Salespeople taught to ask probing questions of their prospective clients, often miss the mark, because their probing begins before the rapport/trust building.

If you haven't establish rapport and built a certain level of trust with your prospect, you can ask all the questions in the world, but you won't get high-quality answers.

Salespeople taught to ask probing questions of their prospective clients, often miss the mark, because their probing begins before the rapport/trust building. As such, the prospect is turned off and closes down like a clam.

Once closed -- damage control becomes the issue for the salesperson and escape becomes the issue for the prospect. Can you accomplish revitalizing the prospect so that he/she opens-up? Yes, however, many salespeople don't know where or when to stop talking and just ask more and more probing questions. They end up with banal answers.

Alternatively, no answers at all.Getting your prospect to open-up is as simple as opening-up a clam. When a clam is taken out of their environment (water) or feel endangered -- they close up. Then, you have to pry them open with a knife making it more difficult getting what you want from the clam -- food.

Leaving the clam in water and allowing them to be comfortable in their environment -- they open enough for you to slip a hard object in the open shell preventing them from closing down. Prospects are not much different. Make your prospect comfortable, build rapport and trust. When skillfully done, you frequently find the prospect opens-up with out too much probing.

Once that has been accomplished, don't be afraid of asking negative and indirect questions. Indirect questions can be stated in different forms and many times opens-up a prospect quicker than a direct question.

For example: "How much money do you make?" (Direct question) Or "I'm not sure what kind of income you have to qualify." (Indirect question)

The indirect question enables you to gather information that is more accurate with out endangering rapport. A negative question stated enables the prospect to feel as if the salesperson is not pushing the sale and is simply soliciting the prospects opinion.

For example:"If you have all the money you need, then scrolling down for FREE information on how to ACCELERATE YOUR INCOME, would probably, not interest you. Right?"

For someone in Real Estate sales, here is a negative straightforward question: "This is a beautiful house, why do you want to buy a new home."

This question enables the Real Estate salesperson to learn the reasons why the prospect wants to buy and it will bring out the objections, if any.