You probably know that you should be asking open questions to uncover information in a sales call, but what exactly are open questions?
Simply, they encourage people to talk and, as the great Rudyard Kipling demonstrates, they tend to start with:
What
Why
When
How
Where
Who
So next time you want to encourage someone to talk, maybe you should look to literature to sort you out!!!
I reproduce the poem in full below, as we don’t often get to read the whole thing.
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.
I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small—
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!
She sends’em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes—
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!
The Elephant’s Child
Happy selling!
Open questions and how to use them
