Getting To “Yes”: Asking The Right Questions
New Year's resolutions are often a waste of time. They seem like great ideas, but almost never achieve their goals. At the very least, you stop yourself from making your New Year's resolution in January. But what if there were a different way? What if you could find out the right questions to ask someone before they answered "yes"?
This is not just a hypothetical question anymore! This blog post will give you some of the most important questions to ask before accepting an invitation or volunteering into something new and exciting.
To set the stage, we need a little background. I work at a marketing company in Minneapolis called Sierra Bravo. We help new and growing companies get found online by potential customers like you.
Not long ago, we extended an invitation to an individual named "Jim". Jim was into some pretty cool stuff, but always wanted to learn more and get better at it. He then responded to our invitation with: "Yes! Let's make it happen."
If only Jim had asked us some important questions, before he accepted our invitation. If only he knew as much about us as we knew about him. It's a very simple transaction, but Jim was about to make an expensive mistake.
A few months back, our Marketing Director asked me if I wanted a free membership to a local course in Internet Marketing. I said yes! But what I should have done is to download this FREE EBOOK FIRST (Link below) before I gave my "yes" answer.
But… why wouldn't Jim ask us questions? Why wouldn't he take his time and do his research? At first, we thought it might be because he had only just discovered us and wanted to act fast.
But then we realized that Jim had actually sought out our website and read our blog posts, before he tried to sell himself to us. He must have been doing his research ahead of time!
Jim may not have asked us these questions in the way that I described above. But if he had, it just might have saved him from making some money from us!
So what are some of the important questions Jim should have been asking? Here's a list of 10 questions that you need to ask before you say "yes" to any new opportunity:
1) What are you selling? Seriously, this is the most important question you can ask.
It's the foundation for all of the other questions. We had explained a bunch of things that we do well on our website and even in person, but Jim still was not sure. The result? He told us he was going to use our services to set up his new website… which he still had not created!
A far better result would have been if Jim had asked: "How can you help me get found online?" That's the question I would ask if I wanted you to sell me your services! It'll tell you exactly what they are selling and how they are selling it. And there will be no confusion about what is being offered on both sides of the table.
The answers to this question may vary depending on whom you're talking to. For example, here's what I ask Sierra Bravo: I want more clients and a better website. Sierra Bravo gives me both of those things.
But if you're talking to a plumber, he might say: "I want to ensure that my customers' toilets get fixed quickly, quietly and affordably." You can see the difference, right? The results may be the same on both sides of the table but how we get there is very different.
The result of asking this question is that it defines what everyone wants out of the transaction. This will prevent misunderstandings and miscommunications down the road if you stick with your agreement…. it's a win-win.
2) How much is this going to cost?
This is the second most important question to ask. If you don't get a price, then it's not really a price. It's just an answer to (1) if you didn't ask it correctly. But, even if you do ask the right way and get a price, there is still something else missing…it doesn't tell you what exactly you're getting for that money!
It seems like such a simple and natural question to ask but it's rarely asked during the transaction process. For example, when going out to dinner, you don't ask the waiter if he or she will let you pay later. You just order off the menu and hope that the bill is reasonable enough!
Here's a list of 7 yes/no questions to ask before giving a yes "yes" answer:
3) How long will this take?
This is another easy one to ask. It really depends on what you're selling. If it's time and effort, then give a specific date as to how long it will take. If it's something that has great results right now, then give an answer like: "It'll take at least a month" or "I can do this in an hour. I can finish this by tomorrow."
4) How will you do this?
Just like the tv show Mythbusters, you have to know that something works before you try it on your own! If what you're sold is dependent on another thing or if an important skill makes the difference, then be sure to ask what's really involved. One of our clients, for example, had a lot of trouble with a particular campaign because we were using Adwords and he was only using traditional print advertising. This caused us to fail quite miserably in trying to get his new business up and running.
5) What is the success rate like for your product?
How many of your clients or customers actually end up as brand new clients? How often does that happen in a month? A year? Does it even matter for you if all your customers sign up for extended, affordable packages or not?
6) Is there anything I need to do to get started with this (product)?
If you're selling something out of the blue, then you might want to add a few extras. If the answer is yes and they don't require any effort, then skip over this question because it's just asking for more money. But if you're selling a service or something that requires some investment, then be sure to ask for details. If you skip this question, then you could be setting yourself up for nearly unlimited headaches down the road.
7) Can I get your brochure now?
This is one of my favorite questions that needs to be asked all the time. If I'm just looking at an ad to buy something and there's no hope of ever seeing that ad again, then I won't ask for a brochure. That's why Joe's Fitness has no sales staff and they rely on internet marketing alone.