The secret to successful communication in business and in
everyday life is asking the right questions. Understanding the
value of effective questioning is probably the single most
dominant factor in achieving business success. The way to learn
about what people need is to ask a question and then listen
carefully to the answer.
What do Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, and Barbara Walters all have
in common? They are all great interviewers. They have the
uncanny ability to make people feel comfortable and talk by
asking the right questions. The bottom line is that customer and
prospects will gladly volunteer information about what they think
they want in pricing, products and services if you ask the right
questions. The more questions you ask, the more the customer or
prospect will talk, which allows you to uncover their “hot
buttons”. Remember, approximately 90 percent of customers and
prospects think about themselves first.
To start, you should always remember the 7 keys to good
questioning. It’s a matter of being clever, and being direct.
How better to accomplish this than to utilize these 7 keys:
1. Why? For example: Why would you choose software A over
software B for your small business expenses?
2. Who? For example: Who would you recommend this product to
and why?
3. Where? For example: Where did you first hear about my small
business?
4. When? When were you hoping to have project A completed?
5. What? What troubleshooting issues have you discovered while
using this program?
6. How? How do you feel about our new shipping policy?
7. Is it? Is it alright if I contact you in the future if I
need more information?
You’ve probably already noticed that number 7, “is it” isn’t one
of the standard questions that you consider when you think of
posing questions, but “is it” allows you to verify what you have
learned by listening carefully to the answers to keys number 1-6.
Confirming and verifying what customers are saying demonstrates
to them that you are listening carefully to what is being said,
and reassures them that their input matters. It also allows you
to better absorb and synthesize what is being stated so that you
can put it into its best application.
There is an art to asking the questions. While using the 7 keys
to good questions does get you off to a good start, you have to
remember to keep things well focused, so that the responses that
you receive will be tailored to what you are seeking to discover.
Most people have a natural tendency to pose very general
questions. However, while conducting business, you need to aim
to ask questions that are as detailed as possible, so that you
will receive a better response, and so that the person with whom
you are speaking will know you are a good listener.
Keep in mind, also, that just because a question is detailed,
doesn’t mean that it has to be verbose in any way. Rather, it
must simply be worded in a way so that the right information is
provided within the response.
For example, if someone were to ask you “how do you start a small
business?” that would leave you in a bit of a lurch with regards
to what to say and where to start. Additionally, it will
necessarily lead to a number of other questions that negate the
purpose of asking the original question in the first place: more
detailed questions. Don’t waste the time of the person to whom
you are asking questions, don’t waste your own time, and keep
confusion to a minimum. A better question with which to begin
may have been something more detailed such as: “How do you start
a small mail order business in Richmond, Virginia, that deals in
laptop computers?” Notice the difference?
The foundation to asking good questions and achieving a wealth of
practical answers is to apply the 7 keys in a direct and detailed
manner. They allow you to get to the root of your question, so
that you will gain the information and direction that you need to
take specific action.
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