Socratic Selling: How to Ask the Questions That Get the Sale

The thought of connecting one of the greatest thinkers -- and questioners! -- in human history to the sales process is a seductive one. After all, we know so much about the Socratic process for discovering truth, which is based on an agreement between two or more people, that it would be foolhardy not to use Socrates as one of our examples. Indeed, one of Socrates' admonitions to his students was: "Why be stupid and learn from experience, when you can learn from me!" What can we learn from the Socratic method? First, we can learn from Socrates' approach to discovering truth. According to Socrates, truth is born within us. But, we lose touch with truth, because we forget our connection to it. So, Socrates describes himself as the "midwife" of truth. Socrates is the facilitator who helps his interlocutor discover truth on his own, without coercion or persuasion. To Socrates, coercion and persuasion were the sins of the Rhetoricians. Second, we know that Socrates saw the pursuit of truth as an uninterested pursuit. Being right was not his goal, and he foreswore any agendas or ulterior motives. However, he did want to find a common ground with his dialogue partner. In his book, "Socratic Selling," the emphasis is placed on developing these two virtues: the salesperson should see himself as the facilitator of a sales process that leads to a directed goal, and the salesperson should see himself as "uninterested." This last virtue is harder to adopt , because the average salesperson is very "interested" in closing the sale. It is for this reason, that Daley focuses on the basic preoccupations of the sales process, which were similar preoccupations for Socrates: uncovering needs, agendas, preconceptions, resistances, bad feelings, fears. Thus, through "listening" and guiding the customer through a discovery process towards her actual needs, and through directed questioning, Daley hopes to marry the Socratic method to the modern sales process. His contrast between the "uninterested facilitor" Socrates vs. the highly motivated, more "persuasion-oriented" salesperson is refreshing. It is perhaps time that we abandon the pursuit of formulating value propositions, deflecting objections, and inventing competitive advantages in favor of a more humane Socratic approach, which, for the customer, must be ultimately more satisfying.

Do you find it hard to get customers to let you in on their decision making process? I found the ideas in this book very helpful both in and out of sales situations. It helped me learn to listen to people a lot better; perhaps it can be as helpful to you?

Most salespeople are trained to give a spiel, answer objections, try to close, and keep closing. This book argues that that approach will not be very productive. The book argues that the customer expects this to be a buying experience with the customer in charge. The standard sales approach is primarily annoying to the customer. First, I should share with you that I spent three years at Harvard Law School where almost all classes used the Socratic teaching method. From that experience, I can certainly tell you that being asked hard Socratic questions is tough on the person answering the questions. So I was immediately taken by this book's emphasis on asking easy-to-answer Socratic questions that would help the person think through their own issues.The Socratic method is simply a way of asking questions that permits the answerer to develop her/his own point of view. It is intended to be helpful, but it can feel like being put on the spot unless the questions are very easy. (An example of an easy question is "What is the worst experience you have had in buying these products in the past?") (An example of a hard question is "What would it take for you to buy from me today?" asked in the first 2 minutes of the meeting.)Mr. Daley reports on a survey with 300 experienced salespeople and 400 buyers. They agreed that the main problem with salespeople is that they talk too much. In response, Mr. Daley advocates a system of active listening (80 percent of the time), interspaced with questions designed to help the customer (rather than manipulate the customer). I think he really has something here. I thought back to my most successful sales meetings with consulting clients, and essentially these meetings contained all of the elements described here.Here's an overview of the suggested process:1-explain what you've prepared to discuss 2-invite the customer to speak about his/her interests in that subject 3-offer an immediate benefit for this sharing (such as being willing to direct your comments to the customer's needs as just expressed) 4-ask for more detail about what the customer says 5-check for urgency and locate potential deadlines 6-find out what is bothering them the most in this area 7-find out what motivates them the most to do something in this area 8-summarize what they have said 9-get the customer's agreement with the summary 10-make a recommendation 11-answer the customer's questions and objections about your recommendation 12-create appropriate closes for the customer's needs.Three Socratic principles are proposed:1-Always have and show respect for the customer (especially by active listening) 2-Help the customer think (the book has questions to help you do that) 3-Help the customer to make a decision (the book has more questions to help in this area, as well).I think that virtually any salesperson can master this approach within 3 months if practiced diligently. I also suspect that your sa