Three Types of Sales Negotiation Questions: Open…Directive…Reflective…

In a sales negotiation, questions designed to probe for information or to arrive at an agreement usually fall into three basic categories.

Open or Nondirective Questions

Your customer cannot get by with a simple “yes” or “no” to open questions. These questions require thought; the customer must give an opinion or relate an experience. For example:

“What do you think of…?”

“What has been your experience with…?”

“How do you feel about…?”

The open or nondirective question draws the prospect out to get answers that tell the salesperson the true needs and desires. Then the salesperson can stress the features and benefits that best match them. This type of question will also bring out reasons for buying resistance so the salesperson can handle them.Open questions make the prospects more comfortable and secure than the closed type that require a yes or no answer. Since open questions require more thought, the prospect tends to give more consideration to the salesperson’s proposition.Since open questions usually ask for an opinion, they show that the salesperson values the prospect’s opinions and this encourages better communication.

Directive or Structured Questions

Directive, or closed, questions require the prospect to give a specific answer, like a definite amount of money, an actual date or time. They require expansion on a particular point and help maintain two-way communication.Usually, the directive question is used in conjunction with open or reflective questions to get more specific information. For example, “That was an interesting experience. When did it happen?”The directive question is a little more threatening to the prospect than an open question because it calls for specific information which he or she might be unwilling to divulge. Weaving them into the interview with open and reflective questions gives a better understanding of the prospect’s point of view and makes them less threatening to the prospect.

Here are examples of directive questions:

“How long do you think it would take to make the move?”

“How much would the savings be in a year?”

“What would be the best way to handle the repairs?”

“Did you know they were going into receivership?”

When used properly, directive questions can encourage the prospects to concentrate on areas of agreement rather than disagreement and allow the prospects the opportunity to convince themselves.

Reflective Questions

A reflective question repeats or rephrases in the salesperson’s words what the prospect says or seems to imply. Reflective questions are usually a response to the prospect’s answer to an open or nondirective question. Their usual purpose is to clarify understanding of what the prospect really means or feels.Salespeople can use them to play back what the prospect said in the hope he will modify his stand. The use of reflective questions calls for careful listening, selectivity and great care that the question does not reflect on the prospect’s intelligence.If the reflective question is not correct, the prospect will correct the thought. For example, the salesperson says, “You feel that this product would work for you if it could be made of copper instead of vinyl.” The prospect may not have said it that way but merely expressed a preference for copper. If the prospect agrees to the statement, the salesperson can assume that the sale is made if the change to copper is possible.By sharing the prospect’s feelings, reflective questions, particularly in statement form, create a better climate for agreement. When the salesperson shows that he or she understands the prospect’s view, the prospect may drop a bad idea or correct an opinion after hearing it repeated by the salesperson.