The document provides guidance on how to effectively motivate customers through asking the right questions. It discusses using expansion, comparison/contrast, and lock-on questions to get customers to open up and provide more details. Expansion questions use descriptive words to have customers describe, explain, or share more. Comparison/contrast questions help understand decision-making processes and criteria. Lock-on questions zero in on key words to elicit more information and create a sense of urgency. The goal is to understand customer needs, problems, budgets, and timelines to help the business meet its goals.

1. How to motivate a
customer?

2. Consumer Behavior
Final consumers
Business consumers

3. nsumers’ Wants and Nee
A wantwant is an unfulfilled desire.
A needneed is anything you require
to live.

5. Buying Motives
Rational
motives
Patronage
motives
Emotional
motives

6. e Decision-Making Process
Problem |Recognition
Information |Search
Alternative |Evaluation
Purchase
Post purchase |Evaluation

7. Influences on the
Consumer Decision-
Making Process

8. ypes of Decision-Making
Routine decision-
making
Limited decision-
making

9. Marketers’ Response
If the
consumer
considers
alternatives
If the
consumer
is brand-
loyal

10. hy We Need to Ask the Right Questions
 Stir customer emotions.
 Expand your customer's comfort zone.
 Control the conversation.
 Uncover the hidden agendas.
 Eliminate price as an issue.

11. hy Don’t We Ask the Right Questions?
 Fear
 Lack of time
 Lack of interest
 Product focused vs. customer focused

12. Top 10 Most Common Questions
Salespeople AskFor example:
1.How’s it going? (How’s business? Your weekend? The family, etc.)
2.How can I help you? ….…How are we doing?
3.How many..……?
4.Are you the decision-maker?......When will you make a decision?
5.Who’s your current vendor?
6.What do you like about them?
7.What are your needs?......problems?
8.What’s your budget?......paying now?
9.If I could……..would you be interested?
10.Can I give you a quote?

13. How to Turn Ordinary Questions
into Expansion Questions
Expansion questions begin with descriptive
words:
Describe, Tell me, Share with me,
Help me to understand, Walk me
through, Explain to me, etc.

14. Expansion Questions
Example 1: Are you the decision-maker?
Verses…
 Walk me through your decision-making process.
Example 2: Do you have a budget for this project?
Verses…
 Describe for me your budgetary requirements for this project.
Example 3: What do you like about your current vendor?
Verses…
 Tell me about the qualities you look for when selecting a
vendor.

15. mparison and Contrast Questions
After introducing a few expansion questions, interject with
“Comparison” and “Contrast” questions to stretch your customers’
thought process and get them to divulge critical buying information:
These questions will help you to understand the:
Complex decision-making process – Who else is involved
including owners, bosses, peers, front-line, committees, customers,
engineering, production, purchasing, marketing, sales, vendors,
stockholders, etc.
 Question: What would you say is most important to you verses what’s
important to _______?
Question: How do you think __________ perspective differs from yours?

16. parison & Contrast Questions (continued
Decision making criteria – Rankings and clarification
of needs verses wants. These may include: service, quality,
delivery, efficiency, price, labor, time, resources, overhead,
profitability, market share, time to market, etc.
Question: Exactly how important is price compared to …

17. parison & Contrast Questions (continued
Time - Explore market trends, priorities, political &
organizational dynamics and competitive vendor
relationships.
 Question: How do you see your market evolving in the next 3
years compared to where it is today? How’s that different
from where you were a year ago?
 Question: Tell me about your _______ strategy for next year.
How’s that compare to this year…………..verses last year?

18. se Lock-on Questions to Get Customers
to Open Up
Lock-on questions are tactical questions that zero in on a key word(s) the
customer states. The purpose is to direct the conversation while
encouraging your customers to expand on their ideas, feelings, and
thought process.
Customer states:
“We’ve been trying to meet our goals for this year.”
If you could choose only one word to get more details from the statement
above, which word would you select?
The word is _______ because it elicits ________.

19. “We’ve been trying to meet our
goals for this year.”
 You mentioned “trying”… what’s working? What isn’t? How long
have you been trying? What exactly have you tried? Are you still trying?
 You mentioned “goals”, how many? Can you quantify them?
Prioritize them in order of importance? What was the thought process
behind establishing them? Where are you now verses where you need to
be? What were last year’s goals? How do they compare to this year’s
goals?
 You mentioned “we”, who else is involved? In what ways might their
goals be different from yours? What do you think needs to happen in
order to achieve this year’s goals? What’s your concern if you don’t meet
them?

20. Use Lock-On Questions to
Create a Sense of Urgency
Customer states:
“We’re having some issues with our current ________.”
You mentioned the word “issues” tell me:
What exactly were these issues? Can you walk me through a recent example (incident)?
What’s causing these issues?
How long have they been going on?
Who else is affected?
What do you think it’s costing you…..in terms of time……. resources…..output….. customers,
etc?
What’s your concern if these issues were to continue?
Use Lock-On Questions to get customers to articulate the problem, causes, costs and
implications that will motivate them to buy.

21. Use Lock-On Questions to
Qualify & Minimize Stalls
Customer states: “Your price is too high.”
Customer states: “I need to think about it.”
Customers states: “I need to talk to (run it by) my boss
(committee, team, etc).”
Other Non-committal Words:
We’ll consider it.
I’m looking at other options.
We want to move forward … but.

22. Anastasiia
Vialova
FRGTB
1 year MSc
9a group