Comparison Questioning Uncovers Client Needs Advises Hall Interviewed by Selling Power Magazine January 2010

Stow, MA - February 3, 2010: In a recent interview for Selling Power magazine about uncovering a prospect's real needs, leading sales expert, Shelley Hall emphasized the importance of asking comparison questions. "Just because a customer says, 'Here's my need,' doesn't mean the customer is correct, but a lot of reps can't get beyond that," says Shelley Hall, Principal and Managing Director of Catalytic Management, a management consulting firm that accelerates business growth through sales effectiveness and process improvement.

Comparison questions are key to getting customers to make connections about what's working and what isn't. "Clients have to make the discovery for themselves," says Hall. "Our job is to help them do that by asking the right questions."



When asked by Selling Power for an example of when deploying comparison questioning uncovered the real need, Hall cited a recent client that requested customer-service training for its employees. Upon discovering that the company's owner had retired a few years earlier, the Catalytic Management rep asked the following comparison questions:

• How does the staff currently behave, and how does that differ from two to three years ago?
• What service elements do you want improved, and why are they more important than other elements?
• How would you compare staff members' behavior toward each other before and after the leadership change?

"This approach highlighted the need for more than just customer service training. It pointed to change that had resulted in widespread mistrust and animosity among managers and employees. This new culture was having a negative effect on customer service operations. With a better understanding of the problem and the real issues behind it, Catalytic Management was able to provide a solution that would fix the real problem" said Hall.

As a thought leader and speaker, Ms. Hall has published dozens of articles for such major business journals as Business Performance Magazine, CEO Refresher, The Handbook of Business Strategy, ManageSmarter, Sales and Service Excellence, Industry Week and many more. She is a frequent conference and event speaker. For the full Selling Power interview click here.