MEDDICC - the art of asking questions the right way

How to start any conversation with a client!

Create Laughter :)

– Comment on something that is positively true about the other person

The easiest way is to get the customer into the green light is to elicit a laugh and then quickly move on to the needs analysis.

You do this by asking a question, commenting on something positive about the other person or saying something positive you have in common. Look and listen carefully - notice how the person laughs and relaxes, exhales. Then there is relaxation and contact.

Avoid talking too much about the weekend, vacation or anything else that makes the customer's mind wander. Why? When you ask the client to tell about the weekend, the client will enter a relaxed mental state, resting. When the customer is at rest, nothing happens, think para-sun, sun and bath. When you then want to shift focus to
a needs analysis, it can be very abrupt, even difficult.

Some tips:–- Comment on something you see in the room and ask a question–- Comment on something you notice in the other person that you perceive as positive–- Tell about something interesting and positive that happened–- Tell us about something fatal that happened–-

When the laughter comes - quickly change the focus to the topic of the meeting.

Here are the most common mistakes salespeople make during the sales conversation - that really hurts the sales!

"How are you running things today"?

After an initial conversation, the needs analysis begins. Often the first question the salesperson asks is: "how are you running things today?". The motive is clear: the seller wants to hear what the problems are to be solved. This question is perhaps the worst a salesperson can ask at the beginning of a customer conversation. It's boring to talk about - it doesn't give the customer any new information, doesn't contribute to solving anything. If it is the salesperson who booked the meeting, the question can create uncertainty for the customer: How much should I tell? If I tell the seller about the situation, what will happen to the answers? What if I appear in a bad way? Do I have to buy something?"Does it even sound interesting?"

Asking YES oriented questions

The vast majority of salespeople have been taught to ask the customer for acceptance: "yes-oriented questions". These can be questions like "Do you have time?", "Does that sound interesting?", "Do you want to solve the problems you have?" The answer to the "yes-oriented questions" is a given - they should lead to an acceptance, a "Yes".

The problem is that it becomes difficult to be honest, it's hard to say no.

Another problem is that we all too often answer "yes" in the spur of the moment, it is not a well-thought-out answer. Many sellers have misinterpreted the customer's "yes" and believed that there was motivation to proceed with the deal. The customer makes appointments, does not respond to contact attempts and the business ends up in the sand.Another problem is when the customer asks several suppliers, to provide quotes in order to be able to compare and choose the best option. If the seller asks questions in the wrong way: "Does it look good?", "Did you like our quote?", "Do we have the best offer?" "Are we just a benchmark?" then the customer will give us the answer we want: that we are interesting and good. What the customer really thinks is difficult to find out with these "yes-oriented questions". The customer gives us the answer we want.

"Are you  the decisionmaker?"

We ask the question to find out who we should ask about the deal, that we are talking to a person. But fail because the question focuses only on the decision-making. We don't ask who influences the decision or who the person listens to.In addition, it is easy to answer "yes" to the question without thinking. Many managers who cannot answer yes to the question do not want to reveal to the seller who and who really has the power over the money. The question forces them to answer "yes". The consequence is that the seller thinks they are talking to the right person. But miss out on connecting with the real decision makers and maybe lose the deal.

Mistakes you probably didn't notice

Missing the customer's assessment of the current situation.

Many salespeople ask open-ended questions to get the facts, but fail to capture the customer's opinions about the current situation: are they satisfied, are they dissatisfied, are the costs, working methods reasonable or unreasonable? Then the seller misses out on getting the facts about the current situation.

Failing to capture future plans

Another sales problem is that the needs questions only deal with the current situation, not the customer's wishes for the future. For some reason, the customer rarely asks about plans for the future, but stays with the current situation. Then the seller risks not finding out about strategic goals, investments and ambitions.

Failing to understand the manager's personal ambitions.

Many salespeople are afraid to ask what personal ambitions the person they are talking to has. The salespeople ask questions about the company and the department's situation. It is equally important to map out what the manager himself wants to prioritize and solve.

Failing to gain control over the competitive situation

Today's customers are always looking at several options, perhaps the very person you talk to is mostly out fishing for price information that they can use to bargain with their current supplier. If you ask questions like: "Do we have a chance at the deal?" and "Are we in a good position?" you make it difficult for the customer to tell you how things really are. The customer answers "yes" to all your questions but ultimately buys from another supplier.The customer is ashamed to tell the truth. It is vulnerable to tell why you have a certain opinion or that others in the customer's management group actually have another supplier as their favorite.

Missing out on the details of the customer's needs

Most salespeople are skilled at asking the right open-ended questions. But what does the seller make of the response? It is easy to too quickly move on to the next area or start finding solutions to the customer's problem.Too often, the salesperson starts talking about his product benefits too early, at the slightest sign that the customer has problems and needs. Asking more questions in the same area, asking the customer to tell more and staying with the need can provide insights and motivation to for solutions.

Holds too fast a pace

The sales meetings, especially the digital ones, are going faster and faster: in 30 minutes we must have time to introduce ourselves, do a needs analysis and propose a solution. This increases the pace, the questions come faster, the seller does not have time to listen to the answers. It is easy to get caught up in the customers' pace. After the meeting, one notices that much has been missed in the needs analysis. It is unclear how and if what will happen in the future.

The seller is too nice

"How has the weekend been?" A polite question, but the customer can float out and suddenly time is up without the seller having pushed the deal forward. A common mistake is to spend too much time on polite phrases. The salesperson believes that the customer will buy if a personal relationship is created. When you ask questions about how the weekend, the holiday, the dinner was, lets the customer's thoughts go to a relaxing place.Then changing the subject, the focus, to a sales call can be difficult – the customer will need a moment to catch the question. It is often the customer that the customer then needs more time to think - the business moves forward in time.

The seller is talking about the wrong things

Spending too much time on an area that the customer does not think is important is easily done. The needs are clear and you have good solutions. But is this what the customer wants to focus on?

All sellers make mistakes. It's OK to make mistakes. Discovering them can be painful and embarrassing. But it is only then that change can take place.

The way we teach you to ask questions are based on psychology, on our autonomic nervous system's ability to handle a situation.

Red light means danger - the custoner feels intruded and senses that the seller is pushing too hard. Answers gets shaallow and generic. No information si really shared open and honest. Closed body language.

Yellow light means curiosity - safe but curious - a wisk to know more. relaxed and open body language.

Green light means safe and willing to discuss - share and brainstorm, create ideas in an honest and open way.

When the customer is in the green light, then he /she is relaxed, have access to his/her creativity, close to his/heremotions and at the same time  can access the logical thinking. The customer can freely brainstorm ideas and test different hypotheses without ending up in arguments. The easiest way to get there is by making the customer laugh. The fastest way to take someone out of the green light is to be sharp and threatening.

Creating security and lightness in the conversation is always right to get the customer into the green light. The job of the autonomic nervous system is to protect us from danger and threats. If the situation in a meeting is perceived as unsafe or threatening, we either want to argue or withdraw, then it turns yellow light (vigilance) or red light (flight or fight). Or talk about harmless things, go inside ourselves.

When you get long-winded answers, your customer is not committed, but is thinking about something else. There can be many reasons but your job is to notice this and quickly create energy and motivation for your discussion. Sometimes you are met by a positive customer but nothing happens between the meetings, there could be several reasons but you need to check if what you are talking about is relevant. If the energy is gone, it's just a matter of starting over.

When both you and your customer are in a green light, have contact and there is trust and energy, you can get honest answers to your questions. The customer will ask questions and listen to your answers. When you notice how green light works, you will create better and more effective sales calls.You need to train your attention and ability to notice when you go in and out of the green light at the meeting. It can happen on several occasions.

MEDDICC the art of asking questions are 10 conversation techniques that work individually and can be used in combination to increase the customer's energy, motivation and willingness to act. They work equally well in client meetings, as with your friends and relations. Shortcuts make you a better salesperson, more present and sincere.Already when you use a shortcut for the first time, you will notice the difference.

1.Laughter – Comment on something that is positively true about the other person

The easiest way is to get the customer into the green light is to elicit a laugh and then quickly move on to the needs analysis. You do this by asking a question, commenting on something positive about the other person or saying something positive you have in common. Look and listen carefully - notice how the person laughs and relaxes, exhales. Then there is relaxation and contact. Avoid talking too much about the weekend, vacation or anything else that makes the customer's mind wander. Why? When you ask the client to tell about the weekend, the client will enter a relaxed mental state, resting. When the customer is at rest, nothing happens, think vacation in the sun, a hot day by the pool and a cold drink in the hand. When you then want to shift focus to the sale pitch, need analysis it can be hard, even impossible. The customer is dreaming and the energy is low.

Some tips:

- Comment on something you see in the room and ask a question

- Comment on something you notice in the otherperson that you perceive as positive

- Tell about something interesting and positivethat happened

- Share a story about something fatal that happened

- When the laughter comes - quickly change thef ocus to the topic of the meeting

No-oriented questions (reverse questions) – "Is it completely impossible to make an appointment with you?"

Too many sellers want the customer's positive answer. When the customer feels that they are being lured into a situation where they lose control, they may not know what it means to say "yes", they go out of the "zone" and the traffic light turns yellow, vigilance. You notice that the answers become more cautious and that there are counter-questions. When you ask questions that make it easy to answer "no", a reverse emotional reaction occurs: the customer retains control and can mark where feels good and what doesn't. The reverse questions naturally require you to be present and engaged in the conversation. When the customer says "no", they retain control: then energy, motivation and a will to act are released. When you receive a "no", you can continue the conversation with a follow-up question such as "how can we do it?" to bring out creativity.

Some examples of reversed questions:

- "Is it completely impossible to book an appointment with you?"

- "Are you completely busy?"–

- "Are you completely against starting the project before the summer?"

–- "Is it impossible to get your CEO into a meetingwith us?

- Are you completely against starting the meeting by telling us what you want to do?

If the customer does NOT want or can, he will answer "yes": "I'm completely busy". Then you can ask when there is a free time and calmly book it. Listen to the answers you get.

You should use no-oriented questions at decision points:
- When you ask a prospect to comitt to a meeting with you

- When you check that the customer has time

- When you want the customer to take a stand for or against

- When you want to get a decision

5. Put a label on the feeling - "It seems that you have thought about this question for a long time"

Reflecting on what you note in the conversation is always right: it creates an honest and sincere contact. It gets the customer back into the "zone", trust is created. Even when you feel that the customer is getting angry, upset and defensive, it is right to put a label on the feeling and reflect.
You can use this technique along with reverse questions to create a stronger impact. The purpose of labels is to get the customer to tell you how they feel about the situation, giving you more information to work with.
When you put a label on the customer's feeling, you have to wait for a reaction even if it takes up to 120 seconds!

Some exxamples:

– "It seems that you have been disappointed with our previous delivery promises?"
– "It feels like you need more time to rethink your decision?"
– "It seems that you have several good options to choose from, am I completely wrong?"
– "Now you became doubtful?"
– "I get the feeling that you find our quote expensive?"

Reflecting on what is, here and now, makes you get the customer back into the green light. Don't be afraid to ask, you will get honest answers, and an opportunity to quickly get the conversation on track. You create a stronger trust.

6. Statments - "You probably have experience with other systems, but have not yet found exactly what you are looking for?"

One way to quickly find out the facts in the needs analysis is to use statements. If the customer agrees and confirms your statement, you can ask follow-up questions. The customer notices that you are well-read and knowledgeable, you have a green light and can listen to the facts and feelings you convey. With 2-3 statements can you save 10-15 minutes at the meeting. Therefore, the assertion is a conversational technique that makes digital sales meetings more effective. If the customer disagrees with you, they will correct you and tell you how it is. This is positive: the customer retains control and directs you correctly. It creates a sense of satisfaction and security. Your claims need to be substantiated and reasonable for the method to work. The customer quickly gets into the "zone", energy, motivation and a will to act is created.

Some examples:

- "I read that in your annual report that you will expand in Germany, is it reasonable to assume that you will need to recruit and train local salespeople?"
- "Are you looking for IT support because you have implemented Office 365?

- "The reason you contacted us is that you want to digitize, correct me if I'm wrong?"
- "Given that you have used supplier X for many years and are now entering into a procurement, makes me think that you are not completely satisfied?" Am I wrong?”

After you have had your statement confirmed or corrected, you can ask the customer to tell you more, give a more detailed description. Statements are an easy way to quickly move the conversation forward.

Getting the customer to tell more, details and facts, can sometimes be a challenge. Partly because you want to move on in the conversation and get to the end quickly (correct me if I'm wrong) and because the customer might not want to expose themselves, risk ending up in a situation where they "must" buy from you. Mirroring is a playful way to elicit a response that contains more detail and emotion. By repeating the customer's last words, turning them into a question, you notice if the customer has more to say.
If the customer has said everything he has to say, you will receive a concise answer. If, despite this, you notice that the customer is not telling the whole truth, you can try a label: "They feel like there is more to say about your sales situation?"

Some examples:
"You have mentioned high quality several times during our conversation?"
“Good delivery times?”
"Correct price?"
Listen to what the customer says, note which things come up several times in the conversation and reflect these. Use mirroring to show you are listening. When you notice that the customer loses focus on you and "checks out" at the digital sales meeting, you can use mirroring to quickly get the customer into the green light again. Energy, motivation and a strong will to act are created.

7. Mirroring – “You mention high quality?”

Getting the customer to tell more, details and facts, can sometimes be a challenge. Partly because you want to move on in the conversation and get to the end quickly (correct me if I'm wrong) and because the customer might not want to expose themselves, risk ending up in a situation where they "must" buy from you.
Mirroring is a playful way to elicit a response that contains more detail and emotion. By repeating the customer's last words, turning them into a question, you notice if the customer has more to say.
If the customer has said everything he has to say, you will receive a concise answer. If, despite this, you notice that the customer is not telling the whole truth, you can try a label: "They feel like there is more to say about your sales situation?" Repeat the last 3-5 words of the last sencence the customer said.

Some examples:
"You have mentioned high quality several times during our conversation?"
“Good delivery times?”
"Correct price?"

Listen to what the customer says, note which things come up several times in the conversation and reflect these. Use mirroring to show you are listening.
When you notice that the customer loses focus on you and "checks out" at the digital sales meeting, you can use mirroring to quickly get the customer into the green light again. Energy, motivation and a strong will to act are created.

This video shows ways to:

1. Explore who are in the customer tribe/influencers

2. Getting access to Economic buyer

3. Creating motivation for the sponsor to organize the meeting (s)

This video shows how to use prize anchor when positioning the price of an offer - to help the client to get a broader perspective.

"A new thought can never replace an existing one"

When you want to move on and the client expresses concerns, hurdles or uncertanty most sales people use logical reasoning and offer ideas to move the situation forward. The most common response is a weak "yes" and still nothing happnes. The customers concerns are still there.

Instead of going the traditional way, using traditional sales talk - we suggest something totally different: listen better, listen differently. The use of three porwerful conversation tools will do the trick:

1. Labeling: put words on a feeling you pick up from the customer "It seems that you are frustrated with the present state of things" (and the just be silent)

2. Mirroring: Repeat the last 3 words the client said: "A lot of trouble with the present vendor". Make it sound like a satement. Ideal response would be "thats right" - you understand where they are coming from.

3. What and how questions: let the ciustomer solve his/her own concern: "How can you solve that? What to do?" - this simple method changes the state of the clients mind (if he/she is ready at this point) to be creative and explore ways.

Look at the videos: you will see John go down the traditional way and fail. And you will see how different John approcahes the same situation using the 3 techniques. Notice the difference in the reaction of the customer.

How and when can you use labeling, mirroring and what & how questions?

8. The magic wand – “If you could wave a magic wand – how would your business look like in 18 months? What would be different from now?”

The magic wand (or pen) is used when you examine what the customer sees in the future and to find "pain", what needs to be fixed. You can also use the magic wand to plant an idea that will happen in the future: "Let's assume for a second that your business is completely digitized and all accounting takes place automatically, how would you work then? What would be the biggest difference to how you do things today?”. You can use the magic wand at any point in the conversation when you feel you want to create the energy that comes with a positive future. If you sell high-tech and products and services that solve problems in a new and innovative way, you need to get the customer to see the future in a different way to get there. Many sellers try to come up with their innovative solution by asking situational questions. But fail because the customer lacks the insights about new solutions to tell about the needs the seller wants to solve.

Some examples:

– “If you could wave a magic wand –
What would your business look like in 18 months? What would be different from now?”
– "Let's assume that all salespeople used your CRM system perfectly in 18-23 months, how would you lead your team then? What would be the biggest differences?”
– "If you imagine the perfect relationship between you as a customer and us as a supplier - what would you see then? What is different from now?”
– "Can you tell us about what your dream scenario would look like in your sales in 13-28 weeks, what would
– you see then? What is new compared to today?

- "You have previously told us about your problems with to get your logistics flow: orders, stock and invoicing flowing. If you could manage this with the help of your front systems being integrated, accounting handled automatically and you only getting reports on what didn't work - what would it be like? What would flow better?”

As you can see, you can use different ways to move the customer into the future, timeline for how far ahead it should take place and compare with what is now. You can add details to your dream scenario to make it clearer to the customer, and include features that your offer includes.
When you use the magic wand, you will notice that the customer quickly enters the green light, creates energy, motivation and a strong will to take action.

9. What and how questions – “How can we do this?”

Summarizing what you heard the customer say is the best way to build trust. You show that you have listened to the customer so well that you can summarize what he has said. You give the customer a chance to correct what you did not understand correctly. You create an expectation for the next step; what will happen now? You probably need to take notes to be able to summarize and check. If it is a digital meeting, you can share a document and write so that the customer sees what you write, they will feel involved. By asking the customer to correct you if there are mistakes, you keep the customer in the green light and create a sense of control.

Summary

Today's customers are exposed to a massive amount of information every day. It is impossible to logically and rationally take a stand on everything. There is simply not enough time. What feels right and reasonable, what motivates is what is prioritized.

With shortcuts, you will be able to make the meetings, especially digital sales meetings, much more effective, you can create energy, motivation and a strong will to act without being a pushy salesperson. The result is a higher hit rate, reasonable expectations and better customer relations.

ABOUT SALES MAKEOVER
Salesmakeover helps sales organizations increase solution sales through specially adapted programs with e-training, workshops, coaching and consultations. Salesmakeover uses Solution Selling sales methodology, an internationally recognized and widespread methodology with consultants in around 50 countries. Jens Edgren, CEO of Salesmakeover, is one of Sweden's most experienced business consultants. He has worked with listed companies for almost 30 years, in the Nordics and globally.

A sense of purpose, to create a desire to accomplish something important.

It fills us with motivation, energy and an increased ability to solve difficulties and challenges. It makes us re-evaluate how things are done today and should be done tomorrow. It can make us completely change the way we think. When motivation and energy are strong, there is a will to take action immediately. When we forget the purpose, the why, we also lose the energy tp drive change. It happens to all of us.

The salesperson's role is to help the customer, through the entire sales process, to keep the purpose of the deal in focus.

Sellers who focus on the product's functions and subtleties, the computer program's various processes risk being met with yawns. The customer has heard it before. It sounds good but creates no sense of purpose, the resistance to change is too great. The offer is rejected and the deal goes down the drain.

When you get the customer to feel a sense of purpose, you have started a creative process, the question is no longer IF but HOW.

The purpose could be part of the visio of the organization, a personal mission or an outspoken strategy at a local office. Doing research on the web, linkedin and other sources can give you a clue of 22-3 potential purposes you could explore in the customer conversation.

When you take a starting point in the customers purpose - your way of reasoning, brainstorming and asking questions will be different than before.

An example: a seller of solar energy asked the customer if he wanted to go from being an electricity consumer to becoming an electricity producer: how it would be experienced, how we could get there together. The relationship changed.

Another example: in the final phase of a tough negotiation: the customer wanted to stop the negotiation because the price was perceived to be too high. They took a break. When the negotiation started, the salesperson reminded the customer: "The only reason we're sitting here is because you want to outsource your business. How can we find a way where you get good enough finances and we put together a mission that provides enough profitability to be able to deliver what you want?" After a few silent seconds, the customer said: "That's right, let's start over." The deal, a few hundred million, was completed a few hours later. The client regained his motivation and energy to solve the obstacles that remained, by remembering the purpose.

Pay attention to:
- The customer becomes more present at the meeting
- The energy level rises
- You discuss, not present

What purposes can your offer fulfill?

What questions can you ask to find the client's professional and personal purpose?
How can you create the feeling of motivation, desire to act?

Try phases like:

• It seems that XXX is important to you , atleast from the research I have done prior to our meeting: How does that relate to you and your role?

• From what I found on Linkedin regarding your background, you seems to engage in YYY. What are your ambition, purpose in your present role?

• One of the major trends at the moment, according to (credible source) seems to be ZZZ. How does this connects with your mission here? How does it engage you and your team?

• How can we have a fruitful, creative conversation about how our offer can support you in this area?

As you see the "how" question used in the right way, tuned in with the words of the customer is very effective. It is safe to answer and leads very often to honest answers and high quality sales conversations.

If you don't manage to create or find purpose in the client, don't worry!

You can ask questions, at any point in the meeting, to see if there is something else that can create motivation to talk further. Here are some examples.
- What makes you want to talk to me / us today?
- Of all the things you could do today, you chose to talk to us/me, guess you have a good reason?
- What can make this meeting your best this week?
- It doesn't seem like I/we manage to catch your interest, what does it take?

Changing the way you speak and react in a conversation takes time. It will feel strange and uncomfortable to move the sales call from traditional sales pitch where you tell the customer what your product and service can do for the customer to exploring and creating motivation. One of the obstacles is often daring to try something new. A Norwegian sports psychologist, Willie Railo, once said: "We are born as originals but die as copies of ourselves" - we repeat a way that we have learned.
You have now an opportunity to explore new ways of talking to customers, to be curious, to ask questions in a different way.

Since the skills in this training are not derived from traditional sales techniques, you will sound and act in a way that is new to your customers, you will get a unique and personal style.

Get started today!
To use the knowledge in this course, you don't need to sit down and make a strategic plan, book internal workshops with your team and formulate smart questions. Your next conversation with a customer is your first perfect training opportunity:
- Can you elicit a laugh within 7 seconds?
- Can you ask a "no-oriented" question during the conversation?
- Can you use mirroring to get more information out?
- Can you use "what & how" questions to plan together?

Simple conversation techniques that make your conversations better, motivating and selling.

For the ambitious

1. 
   Record your sales call and listen / watch for the moments when customers talk and share thoughts, feelings and ideas. Explore what you do then, how you continue the conversation, what your response is. For most people, it is embarrassing to listen to yourself. Once you get over this, you can quickly find the occasions where you can use the new sales techniques from the training.

2. 
   You can ask a colleague who has completed this training to participate in sales meetings and give you feedback: what techniques did you use and how did they work?

Finally
We all face obstacles and difficulties on the way when we are developing new ways of selling. It often takes a few tries before everything works perfectly. When you fail - see if you can "sit" with that feeling for a while. After a few minutes, your thoughts will clear and you can see and feel new ways forward.

Good luck my friend!