Implication Questions: Why are Implication Questions so important in big ticket sales?
Why are Implication Questions so important in big ticket sales?
Successful sales people, once they’ve uncovered problems, don’t just dive in with a solution, instead they ask Implication Questions but why?
They ask implication questions because they reinforce the customers perception of the cost of a problem and therefore they sell on the basis of value rather than price! Value is relative, so if a buyer articulates the value, it’s much more powerful.
In small value sales it’s usually enough to uncover problems and demonstrate that you can solve them. However in bigger ticket sales it’s not enough.
Scenario 1 (no implication questions);
Seller: Do you use the 20 year old ERP solution?
Buyer: Yes, long before I arrived here
Seller: Is it not difficult to use and maintain?
Buyer: Yes but we’ve got used to it
Seller: We could solve that by deploying a New ERP solution?
Buyer: What does it cost?
Seller: It starts at €30,000
Buyer: (sucking air) €30,000 just so it’s easier to use!
Scenario 2 (implication questions)
Seller: Do you use the 20 year old ERP solution?
Buyer: Yes, long before I arrived here
Seller: Are they not difficult to use and maintain?
Buyer: Yes but we’ve got used to it
Seller: If they’re difficult to use what effect does that have on day to day operations?
Buyer: It doesn’t really have a big effect, we’ve a great support team here
Seller: How much time do the support team dedicate to the 20 year old ERP system?
I think you can see where this is going, it’s important to ask implication question so you and more importantly the buyer can understand the full implications.
In summary Implication Questions increase the customer’s perception of the size and cost of the problem. As Plato said “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”, if Plato were a sales person he’d of probably said “Beauty lies in the eyes of the buyer”
