The two most important questions sales people never ask.

Of all the questions we ask (especially sales people) we often forget the two most important questions. How much can you spend? How do you want to finance? How many users do you have? What are your goals and aspirations? Don't we get a lot of questions on a daily bases? Have you ever asked questions that you don't seem to get the answer you were hoping for? Have you ever been asked a question that you think really doesn't matter? Are these enough questions for now? We get inundated with questions every day. When I go to buy a car, I get the questions about finance (how much can you afford) and I get the questions about my favorite features (red or purple? -- yes I said purple, deal with it). I never get questions that really matter. I never get questions that will help someone help me in the way I want to be helped. The first most important question is, "What do you want (to do)?" Wouldn't it be nice if a sales person came to you and rather than asking you if you want this feature or that, they simply asked what you wanted? The second most important question is, "Why do you want to do it?" The answer to this question may surprise you and may change the way you help someone reach their goals. The next time you want to sell someone something (an idea or a product) ask the two most important questions and see if it helps you. When it comes down to it, if you can get the answer to these questions, you'll know how to help people solve their problems. -- Corey Smith is the Vice President of Innovation at Fisher's Document Systems where he maintains a blog on business and technology.