Saturday, January 21, 2012

Asking Questions – Key to Business Success

“We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species.” - Desmond Morris (b. 1928), British anthropologist.

Ask and you shall receive says the Bible. Ask, and every human being has been conditioned to do what they are asked to do, say the psychologists. Ask, and according to the law of averages, you'll get enough "yes’s" to guarantee your success, say the sales managers.

Ask people any sensible, relevant question, for their opinion, advice, for a favor or anything that will enable you to meet them; then make sure they know who you are, and maintain your contact so they remember you. Ask "How can we do this better?" Ask "How can we do more?" Ask "How can we serve our clients better?" If you don't have answers to these questions, find someone who does and ask them.

Asking is the quickest, easiest and surest ways to get people to do what you want them to do.
Why does this work? Why do people tend to do what you ask them to do? Why is it that people who have no interest in you use their time and energy to furnish you with information just because you asked them for it? Because people are conditioned from childhood to respond to polite questions. If you ask intelligent questions with impact, almost everyone will answer you.

The other significant reason to ask good questions is to help the person you are asking. Asking well-crafted, intelligent questions causes people to think profoundly. When someone thinks more deeply than before, new ideas, new answers and new possibilities emerge.

Asking appropriate questions of people is like holding up a mirror to theiractions and decisions so they can see for themselves whether it is the right thing to do.

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