D – 1: Discovery. When you meet with a prospect / client, your first step should be to discover his needs, motivations, and viewpoints so that you can match the sale to those needs. You do this by asking questions.

Sales professionals who believe in coaching their prospects know that the right question can lead people to the best buying decision. When you help individuals find the best path for themselves, you create enthusiastic advocates. After each question, open your mind, close your mouth, write down any important information, and reflect the key information and feelings back to the speaker.

D – 2: Discuss. Once you complete the discovery process, you can begin introducing the benefits of your product or service, as they relate to the prospect’s goals. Do this using the share / pause / agree model. Share a benefit and end the benefit statement with a question to confirm that the benefit is important to the prospect; then pause to listen to the answer; finally, agree on the benefit to the buyer; then move on to a second benefits.

D – 3: Decide. This is the easiest part, because all the work has been done to connect the benefits the buyer’s needs. Once you have coached prospects to this point, you need to stop trying to convince them to buy. This doesn’t mean being complacent. It means giving people time and space to think. So, instead of using a traditional closes like, “Can I get this order started for you now?” try something like: “What else can we talk about to help you make a decision about your choice of…?”

These questions still move a prospect toward a buying decision, but they’re more collaborative than aggressive. And if you get a “no” at this point, move back to discovery phase with a question such as: “Obviously I missed something. What is holding you back from moving ahead?”