Do You Ask Your Customers Good Questions?

January 17, 2022
Executive Coaching

Imagine a psychiatrist who comes into the exam room and starts talking about what she or he thinks you have before they ask any questions. They don’t allow you to speak. They just keep asking question after question to try to get to the root of the matter.


Crazy, right? Yet that’s what we do sometimes with our customers or potential customers. We just start talking or (worse yet) begin a pitch for a product or service before we ever see how things are going for the person we’re talking to.


In those cases we really aren’t the best representatives of our organizations. We’re just product pitchers—throwing out ideas, hoping that one will stick. That’s called the “spaghetti method”. Let’s throw it on the wall and see if it sticks.


Maybe some of you have a product or service that sells itself, but most of us need to do a little work by asking really good questions before we can fit a product or service to that individual.


The best salespeople (which is what we are in this situation) are the ones that do it like a psychiatrist. They let the person speak and sometimes even discover what they need on their own.


Think about it. The psychiatrist has had training so that that s/he will have an answer for what the person is facing. Of course, doctors have had a lot of training and have been interns— working with other doctors until they become proficient enough to do it on their own.


So mark today as the day that you start your “question asking” in a more formal way. Practice asking only the best questions so that you know what product or service will match the customer’s need.


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Dan Chiodo

Passion. Charisma. Results. It’s those values and a desire to see others achieve them for themselves that led Dan to found iMPACT Training & Development, a firm which offers training to guide individuals into a higher level of performance through executive coaching, motivational speaking, staff training and organizational development.

CERTIFIED COACH

As a Certified Mastermind Executive Coach, Dan teaches courses in leadership development, communication, sales, customer service and time management, with a focus on hands-on learning strategies.

AUTHOR: PerfectTIMING

Dan’s experience and interest in time management led to writing his book PerfectTIMING which is available on his website, as well as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other books stores.

COMMUNICATION TRAINER

Dan also serves as the Senior Associate to Dr. Bill Wallisch, founder of MAIN Point, which is a communications firm that specializes in strategic communication skills for organizations worldwide. Clients include astronauts and cosmonauts of NASA, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, General Mills and the White House. MAINPoint also prepares well-known personalities for appearances on national television programs, such as Today, Nightline, Good Morning America and Meet the Press.

EXPERIENCE

Dan spent a great part of his career in the communications field, having served more than ten years as the President & Publisher of the Joplin (MO) Globe, which is one of the largest newspapers in Community Newspaper Holding’s (CNHI) groups of newspapers in the U.S.

Prior to that, Dan held several management positions with Ottaway Newspapers, the community newspaper division of Dow Jones, Inc. He has also worked at communications companies in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Minnesota and Missouri.

ACCREDITATION

Dan graduated from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. He also attended the American Press Institute, Reston, Va., the management studies program at Kellogg University, Chicago, Ill., and Leaderpoint Management Development Institute, Overland Park, Ks. He also taught at the Bloomsburg Journalism Institute, Bloomsburg, Penn., and at Ashland Community College, Ashland, Ky. Dan was an instructor for the Xerox Professional Selling Skills program and administrated it for several Ottaway newspapers.

INTERNATIONAL WORK

Dan’s assignments have taken him to countries such as Mexico, Panama, Australia, the UK and Dubai. He has also taught in the U.S. for companies such as General Mills, Nestle, Medtronic, Knutson Construction, the State of Missouri and Freeman Health System hospitals.

JOHN MAXWELL TRAINING

Dan is also on the John Maxwell Team of instructors and coaches, working with John to offer his courses throughout the country.


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