Photo: Contributed - (Flickr user, valeriebb)

If you’ve ever hung up, or walked away from a conversation and not had a clear understanding of what should happen next, you may be a victim of ‘incomplete questions’. Too often customer care providers have ‘head trash’ around asking all the questions required to really help the customer. Often they feel their questions may be intrusive, or they are bothering the customer with too many questions. Or they may feel that the customer will become defensive, or uncomfortable if they ask more questions. Or, that the customer’s time is being wasted.

More often than not, these thoughts are only in the mind of the customer care provider, not the customer. As long as customers understand the reasons for the questions (i.e. to save time later on; to ensure we get your order right; so we don’t have to have a follow up conversation) the customer is happy to answer all your questions. In fact, well thought out questions can actually help customers to crystallize their thinking and understand their needs better themselves. If you picture your customers’ needs as buried treasure, we sometimes have to dig a little deeper to really understand those needs. Questions are the way we engage our customers, explore their needs, get the information we need to meet those needs, and continue to grow strong relationships.  

Reprinted from The President’s Club Report, © Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2011 Sandler Training and Insight Sales Consulting Inc. All rights reserved.

John Glennon is the owner of Insight Sales Consulting Inc, the authorized Sandler Training Licensee for the Interior of British Columbia. He can be reached at jglennon@sandler.com or toll free at 1-866-645-2047.