Questioning

Techniques
Questioning techniques

In that last video we learned that questions can be neatly divided into two clearly
distinct types, and each type has its own strengths in a sales or persuading’
situation – Open questions and Closed questions.

Open Questions are those that cannot be answered with a simple Yes or No.

Closed questions are the ones that prompt a yes/ no answer.

Listen/talk ratio

In a previous session I showed you why roughly two thirds of the call should be
devoted to LISTENING, and one third to TALKING – something most salespeople find
incredibly difficult do.

But, how on earth, for example, under the pressure of a face-to-face call can you
AUTOMATICALLY achieve the two-to-one ratio?

Using closed questions would be a mistake:

Question:
“Do you find your current website is difficult to navigate?” (10 words)
Answer:
“Yes” (one word)

Question:
“Are you looking for a full service agency that could do all your branding, messaging
and design as a one-stop-shop?” (22 words)

Answer:
“No” (one word)
You see, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to achieve a 2:1 ration with yes-no type closed
questions.

I love Open questions.

As well as getting the listen/talk ratio right, open questions invite a descriptive, a
much fuller response.

Let’s suppose you ask me the closed question: “Did you have good weather on
holiday?” - “Yes”
ALL you have learned is that I thought it was good.

If, however, you had asked an open question: “What was the weather like on
holiday?”
My answer might be:
“It was great. Best snow ever for skiing” – Ah, so Len Smith’s into skiing!

It might have been:

“It was good. Steady breeze without being blustery; lots of thermals – fantastic for
wind surfing.”

You get the point.

 They encourage conversation (helping us achieve the 2:1 listen/talk ratio)
 People volunteer extra information you may never have got round to asking about
- “And our other division has exactly the same problem” (Blimey, they’ve got more
than one division – more projects for me perhaps)
 They will give you opinions and feelings. “But I REALLY don’t like animations or
cartoons on websites. I much prefer a corporate look-and-feel””
  They get people to recognize the extent of their problems (to which, of course, you
have the solution). “
“I wonder what would happen if your customers complained even more?”
 They gain time - time to think

Listen to good TV interviewers and they will make extensive use of Open Questions
early on in the interview. Just like sales people.

A neat trick is to get prospects to ask you open questions. This then gives you the
floor, to talk about what you want. The way to achieve this is to intrigue them with
an incomplete story or benefit.

Aren’t Open Questions just fantastic?

Closed questions

So, does the poor old Closed question - those that prompt a yes or no - have any role at
all?
You bet it does

 They’re a good way of opening a conversation – the social niceties - it makes it easy
for the prospect to answer, and doesn't force them to reveal too much about
themselves early on. “What super offices - have you been here long?”
 For testing understanding (asking yes/no questions) "So, you want completion
before the new tax year?"
 For setting up a desired positive or negative frame-of-mind (asking successive
questions with obvious answers either yes or no). “Are you happy with your current
supplier?”
 They are very much to the point, so they are used when a customer is being evasive
(again, listen to experienced TV interviewers confronting politicians).
 AND - they’re used to put the other person on the spot. No equivocation. For
example, the most important question of all – the closing question: “So that seems
to have covered everything. Will you go ahead?”
Sorting the Open from the Closed

That’s all very well, you might be thinking, but how on earth - under pressure -
can I easily keep coming up, open question, followed by open question. I’ll be so
busy constructing my questions, I’ll lose thread of the conversation.

Not at all. Simply ask questions that begin with Why? How? And What?

“WHY are you planning to change your IT platform?” – open question

“HOW do you intend to launch your new product?” – open question
“WHAT is your preferred approach to generating sales leads?” – open question

Time for homework. I want you, over the next week, to consciously ask open questions of
everyone you meet – at work, at the gym, at home. Make it habit!