Everyone in the sales training business is teaching salespeople that they need to ask more and better questions.  They instruct you to use open ended questions.  They give you some tricks to pull, like, “Tell me more” or “What happens then?”

Action Selling ®, on the other hand, gives you a questioning process and a map to follow.  You can be strategic in your questioning while remaining completely natural.  (See Action Selling ®’s Best Questions map.)

When you question customers skillfully instead of just gabbing at them, they appreciate it.  Victor Younger, Manager of Special Services of Stuart Dean Co. in Cleveland, Ohio, says that one customer reacted to an Action Selling ®-trained sales rep’s new questioning skills by asking, “Have you gone to a training seminar or something?”

“You’re letting me talk”

Stuart Dean, the preeminent restoration and maintenance company in the United States, has so far trained more than 60 salespeople in the Action Selling ® process.  Younger says that when his rep asked the customer why she thought he had gotten some training, her response was humbling but great: “Because you’re letting me talk, and you’re listening more.”

Everyone benefits from better questions.  Here’s a partial list of what Action Selling ® salespeople realize once they’ve learned the best way to ask questions:

  • How to “open” a sale so you can close it
  • How to sell yourself as a consultant
  • How to identify what and how to sell to this customer
  • How to differentiate yourself, your company, and your product
  • How to make the best use of your time
  • How to earn the right to ask more questions

Action Selling ® in Action

Perfecto Tool & Engineering of Anderson, Indiana, is known for precision craftsmanship. George Hudson, an account executive in Perfecto’s Southeast region, was trained on Action Selling ® a short time ago.  Here’s his story:

“My business customer wanted to combine three orders into one, and then shop for the best price and delivery. They were asking for a huge discount. I had been a friend to this client for years, so you might think I’d automatically get the business. But that’s not how it works today.

“My Action Selling ® training came in the nick of time. I decided that it was time to convert this client to an Action Selling ® type of customer. I used the process and landed a $56,941 deal—without discounting a dime.”

“This one sale paid for my company’s training and then some.  Action Selling ® kicks the competition that isn’t using it.”