A 'questioning' attitude is the key to sales success "Strictly Sales" is written by the faculty of the Dynamics of Selling Program. This month's column is from Edwin L. Lamont. THINK back to a recent insurance sales call. Who did most of the talking? Did you deliver a lecture on the benefits of your service, coverage or incredibly low price? Watch out! Selling by telling leads to low closing ratios. People don't like to be sold-but they do like to buy.

Instead of lecturing your way to sales, use questions to sell. When you ask questions and listen to the answers, you build rapport and trust. Asking questions keeps you from talking too much. Carefully crafted questions qualify suspect buyers. Think of questions that tie a buyer's problem to one of your product's strengths or risk management solutions. The right question at the right time can trigger a prospect to buy from you. Questions to sell open the door to your buyer's world and help you close more sales. Here are just a few of the numerous benefits of questions to sell.

-Questions keep you in control. Have you ever felt out of control at an insurance appointment? Perhaps it was difficult to get your buyer's full attention. Some prospects use formidable negotiation skills to keep you off-balance. Objections can put you on the defensive as well.If you're off-balance, on the defensive or out of control in front of an insurance prospect, resist the urge to talk your way out of trouble. Instead, ask open-ended questions to better understand what's going on. Open-ended questions begin with what, how or why, and they get your buyer talking. You gain important information and buy time to think. When you're listening, you're learning-and you're in control.