The 250 Sales Questions To Close The Deal

Although redundancy helps you remember the point, the title is misleading. It is more like 100 questions and 3 or more ways to ask the same question. (maybe I'm being unfair....it may be 101, but it may only be 98 as well).Best for the salesperson who is in a slump, a s it's a nice refresher. May not be helpful to a newbie, who needs more confidence than robotics.

very helpful

Thanks

There's a lot here to help sellers who want to be more effective and for those who don't use questions to advance the sale. But I have two minor complaints about this one that kept me from giving the full 5 stars.First is the title. You could argue that questions to open the sale and build rapport ultimately result in more closed sales. You'd be right. I think that's why this book is called "The 250 Sales Questions to Close the Deal." On the other hand, you'd be shortchanging yourself if you entered into this book with such a narrow focus. There are questions here for every part of the sales process and for every selling situation. So don't box yourself in when you read this book.Second is the (accidental) implication that these questions will somehow work magic. Even though there are other questions called out at the beginning as not being magic, the 250 questions and descriptions that follow seem to suggest that if you just ask the question, then POOF! the sale will advance. When you read this, keep in mind that there is no "trick" or scripted question that will do the work of selling all by itself.Having said this, I know from experience in the field with many sellers and from my own research on questions used in selling that there are some excellent questions offered in this book. Many of the questions here questions you never thought about asking before. I believe that any seller who asked more of these questions would gain confidence, get new information and connect with buyers in more meaningful ways.

Stephan Schiffman, the expert author of many sales titles, supplies a list of focused questions for you to ask during the sales process. He teaches that selling is just that - a process - and that a prospect is someone who is willing to undergo this process with you. Each question assumes that prospects need to "make sense" of the transaction before they will commit to a purchase, including Schiffman's prime closing query: "It makes sense to me - what do you think?" Therefore, every question is a step on the road to helping the prospect embrace the logic of the deal. Schiffman organizes his questions into six sections beginning with initiating contact and proceeding through the first meeting, scheduling the next step, crafting the presentation, dealing with setbacks and, finally, negotiating the close. The book disperses valuable gems of wisdom between the questions and teaches applicable salesmanship rather than theory. All this makes sense to us. What do you think?

I have read most of Stephen Schiffman's books and I adhere to most of his ideas with above-average success. Unfortunately, this book falls short of some of his better books, most notably "Closing Techniques" and "Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work)."I don't know how he arrived at the number 250, but it is a stretch to say there are 250 different questions. More likely, there are variations of about 100, if that many. For example, if a prospect tells you to call back after the busy season, like in February for instance, you are to ask "Why February?" That's one of the 250 questions. "You don't mind if I take notes, do you?" is a question. So are "Who did you work with last time?" and "Why them?"Schiffman gets beaten-up at times for being repetitive, and while I don't always agree with that assessment, he certainly is in this book. Also, one of his first points is about asking for the appointment when cold-calling. Now this was covered - quite successfully may I add - in his book "Cold Calling Techniques." In this book however, he recommends that you ask (and this is one of the 250) "What I'd like to do is get together with you this coming Tuesday at 10:00 - does that make sense?" I can't imagine asking someone for an appointment like that! It doesn't seem natural. But he insists that it works, so if you try it, let me know.I'll conclude by saying that there is usually some snippet of useful information in most any book, and there are some thought-provoking ideas in this one. But don't bother buying it, go to a Books-A-Million or Borders and grab a copy and skim through it while drinking a cup of coffee. In about 20 minutes or so you'll have gotten the gist of what he's saying.Does that make sense?

Not useful. For me anyway

Was a good reading because gave me some ideas for the day to day sales chalenges. Tends to tell you what's the right question instead of helping you get your own best question, but maybe that was the all point of the book.

Nicht alle Phrasen sind für das europäische mindset geeignet. Wenn man jedoch beide Kulturen versteht ist dies leicht für den europäischen Markt umsetzbar. Stephan Schiffman schafft es perfekt die Dinge auf den Punkt zu bringen - klare, ergebnisorientierte Fragestellungen und Zielsetzung

This is designed for the US market and is not very useful. There are a few points that I have been able to use, however.