5 Sales Questions To Qualify Leads Over Text Messaging

Asking the right questions is key to moving your prospects forward in the sales process. See how the right questions and using texting as the right channel can benefit your business.

Great sales processes all have one thing in common, great questions. Finding the right sales questions that move your prospect forward is key to moving opportunities to closed sales.

Texting Is A Great Sales Tool

Text messaging is perfect for sales as it’s a personal communication channel. Asking sales questions and getting answers over text can be done quickly and easily. Texting is an asynchronous flow that gives your prospects a chance to answer questions. Often salespeople will talk too much, asking question after question without allowing the consumer to reply.

SMS is a conversational sales and marketing channel that offers peak efficiency when paired with business text messaging features like Auto-replies and Shortcuts for saved message templates.

5 Sales Questions To Start With

Here are some base sales questions you can further build upon by tailoring them to your business, services, products, and the customers you sell to. When you ask open-ended sales questions, you demonstrate to your potential clients that you care about what they have to say and need.

These questions are designed to get your prospect talking and sharing important details with you that will shape your replies to be personalized and valuable to turn them from leads to closed sales.

We’ll also add a few bonus tips for questions to help close deals along with our text features that make this happen easier.

1- What is the problem you are looking to solve?

This question seems too basic, but it’s so necessary. Salespeople can often assume or guess what the prospect is looking for, skipping past letting them explain their biggest pain. Always start here.

Knowing your prospect’s biggest pain point is key to making sure you address it both in the sales process and in your service or product delivery too.

2- What is most important to you?

Once you know the prospect’s problem, now you want to find out what matters most to them. Is it price, service, quality, or something else? Learning what your prospect cares about the most sets you up to be able to deliver on their expectation.

Once you understand what is important to them you can even ask why it’s so important if needed to get a deeper understanding so you can best address it.

3- What is the timing for you to make a decision on this?

Knowing the buyer’s timeframe to make a decision to move forward lets you continue to drive the process. Whether it’s time to think about it or conferring with a spouse or trusted advisor, knowing what’s needed to give you a “yes” helps you know how to help the process along.

Getting an answer to timing lets you ask and set the next step and assist with getting there.

4- Can you tell me more?

It’s super simple but super powerful. The goal here is to get the prospect to identify the core issue holding them back and share details. When the prospect tells you something that seems potentially important—or unclear—rather than just agreeing with them, say, “Huh, tell me more about that.”

5- What else should I know, cover, or answer that I haven’t yet?

Once you have uncovered many of the items above, you’ve likely sparked some further thoughts from your prospect. This question gives an opportunity for the prospect to ask the questions. Besides answering their questions or addressing gaps, they also gain trust and comfort with the space to ask their questions.

Bonus Closing Questions

Can you look at your calendar to book something right now?

If your sales process involves setting a date or time asking to look at schedules together is a great closing question. Get the next step scheduled.

What can I do to help you finalize this decision?

When you’re close to getting a decision, ask them what you can do to help them with the decision-making process. It might take a gentle persuasive nudge or two but either getting a “yes” or knowing the hurdle to get past allows you to make your move.

Texting features made for sales questions

With asking questions such an important part of the sales and customer experience, we want to call attention to a few of our features that make asking questions over business texting even easier.

Auto replies

Auto replies are automatic messages sent to your new text leads that come in directly or from your Leadbox. Auto replies are based on your business (or availability) hours and make an instant connection while setting expectations of a reply.

These Auto replies also allow you to ask a question in your message, making the first sales question automatic. With Auto replies allowing up to 255 characters, you can create a reply that gets the sales process going.

Shortcuts – saved message templates

Many businesses have a standard set of pre-sales questions to work from. Using Shortcuts, a library of saved messages, you can send your questions in just a few clicks or taps instead of typing them out.

Shortcuts save time and ensure your sales team follows through on your discovery process. You can add as many of your sales questions to your Shortcut library as you want.