What is an open-ended sales question?
An open-ended question is one that requires a longer answer; i.e., it’s not a “yes” or “no.” Closed questions are things like “Have you usa business fax list heard of our service before?” or “Do you have any questions?” These can be answered quickly, without giving away too much information.
Questions like “Where have you heard about our service before?” or “What areas of my business proposal do you have questions about?” are open-ended and therefore encourage a freer flow of conversation between parties.
Table. Green - Open-ended question starters What why? How to tell me about? Red - Closed-ended question starters is/are doing/did was/were/will be
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20 Open-Ended Sales Probing Questions to Ask Your Prospects
We've compiled some examples of the types of open-ended questions you could ask your prospects to get them talking.
Remember to consider the method you will use to ask your questions, even if you are considering a variety of options.
For example, some open-ended questions may require very long answers, making live chat impractical. Alternatively, for questions about pain points, some customers may not appreciate the need to respond immediately over the phone and prefer to type their answers later.
Can I ask you a few questions about your business?
It's respectful to ask for consent before launching into your line of questioning. Asking this at the beginning of the interaction gives the prospect a chance to close the door or keep it open if they're genuinely interested.
This type of question is most important in the context of cold calling; brush up on outbound calling techniques to ensure you don't come across as intrusive in your presentation.
Of course, in some situations, it's a given that you'll ask questions. For example, if the prospect has already filled out a form expressing interest and requesting some time to talk. In that case, you might start with, "Could you tell me about your business?"
