How open-ended questions can boost your relationship building capabilities
Open-ended questions give the opportunity for people to express an opinion and interact with you. Open-ended questions do not usually elicit a yes/no answer. They allow people to be more vocal and verbal in their responses.
When creating your open-ended questions, try not to make your client feel as if they are in the dock. Make the questions interactive, constructive and conducive to help gather information so you can suggest solutions to problems.
Having created your own set of open ended questions remember, these are merely the levers to dig deeper with clients and prospects to gather information. Have auxiliary questions/statements ready such as:
- Go on
- Can you tell me a little more?
- How so?
- Continue on
- Is that all?
- Why..... ?
- When.... ?
- How...... ?
- What.... ?
- Who..... ?
- Where.... ?
It is amazing what you can discover from clients with these auxiliary type questions. They help draw out the facts and conditions that make it easier for you to provide answers, solutions and education.
Simple opening "open ended" questions
- What's the good news in your business/world since I saw you last?
- What advances have happened since we last met?
- What are you up to this weekend?
- How did your holiday to Fiji go?
- What is your major concern for the rest of the year/quarter/tax year
- What is your greatest challenge you face this year?
Influencing "open ended" questions
- Tell me about the specific problems you have been experiencing in (insert problem area)?
- What is causing you grief with this particular (insert service/product/situation/issue)?
- Give me a description of some of the solutions you have considered?
- What is the major stalling point to you moving forward?
- What goals and objectives do you have in general for this area?
- What do you want help with today, that I may be able to provide?
- What will make our meeting successful for you?
Defining actions "open ended" questions
- At present what won’t happen, that you want to happen?
- What have you been able to discover about the source of solutions that is standing in your way? Finance, Staff, Lack of time, Fear of failure, Technology, Reliable Suppliers, board issues, support professionals etc.
- When you overcome these challenges, what rewards will you get personally?
- When you overcome these challenges, what rewards will you get in a corporate sense?
- What happens if you don't provide solutions to these issues?
Just imagine "open ended" questions
- Just imagine if you were to wave a magic wand and your problems were solved. How would you feel? How would your shareholders feel? How would your board feel?
- Just imagine what are you want was "doable" within the following time frame (insert time frame say: months, years end year into the future), how would that affect your profitability?
- Just imagine that if all the options we have discussed that you chose one today, what do you reckon would be different if we were to begin now?
- Tell me what a successful start now would mean for you and the company?
Activity
How would you adapt these questions to suit your business or for your clients and prospects?
This article is reprinted with permission from Jim Prigg CEO and founder of Knowledgemaster International Pty Ltd. Knowledgemaster International Pty Ltd is an online resources company that delivers practical communications, interaction, sales and soft skills tips, tactics, techniques. Learn more about winning business programs by calling Jim Prigg on 0408 520 453.