [TOPICS] but didn’t get to [OTHER TOPIC]. Would [DAY & TIME] work to meet for just 10 minutes to go over it?
- Does it make sense to bring in [TEAM MEMBER] for a shortened demo of [PRODUCT]?
The best questions open two-way conversations
Info dumping and pushing out content to your prospects won’t help them make a decision any faster. The questions you ask need to open a conversation and keep it going. You always want to keep prospects engaged and responding.
