Improving your business development conversations with ASQ.
In a sales situation (which includes more things than you might imagine - networking meetings, being at the bar AFTER networking meetings, pitches, sales calls, chats in the park while pushing kids on the swing, chatting to a stranger at a party, Zoom meetings or plain old chemistry meetings), it's important that you find out as much about the prospect (yes, I know they're more than just a prospect, but let's employ sensible shorthand or we'll be here all day) as you tell them about yourself. Probably more.
Asking questions is crucial. To ask the right questions, you need to have done your research though. Asking Simple Questions (ASQ) is a good idea (and more of that in a moment) but Asking Really Stupid Excess questions (ARSE questions) is irritating and creates a disconnect between you and your prospect.
Here are some things we know:
Your prospect's safest feeling comes from ignoring you and then tomorrow will be like today and that's fine. Low effort + tomorrow being the same as today = EASY DECISION.
When you're pitching, your prospect perceives that they have CHOICE and POWER. They can substitute your offering with something else. Even if you insist they can't. And they want the power to choose. And they want an easy decision.
The only way they'll care about what YOU want (or at least they'll start behaving like they do) is if you convince them that they're getting what THEY want. And you can't lie, so you’ll need to know what it is they want to achieve.
The more information you vomit at them, the more chance you'll say something they can object to. In the early stages of a sale, you're part of a long list. The prospect needs to exclude you if at all possible.
The prospect doesn't work for you. They don't have to answer lots of long, detailed questions.
The questions you ask should be simple to answer and should demonstrate that you've thought about their company and its goals.
You CANNOT work from a script for any of this. When a prospect answers, you need to be ready to go immediately off-piste (and remember that it's not off-piste for them - you're just joining them on their favourite red run).
There will be things that you're desperate to tell a prospect that you MUST be ready to omit. The things that are important to you often aren't important to them.
So, how do you ASQ in a business development context?
Be direct - ask your question and then stop dead. "How would we get to pitch for your next project?" is better than "I was wondering, as we're very keen and I feel there are synergies between our companies, that if there's a project some time in the future, we'd really like to be involved. How would we get to be one of the agencies you choose to hear from when the time is right, assuming you have anything?"
Don't offer subliminal outs. SO many people say "or..." at the end of a question. Like this: "So, could we get the brief when it's done, or....?". It's like a little tic that makes you feel less forward. But it leads the prospect to the next word in the sentence which SIMPLY CANNOT BE A POSITIVE ONE. Seriously, complete the sentence. You've got to stick "...not" on the end (or something like it). Just like my first point in this list, stop dead. "So, can we get the brief?" is fine.
Silence is okay. If you've ASQed, the prospect might leave a gap. You'll be tempted to fill it with something. Don't. They're not going to exclude you for waiting for an answer to a question. And if someone did exclude you, they weren't going to hire you anyway.
If you're information-gathering, stick to one request in your question. "Tell me everything about your current PR endeavours" is a ridiculous ask. But "Do you use your PR agency to look for backlinks?" is a great ASQ. A really good ASQ will lead to more information than it asked for (ASQed for?).
Listen to the answer. It'll often give you your next ASQ.
If you can master this, you'll find yourself in a good spot because not only does it show confidence without arrogance, it leads to the prospect speaking more than you do. By the end of a good call/pitch/chat with great ASQs, you'll barely be speaking as the information will be coming in your direction. And those conversations are the best.