The Art and Science of Asking Powerful Questions

158217439Next time someone asks you to repeat a question, count the number of words. Chances are it was more than ten. I’ve often noticed this happening with salespeople and recruiters talking with clients and candidates and executives speaking with members of their team. What’s the issue? Our brains process questions of less than ten words much more effectively than those that exceed ten.

Each time we pose a question of more than ten words, the listener spends more time focusing on the question and less on their answer. Even if they don’t ask you to repeat the question, which often happens, he or she is still too focused on your question.

Questions using 10 words or less are understood more quickly and answered more thoroughly. This generates lots of details, a richer conversation, and even more buy-in.

PREMIUM CONTENT: 2013 Staffing Mergers and Acquisitions Activity and Multiples

Our Sales Mantra in Sales Yoga reminds us to:

Say little, ask a lot.

As we ask lots of questions to understand the thoughts and needs of those around us, it benefits everyone if we use less words in questions, prompting the listener to give lots of details.

MORE: Where have all the salespeople gone?

Scott Wintrip

Scott Wintrip
Scott Wintrip is the president of the Wintrip Consulting Group. He was named to the Staffing 100 by Staffing Industry Analysts in 2011-2016 and was among the first class of the Staffing 100 Hall of Fame in 2017. He can be reached at scott (at) ScottWintrip (dot) com.

Scott Wintrip

Share This Post

Tweet

Related Articles

Powered by staffingindustry.com ·