You'd be forgiven for thinking that this has something to do with attending job interviews. Well, recruitment and HR services aren't our core business so no danger there. Today's post is about wording questions effectively and asking those questions at relevant moments.

If knowledge is power then the more you know about your current customers and clients as well as potential customers and clients can go a very long way to building profitable relationships. Generally, people are more open to answering some questions they feel capable and qualified to respond to than being put on the spot in a cold call situation. Greater numbers of people will answer a quiz or a survey than take a cold call; still a cold call comes in handy when you've already been in touch about the quiz or questionnaire and gotten no response.

The first thing to agree is the number of questions and the time you expect it will take. To begin with, choose questions that reflect your customers' greatest areas of concern and tackle subjects upon which they will be happy to give their opinion. Next, construct questions around the issues your particular product or service can help people resolve. Then, introduce questions about what they'd prefer to change or to experience most in their professional lives. These preferences can be based around time, money and labour saving of course, still, let’s not forget that how the person wants to feel or be perceived should be taken into consideration as well.

Finally, get permission from your customers and clients to carry out the interview, setting a date and a time for it and confirming it by email. You may want to make sure there is something in it for them: although you're under no obligation to do so, you may find that your customers, clients and prospects would like their answers to your questions to form the basis of a case study that you feature on your website and link back to theirs, or maybe they'd be happier to get 10% off the price of one of the products or services you offer. What you offer by way of thanking them is up to you, as long as it's affordable for you and perceived to be of genuine value by them.

And, if you're unsure about what to offer, guess what? You can always ask them!

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photo credit: ahisgett