Good Questions Inform, Great Questions Trasform
“Questions are the keys to unlocking life’s most important answers.” The problem is that the “average person by the time they reach 8th grade only asks 2-3 questions per day.” We need to ask more questions. Ken Coleman is a radio show host and author of One Question.
Asking Great Questions Gets Results
They reveal what we don’t know, they get to the heart of the matter and questions transform the way we think. While all of this seems obvious, I would ask you to really consider whether or not you ask enough questions. The adage that God gave you one mouth and two ears for a reason is well put. As sales people, most of us don’t spend enough time listening, we fall into the trap of feature and benefit dumping. We want people to know how much we know rather than finding out what they need. My sales career was completely transformed by Todd Duncan’s book, High Trust Selling. I learned how to ask questions and keep my mouth shut. It is a powerful discovery tool that allows you to connect your value to the true needs of your prospect.
A Culture of Curiosity Wins
I have a six year old daughter. She asks me no less than 30 questions per hour. The other day I said I didn’t know the answer to a question and she ran to grab my iPad. She handed it to me, “lets ask Mr. Google.” This happened the day before I saw Ken’s presentation. According to Ken, we lose that fire to learn around the 8th grade. But as adults, if we ask the right questions, we can breed a culture of curiosity in our business that helps people improve dramatically.
I don’t know about you, but I have been stopped in my tracks several times by great team members asking tough questions a about process and procedure. My ego wants to protect my ideas, but alas, I am not always right. Empowering the team to ask good questions helps me clarify my thinking leads to better results. Even though occasionally, I need to let go of something I thought was important.
What is your favorite question during the sales process?