Last year, your customers bent over backwards to save money. Now that it’s 2010, they must shift their focus toward how to make money. Ask your customers questions that will get them planning how to increase revenue, how to grow market share, and how to secure more business at higher profit margins—start with this one:

“What will it take on my part to win that portion of the business you’re currently giving to our competition?”

The year 2009 found many customers in a state of panic, denial, or complacency—putting off decisions and pressuring salespeople to lower their prices. That was then—and this is now—with 2010 poised to be the turnaround year for great sales opportunities! Start with this sales question designed to take your customer’s pulse:

“Tell me, what would you like to accomplish this year compared to last year?”

A fresh new decade deserves a fresh new set of surefire sales questions to energize your sales approach and motivate your customers to grow their business. Jump-start your sales opportunities with this question:

How are you going to differentiate and set yourself apart from other competitors clamoring for the same opportunities?

This seems like a simple question, but you’d be amazed at the floodgates it can open for an ambitious customer who won’t settle for keeping things status quo.

The comparison question is a crucial part of your selling skills arsenal. It can open up several avenues to further the sales call discussion, such as events in your customer’s past and hopes for his future. It can help you gain access to an organization’s inner workings — uncovering conflicting interests among its employees. Here’s how to change an ordinary question into a comparison question:

Ordinary question: “What are your goals?”

Comparison question: “Share with me what you hope to accomplish in the next twelve months compared to where you were one year ago.”