Keith Goodrum

Reading Ryan Healy’s blog post today Do Questions Work As Headlines? got me thinking…

Questions have always been a great sales tool for me over the years. Asking questions allowed me to customize each sales presentation to the customers needs. And of course, if you can show the customer how your product/service meets their needs… The sales is usually a forgone conclusion.

Questions work very well in selling for several reasons. First, Usually the person who asks the questions controls the direction of the conversation. Second, Questions are an important tool to qualify the customer, and gain important information.

Here is what Tom Hopkins says about asking questions:

The most powerful diagnostic tools used by all people in sales are questions. Like a doctor, your use of questions begins with general areas of need. Then, based on the answers you are given, you narrow your questions down to where you can readily determine the right cure or solution for the clients’ needs.

Asking Questions in your copy can usually get the opposite results.

Many of the top copywriting trainers teach that you should avoid asking questions. The idea is that you could get the wrong answer and lose the reader.

Putting a question in your headline is considered risky at best. Ryan Healy confirms this statement in his blog post. However, it’s not always the case. Recently, He tested a question in a headline and he was sure it would lose the split test. However the question headline won. Here is what he said:

Recently, I conducted a headline split-test for an upcoming real estate conference. The headline that won by a long shot was a question: “Would You Like 2008 to Be the Year in Which You Build the Foundations for Long-Term Real Estate Wealth?”

Why do you think this headline won?

I believe this question won for a simple reason. It entered the conversation that was already going on in the prospects mind. Traditionally people have used real estate to build long term wealth. The last year or so, has been rough in the real estate market. So, this is a question that real estate investors are asking themselves a lot lately.

This ultimately proves that there are exceptions to every rule. Don’t be afraid to use questions, but tread lightly.