Professional Services Industry Sales Training: Questioning/Listening

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INDUSTRY IMPROVEMENT IN THE CRITICAL SALES SKILL #3: QUESTIONING/LISTENING QUESTIONING/LISTENING. Great listeners ask great questions. The best salespeople don’t just ask questions; they ask the best questions. These are the questions that allow you to develop a better understanding of the customer’s situation and demonstrate your sincere interest in the customer. Salespeople who do this the best, sell themselves to the customer. The ‘salesperson’ is the first buying decision that the customer makes. When it’s made in your favor the rest of the buying decisions become far easier to achieve. REMARKABLE FINDINGS ABOUT QUESTIONING/LISTENING SKILLS IN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

1. The skill improvements in the Professional Services were significant and produced significant ROI from the investment in time to improve Questioning Skills.
2. Questioning Skills improvement has implications on other critical skills such as Presentation Skills. I.e. If key needs are not uncovered with questions, presentations may not accurately hit the mark.

The Professional Services Industry started with similar pre-sales training skills as the Universe. Because they were superior learners, their skill gains from sales training were higher than the Universe. Key skills that showed high levels of improvement include: Sales call Planning, Presentation Skills and Gaining Commitment. With a high overall Application gain, an investment in sales training is clearly in the best interest of any organization in the Professional Services business.