In a recent seminar on doubling your income in 12 months, we asked a room full of salespeople, "What is the number one thing that salespeople do that kills their closing ratios?” The answers were all over the map and included responses like "not enough prospects” and "the wrong prospects.” While these definitely contribute to not reaching your sales goals, they were not the answer we were looking for.

The reason why most salespeople fail to have better closing ratios is that they ask the wrong questions. So what questions should you ask? Most salespeople sit down with a prospect and launch into "building rapport.” AAAAHHHH!!! Can you feel my angst with the written scream?

Why do you think I have such a gut-wrenching reaction to "building rapport?” Because that's what average salespeople do? You don't want to be average; do you? Building rapport is something most of us have been taught to do. But it's so old school! Instead of building rapport which lacks depth and integrity, you need to start by building your relationships.

The way you build relationships is by asking the right questions. The right questions are ones that test for fit or compatibility and get to the truth without making assumptions or exerting pressure.

The first step in building relationships is to find out about the person you're meeting. What are their values? What are their priorities? That doesn't mean you ask point blank, "What are your values?” It does mean that you take the time to ask questions to find out about them. They will share their values in the answers they give you. For example, a great first question for a prospect is "How did you get where you are?”

The answer to that question will tell you what they value and what's important to them. You'll start to get a better sense of who they are. A follow-up question might be "Where are you going from here?” From this question, you'll find out what they want. In other words, you'll learn what's important to them. Do they want more money? Or are they interested in having more free time?

By digging deeper and finding out what's getting in their way, you'll get a better understanding of their priorities. Then, you can move onto other questions, like "What's going to hel

p you get there?” The answers to these questions will uncover whether the person you are meeting with is a good personal fit with you. It takes you beyond "rapport building” to establishing a more meaningful and fulfilling connection.

Most salespeople skip straight from "building rapport” to some sort of needs assessment. What they fail to realize is because they have not truly connected on a personal level, the answers they get from their needs analysis questions are surface-level responses which are not enough to close the sale. You must move beyond the surface needs to the emotional wants of your prospects. By connecting on a personal level first through proper questioning and listening skills, you can gracefully move to questions designed to assess company fit, needs fit and ultimately wants fit.

The key to good questioning is seeking information without seeking the sale. In other words, you remove the sales pressure from the exchange which relaxes the prospect (and you) and allows your prospect to open up more freely. Then you can more accurately determine if the prospect is right for you and vice versa. Selling should be a mutual evaluation process.

By focusing on the prospect and not your product, you will ask better questions, get better answers and build stronger relationships. An interesting thing happens when you do this; your prospect will start asking you questions, usually about how you can help him. By asking the right question and assessing fit, your closing ratios and income will climb.

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