Sales truth: Salespeople become known by the questions they ask. Knowing this truth, you’d think all salespeople would ask smart questions. You’d be thinking wrong. It never ceases to amaze me that, with all the options salespeople have, they choose to alienate, anger or cause doubt in the minds of prospects by setting the wrong tone with their questions.

Here are the dumbest questions salespeople ask – and why they’re dumb:

o Whom are you currently using for …? Pre-call research should tell you that. And maybe the prospect feels that’s none of your business.

o Are you satisfied with your present …? Everyone will tell you they’re satisfied.

o How much are you currently paying for…? None of your business.

o Can I quote you on …? Why send a quote? The next person who quotes 2 cents cheaper gets the business. What about the value?

o Can I bid on…? Same as a “quote,” only worse. This is a 100 percent price-driven sale. Low margin. Low profit. Low commission. Low percentage of success. How low do you want to go?

o Can you tell me a little bit about your business? No. It’s a waste of the prospect’s time. Find out a little bit about the prospect’s business ahead of time, so you can go into the sales call with answers and ideas that may get the prospect excited enough to buy.     o Are you the person who decides …? This is the question that breeds the most lies. The answer most often given is “yes,” and that answer most often is false. The correct question to ask is: How will the decision be made?

o If I could save you some money, would you …? Every salesperson thinks that the customer will jump at the hint of saving money. This tactic actually has a negative effect on the buyer, and makes salespeople work twice as hard to prove themselves and usually at a lower price (and lower commission).

And the worst question of them all:

o What would it take to get (earn) your business? This question is saying to the prospect: “Look, I don’t have much time here. Just tell me the quickest way to get this order, and make me do the least amount of work possible to get it.”

I’m not saying salespeople shouldn’t get this information. I am saying there are smarter, better ways of getting this information that will lead them to a sale. The questions above make the prospect have a lower opinion of the salesperson, and that will lead to nothing but price wars and frustration.      These are all “price-driven questions.” And if you really want the sale, just lower your price to where you make little or no profit. Duh.

Good (smart) questions are those that make the prospect stop and think, and answer in terms of you. If you ask questions you could have answered yyourself by, say, looking up the information on the prospect’s Web site, how intelligent or hard-working does that make you look? Not very.

You do have the luxury of asking a weak question about their stuff, if you preface it with the statement: “I was looking at your Web site last night and I got a couple of ideas I’d like to talk to you about, but there were a few things I’d like to understand a little better about the way you serve your customer.” Then, you can ask anything and still look smart.

If you walk in with an idea you got from reading the prospect’s annual report or an article about them in a trade magazine or by perusing theirWeb site, you will earn the respect of the person making the buying decision. You will also be viewed as credible. Respect and credibility lead to trust. Trust leads to sales. Think about that the next time you’re formulating a question.

Free GitBit: Want a few really smart questions? Because everyone sells something different, I’ll give you the lead-ins to the questions; adapt them to whatever you sell. Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time user, then enter the words SMART QUESTIONS in the GitBit box

Jeffrey Gitomer, president of Charlotte, N.C.-based Buy Gitomer, gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service at www.trainone.com. He can be reached at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com