THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN BY
CHRISTINE CORELLI ABOUT HARLEY DAVIDSON
The Motorcycle Diaries
Building Strength from the Inside Out
Asking for input from your employees and improving morale is vital to your company’s success. Unfortunately, many employees have learned to keep their thoughts, ideas, and concerns to themselves because they fear repercussions. Therefore, you must ask them direct questions. Smart business leaders regularly ask employees for suggestions and comments using questions such as:
* “What complaints do you hear most often?”
* “What more can we do to improve service and demonstrate we are truly a customer-focused company?”
One of the most direct questions you should ask on a regular basis to uncover problems within your company or with customers is “Is there anything you believe I should know about?” The answers could surprise you and help avert a potentially damaging situation.
Active Listening for Sales Success
Nowhere is the art of great questioning more crucial than in sales. Recall a lesson from Sales 101: “Mediocre sales people talk when they should be listening and listening is a function of asking.” Superior sales pros ask questions to get the customer to talk. You’ll never listen yourself out of a sale—but you have to ask questions first.
Top sales pros create and memorize a matrix of great questions to ask customers and prospects:
* “What do you want to accomplish?”
* “What can I show you today?”
* “What are you using now?”
* “What are some problems you’ve had with your equipment in the past?”
* “What questions or concerns do you have?”
* “Have I answered all of your questions?”
* “Would you like a demo?”
* “How’s that big project going for you?”
* “Would you like us to come out to your job site?”
* “What would be most convenient for you?”
These are just a few samples of questions that apply to almost any sales situation. They may seem obvious, but they work. Develop your own great questions, analyze what works, and memorize them to use in various scenarios.
Asking questions helps you to learn about your level of service, build strong customer relationships, and establish higher levels of customer loyalty.
Ask Questions the Right Way
Sometimes how you ask a question can be as important as what you ask. Below are some tips to apply when you are asking questions.
Always ask a direct question. Most of the time it is better to be direct to receive the appropriate answer. This is especially true when you are interacting with a passive person or making an effort to resolve conflict. Questions, such as “John, what are your thoughts and opinions?” “Joe, I’m sensing you are not happy. What’s bothering you?” or “Joe, I know we don’t always see eye to eye, and we’ve even butted heads a few times. What can I do to straighten things out with you?” will go a long way to getting a response you can act upon. And if you ask in a quiet voice and sincere manner, it will show the person you care.
* “What do you like about our company?”
* “What can we do better?”
* “How can we streamline what we do to eliminate red tape and keep you and our customers happy?”
* “What might be preventing you from performing your job more effectively?”
* “What can I do to help you enjoy your job and make sure you and our customers feel like family?
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I found this article posted on the Mytee Forum at http://www.mytee.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2