The questions that change everything in business development.
“Always be closing.” Three words that have shaped sales culture for decades.
I understand the appeal. It sounds decisive. It sounds like the behaviour of someone serious about winning business. But from my own experience and from some rather compelling research, the approach that actually builds sustainable new business looks quite different.
Spin selling #
In 1988, Neil Rackham published SPIN Selling, the result of twelve years of research across 35,000 sales calls. His conclusion was both simple and radical. In complex B2B sales, the questioning stage influences success more than any other factor, including the pitch itself. Nearly forty years later, nobody has disproved that finding. They’ve simply kept confirming it.
More recently, Gong Labs analysed over 519,000 B2B sales call recordings. Top performers asked between 11 and 14 carefully targeted questions per call. Beyond that number, success rates dropped. Sellers who lost deals actually asked more questions than those who won, around 20 compared to 15 or 16. More questions didn’t produce better results. Better questions did.
Be the best asker #
The people who generate the most business aren’t the best closers. They’re the best askers.
Not because asking questions is a clever technique dressed in more palatable clothing. But because genuine curiosity is one of the very few things in business that cannot be faked. People respond to it instinctively, even when they can’t articulate why.
In a world of automated outreach and digital noise, a conversation shaped by genuine curiosity stands out immediately. Not as a method. As a fundamentally different way of showing up.
Always be closing assumes the goal of every conversation is a transaction.
Always be curious assumes the goal of every conversation is understanding.
And understanding, it turns out, is what leads to transactions; quietly, sustainably, over time.
Thank you for reading.
PS: I create small, digestible guides on Gumroad for business owners who hate aggressive tactics and prefer relationship-led approaches. New resources are added regularly. For longer reads on lead generation and the human side of sales, follow me on Medium and join the daily conversation on LinkedIn.
Please see the links below:
Gumroad: https://richardbulldomican.gumroad.com/
Medium: https://medium.com/@richard-bulldomican
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardbulldomican/
