Avoiding the Stupid Questions

Greetings,

Once again I've got a sales observation for
you from the street. The street
is Broadway. Times Square. New York City.

I'm here attending, and also speaking at the
yearly convention for the National Speakers
Association. (Next week I'll share some of
the ideas I presented, which were on How to
Sell at Full Price.)

Somewhat similar to Mexico, which I wrote
about a couple of weeks ago, Times Square
is a sales scientist's Disneyland. Here,
pretty much anything that you can attend, or
goes on you or in you (products, food, services,
events, and humans) can be bought, or, uh,
rented, up and down Broadway.

You have the street vendors, set up on
their makeshift tables and rolling carts,
the closet-sized stores, the huge international
brand stores like Gap, and others, all lit up
by blocks and blocks of five-story tall
animated HD TV screens.

Every day is like you see on TV on New Year's
Eve when they drop the ball, just with
fewer bodies. But there still are thousands
milling about at all hours.

Some of those people on the sidewalks are the
ones I was most interested in. You can't step
more than a few feet without someone stuffing
some type of promotion in your hands: bus and
boat tours, reduced-price theatre tickets,
adult attractions, and more.

Then they try to engage you in a conversation
to sell you on their event.

One guy with a handful of coupons (for a
comedy club) had an approach, that, at first
I thought was brilliant. Then I realized it
was not good at all. It caused resistance.

He would make eye contact, smile, and then say,
"You like to watch comedy, don't you?"

I thought, "Wow, what a great question! Everyone
but the biggest dorks like comedy. Of course
people have to say YES."

Thoughts raced through my mind of writing
a Tip about asking questions that people
must answer the way you want, since there really
isn't any other logical answer.

But, as I stopped and observed--and apparently
was clogging up foot-traffic, evidenced by the
number of times I was called various names for
body parts--it struck me that this was not a
good question or method at all to engage people
in this situation.

Some passersby ignored him. He'd yell, "It's
OK to say yes!" Others said yes, but then
kept walking, trying to avoid eye contact or
conversation. Others would decline in a smart-ass
way, saying something like they were allergic to
comedy--ironically proving it by their lame
attempt to perform it.

I realized that this question actually caused
a natural reaction: resistance to being sold.

We all possess it. As so many of us teaching
this stuff say, everyone likes to buy, but no
one likes to be sold.

So, when faced with a situation where we feel
that we're about to be pitched, and are not
in a frame of mind where we are looking for
something, the natural defense shield rises.

When I went to the dentist a few weeks ago
with excruciating tooth pain, I WANTED his
recommendation and was ready to buy. When I
was walking through the shopping mall the
same day I avoided the guy in the kiosk
who tried to grab me and pitch some herbal
nutritional supplement. In the first situation
I was buying, in the other I was being sold.

Anyway, this got me thinking about the concept
of what I call "Are you stupid?" sales questions
and statements.

These are similar to the comedy-guy's question,
in that it forces a person to answer the way
the questioner wants, otherwise it makes the
person feel stupid if he does not respond
in that way. And, of course, that is not
conducive to selling, instead putting the person
on the defensive.

There are many variations. You've probably
heard, and maybe have been taught some. And they
all should be avoided.

For example,

Stupid Question: "Of course you want to save
money, don't you?"

What is really heard: "Of course you don't want
to be stupid, do you?"


Stupid Question: "If I could show you a way to
save money, of course you'd want that, wouldn't you?"

What is really heard: "If I could show you
a way to avoid being stupid, of course
you'd want that, wouldn't you?"


Stupid Question: "What, don't you want to save
money?"

What is really heard: "Are you stupid?"


Stupid Question: "You like to save money, right?"

What is really heard: "You like not being stupid,
right?"


Stupid Question: "How important is money to you?"

What is really heard: "How important is it to you to
not be stupid?"


Stupid Question: "Now I know you're a person who
wants to save money, right?"

What is really heard: "Now I know you're a person
who's not stupid, right?"


I could go on and on. You might remember
one I mentioned in a previous Tip. While
picking up some books at Barnes & Noble,
the clerk asked if I wanted their discount
frequent buyer card, and I declined.

He then said, "What, don't you like to save
money?"

What I really heard:

"What, don't you like not being stupid?"


The main point here is that using stupid
questions is, well, stupid.

What to do instead? Go back and look at how
these stupid questions are used. Come up
with alternatives to accomplish your goal.

For example, if we're trying to point out
someone will save money, we need a series
of questions to help us, and them, see the
problem, the costs of the problem, and the
result of the solution. (Go back and check
past Tips for a more in-depth discussion).

Because, of course you don't want to use
stupid questions, do you?
(Oooopps! There's one!)