This is the second post in our series exploring key insights from from Frank Bettger’s classic “|How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling.” This segment focuses on identifying customer needs and using questions to guide successful sales conversations.
Introduction
What’s the most important secret in selling? According to Frank Bettger, it’s remarkably straightforward:
Find out what the other fellow wants, then help him find the best way to get it.
In this post, we’ll explore how to uncover customer needs through strategic questioning and help prospects recognize what they truly want—the foundation of all successful sales.
The Fundamental Secret of Selling
At its core, selling isn’t about pushing products—it’s about understanding people. As Bettger emphasizes throughout his book, there is
only one way under heaven to get anybody to do anything… by making the other person want to do it.”
This truth transforms the selling process from persuasion to problem-solving.
When you help someone recognize what they genuinely want and show them how to get it, you’re providing a valuable service rather than just making a sale. As Bettger notes,
When you show a man what he wants, he’ll move heaven and earth to get it.
Your job is to help prospects connect their needs and desires to your solution.
The Power of the Question Method
How can you uncover what prospects truly want? Bettger’s approach centers on asking thoughtful questions rather than making statements. This “question method” offers several powerful advantages:
- Avoiding arguments: Questions help you navigate disagreements without creating confrontation
- Preventing excessive talking: Questions keep the prospect engaged and participating
- Helping customers recognize their own needs: Through questions, prospects often discover their own motivations
- Finding the “key issue”: Questions help identify the most important factor in the decision
- Making customers feel important: Questions show you value their perspective
As Bettger explains, putting ideas in question form shows how you feel about what the prospect should do, while keeping them “in the buyer’s seat.” This creates a collaborative atmosphere rather than a confrontational one.
Implementing the Question Method
Let’s transform this insight into practical steps you can take immediately:
1. Master the Art of Strategic Questioning
The right questions are your most powerful tool for understanding customer needs. Bettger particularly recommends these question approaches:
The “Why” Question: When a prospect raises an objection, simply asking “Why?” encourages them to elaborate. As they explain their reasoning, they often realize their objection isn’t as solid as they initially thought.
Action step: In your next sales conversation, when you hear an objection, resist the urge to counter it. Instead, gently ask “Why do you feel that way?” and then listen carefully.
The “In Addition to That” Question: Bettger notes that “a man generally has two reasons for doing a thing—one that sounds good, and a real one.” The follow-up question “In addition to that, isn’t there something else?” often reveals the true objection.
Action step: Practice this two-step questioning approach: First “Why?” followed by “In addition to that, is there anything else that concerns you?“
2. Become an Exceptional Listener
Questions are only effective if you truly listen to the answers. Bettger emphasizes “the importance of being a good listener, showing the other person you are sincerely interested in what he is saying, and giving him all the eager attention and appreciation that he craves.”
Action step: In your next sales conversation, aim for the prospect to do 70% of the talking in the first half of the meeting. As Bettger recommends, “Experience has taught me that it is a good rule to make sure the other fellow does a liberal share of the talking in the first half. Then when I talk I am more sure of the fact, and more likely to have an attentive listener.”
3. Focus on the Key Issue
Sales conversations can easily get derailed by multiple minor objections. Bettger advises finding “the most vulnerable point” and concentrating “everything on that one point alone—the key issue.”
Action step: After asking questions and listening to concerns, summarize what you’ve heard and ask: “It seems like your main concern is [key issue]. Is that correct?” This focuses the conversation on what truly matters.
4. See Things from the Customer’s Perspective
Bettger repeatedly emphasizes the importance of shifting your viewpoint: “See things from the other person’s point of view and talk in terms of his wants, needs, desires.”
Action step: Before each sales meeting, spend five minutes writing down what you know about the prospect’s situation, challenges, and likely priorities. Ask yourself: “If I were in their position, what would be my biggest concern?“
5. Let the Customer Help Make the Sale
One of Bettger’s most powerful insights is that active customer participation increases buy-in. As he puts it, “Let the customer help you make the sale.”
Action step: Where possible, have prospects physically engage with your presentation. Bettger suggests: “Mr. Prospect, will you write these figures down as I give them to you?” This participation helps maintain attention, increases interest, and most importantly, helps the prospect take ownership of the information.
Dealing with Disagreement and Objections
Disagreements and objections are inevitable in sales conversations. Bettger offers this advice from Benjamin Franklin on handling contradictions gracefully:
“When another asserted something that I thought in error, I deny’d myself the pleasure of contradicting him abruptly, and of showing immediately some absurdity in his propositions; and in answering I began by observing that in certain cases or circumstances his opinion would be right, but in the present case there appear’d or seem’d to me some difference, etc.”
This approach allows you to redirect the conversation without creating defensiveness.
Additionally, Bettger urges salespeople to welcome objections, noting that “the best prospects are the ones who object.” Objections often signal engagement and interest—they’re buying signals, not rejection.
Key Takeaways
- The fundamental secret of selling is finding out what people want and helping them get it.
- Questions are more effective than statements for uncovering needs and addressing objections.
- The two most powerful questions are “Why?” and “In addition to that…?”
- Effective listening is as important as effective questioning.
- Finding and focusing on the “key issue” streamlines the sales process.
- Seeing things from the customer’s perspective transforms your approach.
- Customer participation increases engagement and ownership.
Action Plan
- Create a list of 5-7 open-ended questions designed to uncover your prospects’ true needs.
- In your next three sales conversations, commit to asking “Why?” whenever you hear an objection.
- Set a goal for prospect talking time—aim for them to speak 70% of the time in the first half of your meetings.
- Before each sales conversation, write down what you believe is the prospect’s likely “key issue.”
- Incorporate at least one customer participation element into your standard presentation.
Reflection Questions
- How might your sales conversations change if you focused more on questioning and listening than explaining and persuading?
- What’s the most common objection you hear, and what might be the real concern hiding behind it?
- When was the last time you were truly surprised by what a prospect shared in response to your questions?
- How comfortable are you with silence in sales conversations? Could improving your comfort with silence make your questioning more effective?
- What specific customer participation elements could you add to your sales process to increase engagement?
Looking Forward
In the next segment, we’ll explore Bettger’s insights on building confidence and trust with customers. You’ll learn practical techniques for demonstrating credibility, establishing rapport, and creating the foundation of strong business relationships. These trust-building strategies complement the questioning techniques we’ve covered here, creating a powerful framework for successful selling.
This content represents my own analysis and interpretation of concepts from Frank Bettger’s _How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling. For the complete experience and the full depth of these ideas, I highly recommend purchasing and reading the original book.