If I'd Only Known...The Question is the Answer!

"How are you?"
"Company Y, how may I direct your call?"
"Are you finding everything ok?"
"Have you been here before?"
"May I help you?"
"Is that all?"

These are all questions we hear daily and use ourselves. If you take a close look at the possible answers you will see that they do not help you establish a dialogue with the customer, and move him or her closer to satisfaction.

"How are you?" even if spoken cheerfully and in a friendly manner, invites the answer "fine". We know that customer service reps, sales persons, or other people we meet in the course of a business day don’t really want to know how we are. They ask this question in the hope of engaging you in a conversation that will lead to a sale, but the answer "fine" gives them no where to go next.

"How may I direct your call?" is simply expedient. It gets you connected to someone else, who may then ask you "how can I help you?" That’s two questions and an attitude that put the customer off, so you’re farther away from a dialogue, rather than closer.

"Are you finding everything ok?" allows for a "yes" or "no" answer. However, we hate to say "no"-it’s weak, makes us feel bad to admit, can be interpreted as ignorance or confusion or aimlessness. So we say "yes", and then what? The conversation ends before it even begins. If you then can’t find everything ok, you’re going to walk out, rather than admit it.

"Have you been here before?" also encourages a "yes" answer-we understand that if we say "no", we’ll get things explained to us, and that often doesn’t feel very good. So we say "yes", and then have to figure things out for ourselves. Perhaps we can, and then we get what we want. If we can’t then we risk getting nothing, or something less satisfactory than we really want.

On the other hand, the question "May I help you?" requires a "no" answer. If you say "yes", you’re admitting weakness, or feel you run the risk being sold something you don’t really want or need, or at a price that’s too high.

And the classic question as you’re leaving, "is that all?" requires us to say "yes". We don’t want to be vulnerable to being sold, or admit that we didn’t find everything, or risk being talked at for a long time, or something other unknown. So we buy what we’ve selected, and leave.

These are questions that ask your customer to analyze, speculate, or evaluate. The answers give you information that allows you to put the customer first. You can talk about the benefits of your products or services in the customer’s terms, rather than in your terms. And people are always thinking about themselves first!

Also, once a customer tells you how they are going to use their purchase, you can direct their attention to related items that provide benefits for the same or a similar purpose. Establish a dialogue with the customer, and move him or her closer to satisfaction.