Too often sales people spend too much time talking and not enough time listening to what their customers or potential customers really want. One way to reduce talking and increase listening is to ask great questions and listen with interest to the answers.

The following are 42 suggestions that you might want to include in your repertoire. read through them and choose at least five that you might use during your next sales encounter.

1. What do you want?
2. If you could wave a magic wand what would you change?
3. What would have the biggest impact on your business if solved?
4. What is your biggest challenge?
5. What is going best for your business right now?
6. What worries you the most?
7. In the ideal world what would you like to see happen?
8. What is your companies' vision and mission?
9. What are your team's mission and vision?
10. Tell me about your roles and responsibilities...
11. What is the best thing that happened last year?
12. Tell me your background and history...
13. What do you like?
14. What do you dislike?
15. What are your objectives this year?
16. What are your options next year?
17. How do you define an ideal supplier relationship?
18. Who is your best supplier and why?
19. What two or three problems if solved would move the needle?
20. What is important to you?
21. What is important to your boss?
22. What is important to your team?
23. Who would be involve in this decision?
24. What drives you crazy?
25. Rank the current state of your business on scale of 1-10.
26. Who is your competition?
27. Which competitor do you worry about the most?
28. Where do you want to be in 2 years?
29. Where do you want to be in 5 years?
30. Who do you admire in business and why?
31. Have you done a SWOT analysis?
32. What would make you a hero?
33. What business books do you like?
34. What is your company culture like? Why?
35. Why did you decide to meet with me?
36. What do you want out of a good rep?
37. When are your peak revenue times?
38. Who are your best customers?
39. What else should I know about your business? Why?
40. How can I add value?
41. What do you do in your spare time?
42. Where are you from originally?

Now that you've chosen your questions, get out there and try them. After you've practiced a few times, come back and review the list again. At that point you can add to it or remove questions that don't suit your style or situation. Just like anything else, effective selling is an ongoing process and not a one-time event. By constantly upgrading your skills, you increase your chances for success.