This document provides 25 questions for challenger salespeople to use at different stages of the sales process. The questions are divided into sections for warmer, reframe, rational drowning, emotional impact, value proposition, and solution questions. The goal is to understand customers' problems, introduce new perspectives, provide evidence to support ideas, engage customers emotionally, illustrate how inefficiencies impact goals, and invite customers to learn more about solutions. Short summaries provide tips for using questions strategically.
This document provides 25 questions for challenger salespeople to use at different stages of the sales process. The questions are divided into sections for warmer, reframe, rational drowning, emotional impact, value proposition, and solution questions. The goal is to understand customers' problems, introduce new perspectives, provide evidence to support ideas, engage customers emotionally, illustrate how inefficiencies impact goals, and invite customers to learn more about solutions. Short summaries provide tips for using questions strategically.
This document provides 25 questions for challenger salespeople to use at different stages of the sales process. The questions are divided into sections for warmer, reframe, rational drowning, emotional impact, value proposition, and solution questions. The goal is to understand customers' problems, introduce new perspectives, provide evidence to support ideas, engage customers emotionally, illustrate how inefficiencies impact goals, and invite customers to learn more about solutions. Short summaries provide tips for using questions strategically.
This document provides 25 questions for challenger salespeople to use at different stages of the sales process. The questions are divided into sections for warmer, reframe, rational drowning, emotional impact, value proposition, and solution questions. The goal is to understand customers' problems, introduce new perspectives, provide evidence to support ideas, engage customers emotionally, illustrate how inefficiencies impact goals, and invite customers to learn more about solutions. Short summaries provide tips for using questions strategically.
CHALLENGER SALES QUESTIONS Master the Challenger sales methodology with this list of powerful questions for every stage in the Challenger sales playbook. THE WARMER
These questions are designed to understand the problem your
customer faces:
1. Can you walk me through [Operational area] process from [first
step] to [business outcome]? 2. How do you currently manage [Business problem] on your team? 3. How much do you currently spend on [Operational area]? What results are you seeing?
Aim For 11-14 Targeted Questions In Discovery Calls
Top performers ask the “sweet spot” number of questions on their discovery calls. Too many sales discovery questions (15+), and you are running an interrogation. Too few, and you’re unlikely to unearth what matters – pain points.
Source: gong.io/blog/best-discovery-call-tips
2 THE REFRAME
Using a question to introduce a provocative insight can soften
the challenge:
4. Did you know that [Reframe]?
5. Have you ever considered [Reframe]? 6. What would you do differently if you knew [Reframe]? 7. What sounds most intriguing to you about [Reframe]?
Ask Questions Only A Pro Would Ask
Have you ever heard the phrase “You get delegated to the person you sound like”? Use your questions to demonstrate expertise by using the right vernacular and getting buyers to think. Here’s what that difference sounds like:
DON’T: What’s your sales process?
DO: Can you walk me through your sales process
from first contact to close?
3 RATIONAL DROWNING
Offer up your best proof to support your reframe. Use questions to
engage your buyer:
8. Our customers see a 15% increase in ROI in [Operational area].
How much are you currently spending on [Operational area]? 9. Before [Product/Service], [Customer Name] was struggling with [Operational area]. With [Product/Service] they were able to achieve [Strategic goal]. Is this a priority for your team? 10. Leading companies in your industry like [Name], [Name], [Name] are switching to [Product/Service]. The #1 reason is [Benefit]. Is [Benefit] valuable to you?
Beware Of ROI Claims
Presenting ROI at any point in your sales process
correlates with a 27% drop in close rates. To avoid ROI backfiring, your customer story should tell both the before and after. The beauty of this approach is that your customer has no ROI assumptions to argue with, you’re simply sharing a story.
4 EMOTIONAL IMPACT
Capitalize on the rational evidence you provided with these
questions to create emotional impact:
11. Is the organization committed to fixing the issue now?
12. What happens if you do nothing? 13. Who else is affected by this issue?
PRO TIP: By using emotional words like “frustrated”, you tap into pain by surfacing the buyer’s reaction.
Avoid This Mistake When Selling To The C-Suite
Senior executives have “discovery fatigue.” By the time
they have a meeting with you, they’ve likely been through 2 or 3 discovery calls with other sellers. Answering all those questions feels taxing. Be strategic with the questions you ask when selling to C-level execs.
5 VALUE PROPOSITION
Here are some questions to introduce a necessary behavioral
change to help buyers reach their goal:
14. How much [Time/Money/Resources/Opportunity costs] is it
costing you to continue with your current process? 15. How are inefficiencies in [Operational area] preventing you from reaching your goals? 16. Can you walk me through how [Strategic initiative] affected by challenges in [Operational area]? 17. Tell me about a decision you had to make to mitigate the current issues in [Operational area]? 18. Help me understand what happens if we don’t address this [Pain/ challenge] now? 19. How does solving [Problem] bring you closer to [Strategic objective]?
Ask Questions That Trigger Long Responses
According to Gong Labs, there’s a strong link between buyers’ response lengths and closed deals. Consider the following question starters to draw out a longer, richer, more in-depth response from your buyer: • Can you help me understand … • Can you walk me through … • Can you tell me about …
Source: gong.io/blog/best-discovery-call-tips
6 SOLUTION Now it’s time to introduce your solution with an “interest” CTA:
20. Does it make sense to explore how we can [Positive outcome]?
21. Interested in unpacking how we can help with [Pain]? 22. Are you open to learning more about solutions involving [Product category]? 23. Would achieving [Outcome] help your team deliver on its [Initiative]? 24. Have you tried [Type of solution] before? 25. Are you game to explore how [Company name] can help with this?
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