​I recently spoke with a sales leader who lamented the fact that her team did not have effective conversations with prospects and clients.  I suggested three factors from Answer Intelligence (AQ)™ to have more influential sales conversations

Question-based sales methods are so prevalent, that we have lost the forest from the trees.  Machette in hand, generations of sales reps have been trained in question-based sales approaches (deep in the trees), which translates into an ethos of asking more and more questions of the prospect.  However, what has been lost is the big picture (the forest).  Gong’s data elucidates the big picture perspective by pointing out that as the seller asks more questions, the win-rate goes down (not up)!  

This paradox is resolved easily when you view sales as a conversation (question and answer exchange) between a seller and buyer.  From this vantage point, each side asks and answers questions. As question-rate goes up, at the extreme a conversation is transformed into an interrogation of questions. Separate Gong data has also found that when sellers and buyers talk equally win rates increase.

Upon reflection, sales as a conversation is obvious.  Imagine a thought experiment… When you go to dinner with a friend, or a have a meeting with colleagues… you will notice that these conversations are effective when everyone asks and answers questions, and when speaking is also balanced.  The same is true for sales conversations.

If sales conversations are going to be balanced (questions + ANSWERS), sales reps need to apply critical attention to answering more effectively.  In sum, the first step toward better conversations is for sales reps to increase their awareness that both questions and answers are important. AQ focuses upon a new science of answers to increase sales influence during conversations.

To increase your AQ awareness, take the FREE Explore Sales AQ test.

Once awareness is increased (step 1), the next step is to use the 5 High AQ Practices.  Based upon research with expert communicators, High AQ Practices are answering techniques that sales professionals can use to increase their influence with others.  

​For example, High AQ Practice 2 is to answer important why-, what-, and how-questions twice to appeal to the logical side of the brain and also the creative side of the brain.  For example, if a prospect asks, “Why should I use your product?”, this why-question can be answered with a story combined with a theory (which is business strategy).  Your product might be an employee engagement platform, and your theory could be that “employee engagement causes employee retention.”  By discussing the story, you make the emotional connection.  Followed by theory, you can make explicit the logic of your story so it is not missed.

​The original AQ research was based upon studying the top golf instructors in the world as rated by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine. This was an expert study, those in the upper half of the 99th percentile of their profession.  It was clear that they were students of answers.  For example, one of the top golf instructors was particularly adept at metaphors. We asked him, “Do you always get the metaphor right?”  He replied, “Yes, but if I don’t I have another metaphor ready.”  His response, is very telling, experts don’t have “THE answer”, they have multiple answers for each of the six answer types (story, metaphor, theory, concept, procedure, action). 

If you are student of answers, you have a portfolio of each of the answer types.  As a sales professional, you need multiple stories to influence, or you can point out multiple key actions that distinguish that differentiate your service or products.

It is one thing to know that a how-question is answered with a procedure or action (see point #2), but point #3 reminds us that the substantive answers matter, and that you must work to develop these answers.  For example, one of the top golf instructors had a library of 3,500 books.  This golf instructor wanted to learn as many answers as possible, so he could be more influential in his golf lessons.  This instructor studied everything related to golf (such as the physics of golf) and related disciplines (like psychology), to far flung domains of life like Ancient Greece.  He was well informed, he was interesting, he could provide any of the answers.

In the sales context, think about answers that relate to your product or service, your client’s industry, a specific buyer role, or anything else relevant to being an interesting conversationalist. Being a student of answers means that you study the world around you to increase your influence.

The foundation of High AQ is the ability to provide six answers (High AQ Practice 1).  My AQ is a series of articles that feature business executives that provide six answers to important topics and questions.

Jason Langford Brown used AQ to help a 20-year-old big ticket project management company sell to the board of an international resort.  Engineers at the client firm were tasked with presenting to the board, something they were not comfortable doing.  Jason helped his client develop six answers the engineers used to answer pressing why-, what-, and how-questions.  The result... the engineers won the deal and two others from the same client valued at $2.5 million in total fees.  They are also now discussing more than 10 additional projects.

Each answer by itself relates to a specific question. If you take all the answers together, it is the cumulative and reinforcing aspect of the answers that communicate the value proposition of a selling organization. The AQ framework provided the engineers important preparation for a board level conversation as well as a dynamic tool to help them adjust their answers as the conversation naturally shifted to different types of questions.

High Sales AQ: Transforming a $500 million industrial manufacturer from a direct to indirect sales model 

This article is part of the High AQ Interview Series where executives, academics, and thought leaders discuss elevated answers.

Chris MacKenzie, an industrial manufacturing sales executive discusses a successful effort he orchestrated to transform a $0.5 billion dollar industrial manufacturing sales approach which was 90% direct and 10% indirect to one that was 90% indirect.  During this transformation, Chris had to identify and convince a network of hundreds of distributors to sell his product portfolio in addition to his competitors. In the process, he had to successfully introduce end users to the distributors (the new selling intermediary), while realigning an internal sales force of 130 to sell through distributors.

Chris and I discussed the transformation from a direct sales channel to an indirect sales channel in AQ terms.  We covered the 5 High AQ practices, the role of conversations (questions and answers) in sales, and the High AQ sales attributes that allowed him to pull-off the sales transformation to an indirect approach. We identified six High AQ takeaways. The following interview is edited for clarity.  

Dr. G: [We reviewed the 5 High AQ Practices and discussed the implications.]  What is your reaction to Sales AQ?”

Chris MacKenzie: “I would estimate that that the top 10% of sellers have High Sales AQ.  And most of them are doing it intuitively. The AQ framework can help the low-skilled to the highly skilled sales reps upskill.”

Dr. G: “Which of the six answers (theory, concept, story, metaphor, procedure, action) is something you did not appreciate until it was brought into relief by the AQ framework?”
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Chris MacKenzie: “Metaphors.  I have never coached, nor consciously applied to use metaphors before. It makes sense because it simplifies…  [you can] hit a lightbulb very quickly.”

High AQ Takeaway 1: If the top 10% of sales reps have High AQ, that’s a good thing. However, even the best don’t realize they are using AQ. And there are no systematic efforts to elevate the entire sales origination. The AQ framework and associated 5 High AQ practices represent a way to explicitly surface principles and techniques that can elevate answers provided by the entire sales organization.
High AQ Takeaway 2: Metaphors are often underappreciated in a society that focuses upon stories to make emotional connections with others. Yes, stories are important, but metaphors offer several advantages including compactness (short time to convey) and lower difficulty level to communicate (as compared to a story).

Dr. G:  "Your indirect sales strategy involves three parties: The manufacturer (you), the distributors, and the end user.  What are the different needs between end users and distributors?"
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Chris MacKenzie:  "The end users are focused upon product features and functionality, and as you move up the value chain to the distributors, in addition to product features, they are focused upon strategy and overall profitability of the manufacturer-distributor relationship. With the distributors I had conversations about business strategy that went beyond product features, including tiered discounts,  packaging, pricing, drop shipping, credit terms, on-time delivery, training, cooperative advertising, and customer service."

High AQ Takeaway 3: In a horizontally integrated supply chain, High Sales AQ recognizes that end-users ask different questions and need different answers than distributors. In this case, end-users ask the how-question and seek action answers (those associated with product features). Conversely, distributors are asking what-questions associated with business strategy (concept answers). Sales reps with High AQ understand that questions and answers may vary across the sales supply chain.

Dr. G: “In AQ terms, you indicated that concepts (e.g., packing, training, customer service) were important to distributors.  How could you identify which strategic concepts to focus upon with each distributor?”

Chris MacKenzie: “First and Foremost...you had better go into the meeting in over preparation mode.  You need to know what is important to the  that specific distributor… talk about their business in that area (customer service, competitive pressures, training, hiring).”

Dr. G: “Let’s say you locate the correct strategic concept; let’s say training is the hot button topic.  Then, how would you credibly convey you understand their hot button topic?”
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Chris MacKenzie: “You need to give examples…. If you don’t have the right training… we will get you up to speed and show them an example…. Or, if their team is not trained, discuss how your training works. It illustrates that you ‘get’ their business. The relationship with each distributor will not be successful with a ‘one size fits all’ channel program. That is not insignificant. But, you want to avoid the ‘show up and throw approach’… you discuss every feature and function of your product.  That will be a turn-off.

High AQ Takeaway 4: High AQ Practice 1 explains that for any given question there is a correct answer. Related to concepts, each distributor had strategic concepts that were more salient to them specifically. Also, in discussing procedures and actions associated with a product, you need to get them just right. High AQ is not just about recognizing which answer to provide (theory, concept, story, metaphor, procedure, or action) – it is also determining the best way to deliver that answer.
High AQ Takeaway 5: Provide Complements (High AQ Practice 3) holds that adjacent answers are related and can re-enforce each other. In this case, Chris wanted to demonstrate that he got the strategic concept correct, and he utilized the adjacent answers of procedure and action to substantiate his claim that he was on the same strategic page with a distributor.

Dr. G: “You initiated a huge disruption—the sales process going from direct to indirect. This was a significant investment of time and energy.  Why was this the timing right to flip the switch to an indirect sales approach?"

Chris MacKenzie: “As a major manufacturer we sold to large A-accounts. These A-accounts were consolidating their vendors, and actually downsizing at the time. We wanted access to the much higher number of B and C accounts to compensate for the reduced volume of A accounts: Distributors actually had a better relationship with the B & C Accounts than my direct salesforce. They were looking for single source vendors. We needed to align ourselves with single source vendors. Given this dynamic, it made sense for us to invest in the distributor indirect sales channel to to sell to A- gain access to B & C accounts (as opposed to going direct while giving distributors access to our A accounts – we both grew in a shrinking economy)."

High AQ Takeaway 6: Answer in Context is High AQ Practice 5. All conversations involve primary questions (what, why, how) and associated answers (theory, concept, story, metaphor, procedure, action). These conversations occur within a context. This context activates the focal questions and the appropriateness of answers. In Chris’ case, purchasing department consolidation triggered conversations with distributors that would have not otherwise occurred. Therefore, those with High AQ understand context and how that impacts any conversation. The influence of context is often overlooked. In Chris’ case, internal conversations with Operations, IT, and other departments required a lot of convincing (as they did not understand the contextual changes the way Chris did).

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