Open-ended questions are those questions that cannot be answered with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ response. These questions compel our listeners to share more. A seasoned conversationalist relies upon a blend of both closed questions and open-ended questions.
In order to develop an effective sales strategy, networking game and a negotiation script, open-ended questions play a significant role. These important aspects of the questions have been discussed below. The same understanding and intent can be applied while using open-ended questions in a discussion with family and friends.
The best way to know more about our customer/client or a peer in the same or another business is by asking him/her an open-ended question. The questions will work wonders and our listener will spill quite a few beans, when these questions are about matters closer to his/her heart. For example, a sales representative can ask a customer, or a businessman can pose a question to another businessman, ‘What motivated you to start this business?’ This query will definitely get the other talking for a long time. He/she will also inadvertently share some ‘black swans’ for the speaker to use for further discussion at that time or later. Such open-ended questions prove extremely beneficial during the initial ice-breaking stage of any and every interaction. As it is, information is influence.
The sales-person or the speaker should pay utmost attention to the replies to these open-ended questions. Genuinely engaging with the customer/ client through his/her responses and mirroring his/her responses (shared in a previous write-up), convey to the customer/ client, the good intentions and actual interest in his/her matters. This encourages him/her to lower the guards further and talk freely with the salesperson or the speaker. It is for this reason that a good salesperson does not speak much and more than the customer/ client. A good seller will always listen more, engage more with the customer and coax his/her customer to speak more.
Businessmen can employ the technique of mixing open-ended questions with closed questions while interviewing an applicant for a job. The next questions can come from his/her responses, and this can lend a clarity regarding the selection of the candidate.
Coming back to the effectiveness of open-ended discussions in sales, these questions can be posed dexterously towards the end of a negotiation talk to throw the ball in the customer’s/ client’s court when matters get heated up. For example, if a client/customer asks a salesperson to lower the price of a product/service beyond an acceptable level, the salesperson can turn matters upon the customer/client by simply asking, ‘How do you propose Sir/Ma’am that I get you a price lower than that offered by my organisation?’ Such open-ended questions compel the customer/ client to examine his/her own conduct and demand, and often times he/she fails to come up with a reasonable course of action. This also places onus on the customer/client to suggest a way to fulfill his/her demands during a sales talk.
Open-ended questions encourage our customers/clients to share more; they also prod a peer to talk more, and hence, should be used uninhibitedly during conversations, negotiations, sales talks and personal discussions. They guarantee faster and more successful results.
Watch a video on the concept here: