When my daughter
was grade school-aged, she was able to trash her bedroom faster
than a tornado. Encountering the chaos the one day, exasperated by the
piles of books, clothes, and other unidentifiable objects that looked
like food scraps, I asked her, "Do you want me to come in here and
throw away everything I find on the floor?"
"No, Dad," she
whispered while pleading with her gorgeous blue eyes.
Well, what did I expect
her to say?
"Sure Dad, throw away
everything you can find."
Then I thought about
the other inane questions I, and other parents, have asked kids:
"Do you want to go to
your room?"
"Do you want to lose
your computer privilege?"
"How many times do I
have to tell you not to do that?"
I guess I should have
followed the same guidelines at home regarding questioning as I do on
the phone:
The quality of your
answer is in direct correlation to the quality of your question. Ask a
dumb question, get a similar-quality answer.
For example, consider
the go-nowhere questions employed by some sales reps:
"Do you have any
questions?"
"Do you have any
needs?"
"What do you look for
in a service?"
"Do you need anything
else?"
"So is everything going
OK with the company you’re buying from now?"
All of those virtually
assure a negative response. Selling is tough enough as is, don’t make
it more difficult.
Here are the same
questions, with more productive alternatives.
Instead of, "Do you
have any questions?", try,
"What were your
thoughts about the performance figures in the brochure?"
"As you read the
proposal, which area did you spend the most time on?"
In place of, "Do you
have any needs?", consider,
"What are your
expansion and equipment plans for the next six months?"
"Which areas have
you targeted for an increase in productivity?"
Instead of, "What do
you look for in a service?", use,
"What are the three
main criteria you used when you selected your existing vendor?
Which one did you place the most emphasis on?"
"What specifically
will you base your decision on?"
Don't use, "Do you
need anything else?" Try,
"Many customers who
order the _____ also get some_____ to go with it. Would you like
one also?"
Avoid, "So is
everything going OK with the company you’re buying from now?" In
its place try,
"How do you handle
it when (fill in the blank
with a problem they might experience with the vendor, based on
your knowledge of them.)
For example,
"What do you do
when you have special orders you need with less than a week’s
notice?"
Ask a vague question, get an equally vague (and
worthless) answer. Be specific, be prepared, and your questions will
reward you accordingly.
