Open-ended questions

These are questions that do not require a specific answer. Answers vary because the probing questions often require a detailed explanation or a quick summary. They present an opportunity for the prospect to tell their story in detail and articulately.

When using open-ended questions in sales, ensure that the probing questions are specific to avoid the prospect from drifting from the topic. Examples of open-ended sales probing questions that sales reps may use include:

Tell me about your business. Why did you decide to get into this particular industry?

This question gives the prospect the chance to talk about their occupational history, what kind of jobs they had before, their motivating factor and what keeps them driven.

Loaded questions

These types of probing questions are designed to lead a prospect down a particular topic. They require the client to provide concrete and accurate details about the discussion at hand.

Specific questions are used during probing to get more detail into the prospect’s ambitions and expectations:

What options have you tried?

Here, the prospect is expected to clear details about any projects they may have attempted without yield or any techniques they may have tried out that didn’t work.

Closed-ended questions

These probing questions call for short definitive answers, usually as yes, no, or short phrases. Sales personnel use the questions during prospecting and lead qualification to gather factual data.

Examples of closed-ended questions include:

• Do you have a budget?
• Is this problem complicating other areas of your business?

NB: Avoid asking too many closed-ended questions quickly to avoid the prospect feeling like they are under interrogation.

Recall and process questions

A recall question requires the other person to remember a specific fact, while a process question triggers deep thought or analysis of said fact.

Below are some recall and process questions:

• What CRM tools are you using now?
• What three outcomes do you want from this?

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