If you want to be guaranteed success as an SDR then learn to ask great questions. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what is an SDRs greatest asset. And it is great questions. I’ve come up with 4 Reasons Questions are an SDRs greatest asset.
Very often as SDRs, if we cannot get the information we want from a prospect, we think they are being rude and difficult. In reality, we may not be asking our questions in the best way. It is astonishing that by asking a question in a slightly different way can uncover very different and often more valuable information. The difference is usually simply in how we phrase the question. Let’s take an example:
Scenario 1:
SDR: “Are you the Head of IT at Company X?”
Prospect: “Yes, that is correct”
Scenario 2:
SDR: “Tell me about your role at Company X?”
Prospect: “I am the Head of IT for the past 4 years. I am responsible for all global IT operations and lead a team of 35 people, in multiple locations around the world.”
In which scenario did we capture more information? Scenario 2 of course. And I can tell you from my experience, most prospects that I’ve spoken to give even more information than that when I ask them “tell me about your role”. Now that we understand the huge difference a simple change in phrasing can make, we can go a little deeper on the reason why questions are an SDRs greatest asset. We need to start by remembering one simple thing.
We Are All Human
Everyone we deal with in life and in work are human beings. And I know this may seem like a very obvious thing to say. However it seems to me that as soon as we start talking to prospects or AEs or managers we forget that we are simply talking to another person. As human beings there are some universal truths built into our DNA.
For sure, these truths exist to different extents in different people. However generally, everyone will relate to them to some degree. As SDRs we have to ask questions, therefore the questions we choose can appeal to or create friction with these universal human truths in sales conversations. Of course we want to appeal to them. So firstly, what are they?
- Innate Desire To Help
- Asking vs. Telling
- Fight or Flight
- Driven by Ego
Innate Desire to Help
As humans, we have an innate desire to help others. I recently read this interesting New York Times article that references studies to support this theory. Essentially though, this means that people want to help, without even realising it. Therefore as SDRs, if we can give anyone we deal with the opportunity to help us, they will be naturally inclined to do so. But how can we do this?
The most simplistic way to do this is to leverage the power of great questions and literally ask for help. For example “I am not familiar with that, can you help me to understand it a bit more?” Or “It would really help me if you can describe your current process in a bit more detail”. In other scenarios we don’t have to be so explicit. However the key is to recognise that if we can be intentional about how we phrase our questions, we can appeal to people’s desire to help. This will ensure that we uncover more valuable information that may help us to secure the opportunity and associated pipeline later on.
Prospects, Managers, AEs And Peers
This is true too for every human interaction we have including, interacting with our peers, managers and our AEs. If we ask for help, people are more likely to share their time and resources than if we position it in any other way. It has to be said, a close second is to position it as something that is valuable to them. However we cover this more when we deal with egotism.
Let’s take an SDR example. If we have an opportunity and the AE is saying they will not accept it. But we think it is an opp. We can approach the AE by saying “This is an opportunity, why don’t you agree?”. Or we can appeal to his/her innate desire to help by saying “Please can we have a 15 minute sync to help me to understand why you don’t want to accept this opportunity?”. We are more likely to achieve our desired outcome by appealing to that desire to help. Asking great questions is the key to unlocking this.
Asking Vs. Telling
If someone wants you to do something, which do you prefer, if they tell you to do it or if they ask you to do it? I know for me, I want to be asked. Even if it is my manager, who can technically tell me what to do, I will respond more favourably if they ask me. This is true for most people. And the only way that we can ask for something is by proposing a question, or asking a question. So why not intentionally appeal to this human truth and start asking instead of telling?
If we ask a great question we are more likely to achieve our desired outcome than if we tell someone what we want. “I think our solution will really help you, would you like me to put you in touch with our product specialists, who can share more details?” Vs. “I think our solution can really help you, you should talk to our product specialist team to get more details”.
Fight or Flight Response To Threats
As human beings, we tend to be suspicious and untrusting of a lot of things. Especially salespeople. We could say then that as ‘salespeople’ we are starting off at a disadvantage before we even speak to a prospect. It will benefit us to reduce the perception of threats as much as possible. If we can do this, we help people to feel more comfortable and more at ease with us.
Generally, people expect salespeople to try to sell something. If instead of pitching, we ask questions, lead with curiosity and strive to understand our prospects we are reducing the perceived threat. Just because we are not ‘selling’.
If the people we are dealing with don’t feel threatened they are less likely to jump to fight or flight. What that looks like on a sales call is either: Flight – making excuses to get off the call as quickly as possible. Or Fight – being rude, defensive and closed off as they are suspicious of everything. By utilising great questions, we reduce the perceived threat, making it easier for us to achieve our desired outcome avoiding defensive or rude behaviour. Yet another reason great questions are an SDRs greatest asset.
Driven by Ego
Last but not least, we are all egotistical beings; to varying degrees, absolutely, but it is part of all of us. So what does this mean? Well, it means that as human beings we love to talk about ourselves. And we care most about things that concern us first. This is why reply rates are much higher when we focus on the prospect and not on us and our company. And yes some people say they don’t like to talk about themselves and in this case, it can take a few minutes to ‘bring them out of their shell’. But with the right questions, it always works.
So of course, we want to appeal to the ego. We want to encourage people to embrace the egotistical part of them that they’ve been conditioned to push down. This is their time to shine. You are the person who is giving them full permission to make it all about them. How? By asking great questions. If we can appeal to the ego inside all of us (managers, AEs & peers) included, we are much more likely to uncover valuable information and achieve the outcomes we desire. And it all starts with great questions.
Conclusion
I hope it is clear that if as SDRs we can leverage questions effectively, we are much more likely to achieve the outcomes we desire. These human universal truths are involuntary. As people, we want to help even if we don’t realise it. We will become defensive and suspicious if people try to sell to us, we will be drawn to people who ask us instead of those who tell us and finally we will be drawn to people who allow us to indulge our ego. Even if we don’t realise it.
People buy people first. By developing your ability to ask great questions, you are appealing to the person first. This is a game changer for all salespeople. However as an SDR we have a unique opportunity to develop a skill set that very few people ever do. I urge you to embrace it. Questions really are an SDRs greatest asset.
It is worth mentioning that developing the skill to ask great questions is part of our wider communication skills. And communication is one of the key components to Emotional Intelligence so if you might be interested in What is Emotional Intelligence and Why Does it Matter for SDRs.
Until next time!