The days of offering the same menu of products and services to all customers is long past. Today, your ability to tailor the sale — treating each customer as a totally unique individual — makes the difference between being a market leader vs. an also-ran.

At the heart of this tailored selling lies three key elements:

1. A front-office solution that enables you to capture highly detailed information about each customer and prospective customer.

2. A method of asking questions to uncover each customer's unique information.

3. Ways to use this unique information about each customer, once it is in your front-office solution, to tailor each step of the sale.

Questions are an invaluable sales tool. They may be used throughout a sales presentation, but are especially important in the introductory segment. The sequence of the questions is perhaps more important than the types of questions themselves. It is the sequence that positions the sale and offers "momentum" by creating interest in the customer's mind.

The five types of sequenced questions I use are: 

1. General
Questions that will reveal information about the customer's company or personal circumstances or responsibilities

2. Directional
Questions that will assess the customer's current circumstances

3. Needs, wants and concerns
Questions that will expose the customer's needs, wants, or concerns

4. Focusing
Questions that will help you to understand the customer's sales and decision-making process

5. Target
Questions that will uncover the customer's goals and where the customer wants to end up as a result of the planned purchase