I got a new newsletter in my inbox this week, Sales & Marketing Watch.  Not sure they found me but they caught my attention.  The simple newsletter included a list of recent articles from Fast Company, Inc.com, Entrepreneur.com and a few others.  All articles very relevant to what I do every day, so I took a few minutes to checkout some of the articles.

One in particular caught my attention – The Top 10 Dumb Sales Questions During a Bad Economy from www.managesmarter.com.  The article’s author, Steve Giglio, lists 10 questions in every sales person’s normal process of understanding and moving a deal to close.  Here’s a list of the questions, check out the full article to see WHY you shouldn’t be asking these today.

1. How’s Business?
2. What are your goals for this year?
3. Who is your competition?
4. How is your company going to stand out?
5. How has your company been successful in the past?
6. Who is your customer?
7. Is there anyone else I should see?
8. Should I leave this information with you?
9. What is your budget?
10. Who should I follow up with?

And don’t forget to share this one with your sales team.