Question: What Makes a Good Question?

Written by Ryan Sarti

The quality of your result is directly proportional to the quality of conversations that you have. The quality of your conversations is directly proportional to the quality of questions that you ask. That applies not only to sales, but any part of business and life in general. So a good question to ask would be, “What makes a question a good question?” The answer is fairly simple. Good questions do more than gain the right information. Good questions also build bonding and rapport, and help reinforce trust.

There is more to what makes a question a good question. Here’s the key. Good questions are always asked for the prospects benefit, not yours. Of course, in the end, all questions are asked for your own benefit. But, they must be valuable and help the prospect, otherwise the questions will be perceived as being manipulative. When the questions are perceived as being manipulative, you lose rapport and the sale heads down hill.

Good questions help lead the prospect to the answer that makes the most sense. They also help the prospect actually make a decision one way or the other. Don’t be fooled, just asking for a decision may not be a good question. Here’s why.

A good question “If I can show you a way to save money, will you buy today?” That is a tired old, 1970s style decision question. It is too much of a trap. Today that style of question simply doesn’t work because it kills rapport and trust, not build it. Although some may think it leads the prospect to a decision, those tactics usually lead the prospect to a “NO.” If the sales rep hasn’t developed the problem and enough trust and rapport, the “will you buy today” approach only drives people away.

What makes the “If I do this will you buy” a bad question? Who is that question for? Is that for the prospect or the sales person? When a sales person asks a self serving question, the balance in the bonding and rapport account diminish. Trust decreases. Chances of getting the truth or a real answer also diminish.

When the question is asked for the prospects benefit, the reverse happens. Trust increases. Bonding and rapport improves and the chance of getting the truth is much better. “Are you the decision maker?” won’t smoke out the truth. What else would you expect people to say, but “Yes.”

Here is another way to get to the same piece of information. “You’ve been around here a long time and have some real knowledge of the inner workings of this company, how do decisions like this get made?”

What makes the second version a much better question? Painting the prospect as someone with a lot of savvy builds bonding and rapport and takes down the defenses rather than building them up.

Knowing when your prospect wants to buy is important. Even if you know how decisions get made doesn’t guarantee you know when they will decide. So, of course, you’ll need to completely understand the prospects motive. But for now lets assume you have motive.

How can you ask a good question about when a decision will be made? We know the “If I do this will you buy today?” is not the right approach. But what about something like this? “If you decided that we were the ones to do this for you, when would you like it done? While that is a little better, that question is still for the sales rep, not for the prospect.

Instead of one question, you’ll need a sequence of questions. It starts with the end in mind and moves backwards. It might go like this. “Let’s pretend this problem is big enough to solve and you want to do something. When would you like to be able to start measuring the results? To measure those results, when would you have to implement this? What is the process around here for getting something like this implemented? If you did implement this, how far in advance would you have to get this approved? Adding in the delivery times, when would it make sense for you to complete your decision process? As you think about the questions you ask, really examine if they are for you or for your prospect. If they are for your prospect you’ll build rapport and trust and get the information you need to prioritize your time and territory and focus your efforts on those who are going to decide and implement.

Ask self serving questions and you’ll serve yourself, not the prospect. Ask questions for the prospect and you’ll become a prospecting genius. And, you’ll serve up better results.

Ryan Sarti -
	Ryan Sarti creates tools that sales professionals and small business owners can use today to create remarkable results. For information on his books, articles, training, speaking, and performance management consulting, contact him at 312-543-6952 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Read More >>
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it