I have observed, 'Questioning skills' are one of the most underrated & often neglected skills in many organisations. Knowing what to ask, when & how to ask, can make or break a good customer relationship. If the sales person doesn’t know what questions to ask, his time with the customer is wasted. However, if you know the right question, but ask in a wrong way that’s irritating or confusing, you won’t get useful information may be next time you will not be welcome in customer's premises.

So how can one develop effective questioning skills? Here are 5 basic guidelines one can try to follow;

1: Never meet the customer without proper home work.
Before meeting, study to understand customer's business. Work on what you want to achieve at the end of meeting. If you have been working with him for a long time, check what has happened since you met him last time.

2: Don't rehearse the questions.
It is extremely irritating & looks amateur. It also makes it difficult for a natural conversation. Rather than learning questions by heart, prior to the meeting write down & remember key issues for which you want to seek answers.

3: Don't do interrogation.
The questioning should be natural & easy. Customers don’t like to be a subject of an interrogation.

4: Ask open-ended questions.
Ask questions with more of “How", Who ” or “Why…” Don’t worry about asking a question that is “too much open-ended.” If the question isn’t specific enough, the customer will surely ask for further clarification.

5:Listen more than you talk.
Need explanation?