All too often when I’m listening to salespeople cold call, I hear them starting the conversation by talking about their company and their product. And that’s a problem!

Rather than discussing the product or service, make it a priority to better understand your prospect’s biggest challenges right now. You can do this by asking insightful questions that prompt the prospect to share their pain points, such as:

• How do you feel about your current [X]?
• How do you feel about your ability to acquire [X]?
• What would you say is the biggest issue holding back your [X] at the moment?
• Many companies in the [X] industry are currently complaining about [X]. Is that something your organisation is also experiencing at the moment?

By asking questions you control the conversation, and you also come across as knowledgeable and interested in knowing more about the prospect’s situation.