Ask Yourself the Right sales and Revenue Questions to get the Right Results

To continually grow sales and profit, which questions do you need to ask?

Should you ask sales questions or revenue questions, and which answers help you survive and thieve?

Both are OK when asked in the right order. Always ask your revenue questions first. In fact, you should be asking yourself the 5 Revenue Strategy Questions before you do anything else:

1. What is your Brand Promise?

2. What is the “Customer’s Problem” you solve for the customer that no one else solves?

3. What is the niche or niches you dominate by solving that problem for the customer?

4. Who is the ideal buyer who has the problem you solve?

5. What is the compelling offer you make to the ideal customer to secure an ongoing value-based relationship?

Next, ask how you will deploy the answers to the 5 Revenue Strategy Questions to provide value to the buyer and receive value from the buyer. Now, ask about the detailed deployment steps of the Revenue Road Map. Deployment includes all parts of letting the market know your brand promise and the problem you solve and the Revenue RoadMap flow. This includes how this combination is supported by thought leadership and the monetizable value for the buyer. This results in buyers wanting to talk with you to learn more about how working together makes emotional and monetizable sense.

The result of the internet, social media, and your behavior in the market, is that your business is now transparent. Once a buyer knows you exist, they can validate the truth of your message by reviewing your behavior. They watch your behavior as a member

of the community, an employer and a business engaging customers.

If your thought leadership is compelling and your transparency aligns to your thought leadership’s promise, the potential buyer will raise their hand for a conversation. They may “raise their hand” by shaking yours at a trade show, calling or emailing you, and/or become regular readers of your blogs or visitors to your electronic content.

At this point you have a “highly qualified suspect,” and NOW you to ask sales questions. This is where sales takes over – up to a point. The first sales question to ask is how to determine a “qualified prospect” from a “highly-qualified suspect.”

· Suspects look like they have the problem we solve, are in the niche we want to dominate, and we are having a conversation with someone we believe to be an ideal buyer.

· Prospects confirm they have the problem we solve, they are compelled to solve it in the short-term and are willing to invest resources in working with us to determine if we should work together on this problem.

With a prospect, the sales function must have a very intentional way to explore if you should work together (a Joint SOW process), and at the end of that process, both parties commit to next steps.

If the next step is to move to final proposal and contract, the seller must have an intentional client-focused engagement model that includes a transition to delivery questions and answers.

The revenue world is simple, just not one dimensional – ask the right question and get the right answer/outcome.