By Michael W. McLaughlin, Contributing Editor
When a client calls you about an issue or problem, it's natural to ask questions, including why the client needs to address the issue. But as you proceed through the sales process, you'll find that one question in particular, asked at just the right time, can open up your sales conversations and lead to new insights for you and the client.
That question is how does the client know what the problem actually is?
How Do You Know That?
A water bottling company that was plagued with late and missed deliveries to its customers found out the importance of that question firsthand. As complaints about the company's service grew, the executive team started investigating. After some analysis, the team concluded that poor communication and a lack of shared information between the delivery drivers and warehouse employees were causing the daily schedule to slip.
In response, the company decided to install a delivery scheduling software system to solve the problem, and asked several consultants for help with the project. Instead of jumping into a series of questions about how to implement that solution, one consultant began with this question: "How do you know that is the problem?"
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