The Power of Questions

A man went into a lawyer's office and demanded to see the lawyer. He was quickly escorted into the lawyer's office. The man needed legal help, but he knew how expensive lawyers could be, so he asked "Can you tell me how much you charge?"

"Of course", the lawyer replied, "I charge $500 to answer three questions."

"Don't you think that's an awful lot of money to answer three questions?" the man asked.

"Yes it is", answered the lawyer, "What's your third question?"

Have you considered lately how powerful questions really are? Let's take a closer look at the crown jewel of communication. This little beauty is often overlooked because we don't realize the dynamite we hold in our hands.

When someone asks you a question, what is your reaction?

I need to think about that
I'm flattered that they asked
The attention is focused on me
Finally, someone wants to know what I think!

Have you ever been white-water rafting? If you visit an outfitter at the New River in West Virginia, you will be put into a raft with 7-8 other people along with an experienced river guide. If it is a raft where you are being counted on for paddle power, the first thing the guide instructs you to do before you get too far from the shore is to learn how to paddle together and therefore control the speed of the raft.

Although it's a simple idea, your safety depends on how well you learn how to execute the idea. Besides learning how to move the raft backward and forward, you are taught how to paddle as a team in order to make the raft gain speed. Your guide will repeatedly drill into you and your raft mates three important pieces of information:

1. If your raft is going slower than the river, the river is in control of where your raft goes (not what you want).

2. If your raft is going the same speed as the river, the river is in control of where your raft goes (still a bad thing!).

3. However, if you can work with your raft mates and propel the raft to go faster than the river, you can then change the direction of the raft and your guide can captain you safely through the rapids.

In much the same way, you benefit from being able to control and direct the conversations in your life. Your appointment starts late and the customer says, "Quick! Tell me what you've got!" and that's the last place you want to start. Or, you're in a meeting that has gotten off track, and you wish you had a way to reestablish the direction of the conversation.

Here's the $1,000,000 Secret: The person that is asking questions is in control of the conversation. The most powerful thing you can do in any conversation is to ask meaningful questions. So you say to the customer, "I'd love to tell you what I've got, but first I need to ask you some questions to find out what you might want. Can you please tell me a little bit about __ ?"

Ask open-ended questions; questions that cannot be answered with a yes or a no. This accomplishes two things: it gets them talking and makes them feel that you care about them enough to ask. People love to have someone ask them what they think; they are flattered and will often open up their head and heart to you. It is always the best way to begin building a great relationship with someone new.

Customers initially do not care about you, your product, or your opinions. They only care about what you have if it can help them solve problems or create results they desire. That is why questions are so important: their answers give you the information you need to help them (and sell them!). Only after you show a customer how much you care, do they care how much you know.

By asking meaningful questions, your customers will tell you everything you need to determine:

What they are really interested in

Whether they qualify as a customer

Whether they can buy from you today and on what terms

By asking the right questions, people will give you the information you need to make a new sale or a new friend. Now, isn't that what you really want?

Listen to an interview with Jeff HERE.