“You’ll never know unless you ask”. Perhaps you have heard that before. The truth to this statement and the answers you receive back are powerful. As children we ask so many “why” questions. Why is the sky blue? Where to babies come from? and many more. As adults we tend to ask less questions. Perhaps its the society we live in. Over the last decade we have been conditioned to feel normal going through a day with very little interaction with other people. You can go to the bank, post office, groceries and get you car washed on the way home with out talking to a single person. But is this good for us?
Asking Questions In Business
Job interviews are one of the most dreaded things for people. The idea of talking about yourself, ANSWERING questions and trying to convince the person on the other side of the table that you are worth not only their time but investment. What about your customers? (see what I did there, I asked a question) Do you ask them questions? You might be thinking, well that could be awkward, but is it?
Knowing where you customers come from and how they find you could be the secret to unlocking even more prospects where they came from. Of course if you leads are coming in from an online form it can be very to track where they found you. It is different if you have prospects that call into your business or even stop by, these are golden opportunities for insight.
What Questions Do I Ask?
When deciding about asking questions, you’ll want to keep them somewhat consistent and have all your employees aware. Location questions are always a good start, such as what is your zip code, or neighborhood. These help you understand how willing and far your customers are willing to travel. You can also ask if there have been here before, or where do they usually shop. This could help you separate a new customer verses a returning customer as well as potential competitors you might not be aware of. What brings you in today? is another good question. Are they responding to a coupon? Identifying what is working in bringing in new customers is important.
What To Do With Answers
Don’t forget the answers! You need to come up with a system to keeping track. If you keep individual records on your customers, then by all means add their answers to their customer record in your CRM software. Perhaps individual answers don’t matter as much to you as aggregate data. In this case we suggest you keep a daily log so that you can review at a later date. Advertising that you spend in the local newspaper or magazine, did it cause a bump in traffic or increased sales? Remember that asking questions isn’t weird, its the best way to learn. Once you get a customer, prospect or friend talking you might be surprised at what you learn and what they freely tell you.
