Questioning and Listening
Why do we need questioning and listening?
- What type of questions a salesman needs to ‘unlock’ their customer.
- How they are used?
- How a perfect conversation works?
- Some watch outs.
- Viral question planning.
- Using questioning and listening to build a platform.
Types of questions
Open questions are designed to get information.
They help you to get the other person to talk.
Any question which gets lots of information back and the other party talking is classified as an Open Question
Open Questions – how to remember them
Think of 5 naked rugby players sitting on a set of rugby posts –
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
Who?
The posts make the H of How?
Probing questions are designed to get details.
You may need to deploy more than one to ensure you have enough details to work with.
Any question which seeks details from the other person is classified as a Probing Question
Probing questions are designed to get details.
Like a squirrel you might need to really go looking for the information you need.
Children are good at this … looking for the reason…
The nugget of useful information
They use a technique called the 5 Why’s
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
When Probing – sometimes you ‘feel’ the other person evading your question and you ‘Jump out’ of the funnel – this creates a Next Logical Question NLQ or Next Natural Question NNQ
This is vital information you might need to fully understand the other person and if you miss the NLQ – it is lost forever.
It is much easier to see NLQ’s when you are not under pressure listening, the more relaxed you are the better you listen.
Listening takes practice, you need a good attitude to WANT to listen.
Rhetorical questions are designed to check understanding.
- The air has moved as you spoke
- It has gone into my head via my ears
- I have assessed it against other stuff I have experienced in the past
- This is what I think you mean
- Am I correct?
Rhetorical questions are wonderful – because they show you are listening
They show you are trying to understand
They give you time to think and to watch the other persons reaction … you can think 8 times faster than you talk!
Plus if you get it wrong the other party will correct you with no animosity.
Closed questions are designed as a full stop.
To bring the current area of discussion to a close.
Any question which has a short ‘one word’ answer from the other person is classified as a Closed Question
So a conversation might go as follows Open:Probe;Probe;Rhetorical;Closed
Person 1
Where did you go on holiday? (OPEN QUESTION)
Person 2 Africa
Not enough information
Person 1
Where in Africa did you go? (PROBING QUESTION)
Person 2 Kenya
Still not enough information… I need a better question…
Person 1
What was the best bit of your trip to Africa? (PROBING QUESTION)
Person 2 Well, the best bit was when we took a trip in a hot air balloon and we saw all the animals cross the plain and then go down into the river – across the river and past the waiting crocodiles, they climbed up the other side and continued there journey across the plain.
Person 1
So what you are telling me is that the best bit of your trip to Africa was when you… took the trip by
hot air balloon and saw all the animals cross the plain and the river – past the crocodiles, before
continuing their journey across the plain once more. (RHETORICAL QUESTION)
Person 2 Correct
Person 1
Would you go to Africa again? (CLOSED QUESTION)
Person 2 Yes I would
Questions and The salesman’s Dilemma
A good salesman gathers information until they get a link in the information to the product they want to sell then they POUNCE
The other person ‘feels’ the change and will view you as an opportunist who is looking after himself!
A world class salesperson will carry on gathering information without showing that a link has been spotted to his product, at some stage the World class salesman will offer to help the other person by solving a pressing issue and at the same time – as if by chance, the solution will also include the purchase of his product.
This person will see you as trying to help them, rather than sell your product to them.
Questions and viral planning
We have discussed in other ‘Blueprint skill shots’ the importance of planning for the world class salesman. Planning is where we look for the viral questions which will help us to uncover the needs which we can satisfy. Now we understand the 4 types of questions – let’s understand how we use viral question planning to help.
Viral questions revolve around the central need.
We prepare questions which allude to the needs associated with our product – but never mention it.
We have discussed in other ‘Blueprint skill shots’ the importance for the world class salesman of linking features to benefits
If you would like to find out how a world class salesman would use these features to get a sale – visit
Blueprint Skill Shot – Features to Benefits
Features of a:-
Satellite navigation system’
Compact
Updatable
Measures ETA [estimated time of arrival]
Post code driven
Favourites
Places of interest
Take on foot
Sound on or off
Any vehicle
Can be lent to others
We have a satellite navigation system to sell:
Areas to explore:
Do you work in an office?
If they travel around – discuss where they go, how often, do they go to new places, how do they find them, do they ever get lost
Do you play sport?
If they do, what sort of sport, do they play for a team, do they have away fixtures, how do they know where to go, are they ever late, how does that make them feel, how about their team mates?
Do you have children?
Do they go to visit friends, who takes them, who collects them, how do you know where their house is, how do you find it, what happens if you can’t how do you feel?
What do you do in your spare time?
Sport, visit, travel on holiday –how do they pick destinations, how do you find your way, do you ever get lost, what happens if you are late, how do you feel
How busy is your work day?
Do you have timed meetings, how do you judge traffic, how do you know what time you will arrive, what is acceptable late, how do you feel if someone is late for you, how do you feel if you are late, any really bad examples?
Reasons for ineffective listening:
Lack of Attention
Distraction
Arrogance
Wishful thinking
Fear
Being Closed Minded
Too busy Talking
Active Listening Skills
Listen to learn something, not to contradict something
Maintain eye contact, to show you’re listening, ask pertinent questions where appropriate.
Take notes, if appropriate
Look for important statements in what the person is saying
Play back what you have heard to ensure that you have got the key points
and remember….
…there is always MoreThan1Answer…