Two simple questions to improve your sales results

I like the idea that the quality of the questions you ask yourself can create a quality life. Photo / Thinkstock

In one of his training blogs, success expert Anthony Robbins makes an interesting point about the types of questions that we ask ourselves.

Robbins says...

'Quality questions create a quality life. They direct our mental focus and therefore determine how we think and feel.'

I like the idea that the quality of the questions you ask yourself can create a quality life.

And I think the same concept can be applied to selling as well.

I've discovered that how you feel about yourself has a major impact on your sales results.
I remember vividly phoning two sales people in February many years ago.
Both people had been selling life insurance for five years.

I asked each sales person how things were going for them and I got two totally different answers.

The first sales person I spoke to was called Sue and she told me that things were going amazingly well.

She said that it was the start of the year and people had come back from their Christmas holidays all excited and keen to take some positive steps with her insurance products.
She was making good sales and was very positive about how the rest of her year would go in terms of sales.

The second sales person I spoke to was called Brian and he said that sales were terrible.
Everyone had come back from their Christmas holidays with no money to spend on anything. His insurance sales were very slow and he expected the year was not going to be a very good one for him.

I've discovered that what is going inside a person's head is an important factor in determining the level of sales they make and the amount of money they earn.
And I've also found that when you change what is going on inside your head; you can improve your sales results.

One way to change what you think about is ask yourself two simple questions after every sales presentation that you make.

This is free and only takes 60 seconds.

Here are the two questions:
Question 1: What did I do well in this sales presentation?
Question 2: What one thing would I do better next time?

If you are serious about increasing your sales I recommend you ask these questions many times every week.

Question 1 will keep you focused on the things that you are doing well and it also tends to leave you feeling quite positive.
You can now repeat these things you are doing well in your next sales presentation.
Question 2 will help you identify at least one thing you could improve in your next sales presentation. You can then change this one thing.

Example:
You have just made a good sales presentation and your prospect has said 'No' to your offer.

So you take 60 seconds and ask yourself the two questions:

Question 1: What did I do well in this sales presentation?
I asked good questions to identify the real needs of my prospect.
I explained my product or service confidently.

I was five minutes early for my meeting with my prospect so I had time to review my notes before I spoke with them.

These are your successes or things you did well.
There is always something you did well if you look for it.

Question 2: What one thing would I do better next time?
Next time I would show the testimonial letter from another client who had many of the same concerns that this person had, yet used our product or service and was delighted with the results.

Here you have identified one specific action step you can take in a future sales presentation to make it more effective.

There is always at least one thing you could find to improve-even when you make a sale.
By asking these two questions you tend to stay positive and you also focus on what you can do to improve your sales performance next time.

'The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind'
William James

Action Exercise:

Ask these two questions after some of your sales presentations this month. Take action on the answers you come up with.

And if you want to read some great questions by Anthony Robbins that will make you feel instantly happier and more successful check out his article on 'The Morning Power Questions'.

Graham McGregor is a consultant specialising in memorable marketing. You can download his 396 page 'Unfair Business Advantage' Ebook at no charge from www.theunfairbusinessadvantage.com