six hints for asking effective questions.
the franklin covey coaching group, renowned for “seek first to understand, then to be understood” advice, says effective questioning is an essential skill in business development.
“your goal is maximum, mutual understanding,” the company says, and adds these six tips:
1. set expectations, ask permission to ask questions.
“john, if it would be okay with you, i’d like to ask some questions to make sure i understand what you really want to achieve. i’ll give you plenty of opportunity to ask me questions about how we might help you. then we can make a mutual decision as to what, if any, next steps we should take. would that be okay?”
2. make sure there is enough time and the timing is right.
“i know we scheduled an hour for this appointment and we started 20 minutes later than we thought. do we still have an hour? or, is this still a good time for us to talk?”
3. ask one question at a time; wait for the answer.
note that when people break eye contact, they are often searching for the answer to your question. let them find it! bad examples of this technique:
- white house press conferences-media
- talk-show interview hosts
4. reward their response, then ask your next question.
people usually do more of what they are rewarded for. letting people know (verbally or non-verbally) that they are providing useful information elicits an easier flow of information.
5. be cautious of leading questions (questions designed to get agreement, not information or understanding).
examples of leading questions:
- “by proactive, don’t you really mean…?”
- “wouldn’t it make more sense to…?”
- “won’t you need a…?”
6. ask “how” or “what” rather than “why.”
replace “why is that important to you?” with:
- “what about that is important to you?”
- “how is that important to you?”
“why” is a great word for the purpose it serves. it tends to evoke responses of defense, justification, concept, or philosophy. if we do not want people to defend or justify, and if we want them to be more experiential in their response, “how” or “what” may serve us better.
one response to “sales tip: questioning and listening are two sides of the same coin”
joe eckelkamp
this is a great article!!!
fortunately, having some extra time when i started my firm and didn’t have a lot of clients yet gave me the opportunity to learn your point early in the game. because i had extra time, i would just chit-chat with prospects/clients because time was available. those early clients taught me that too many accountants they talked to didn’t ask questions, or didn’t ask the right questions.
just by way of example, an audit prospect (who became a client) actually told us, “you are the first firm we’ve talked to that asked us about our mission and what we’re trying to do.” another client said, “nobody else asked as many questions about what we do as you have.”
fortunately, this happened early in my firm’s existence because it indelibly left the message that clients are people who want you to be interested in them and in what they want to do, not just in what you want to do. we still mess up just like anyone else and don’t always remember it, but i appreciate those clients that pointed it out to us.