When you need to get information, you have to ask questions.
When you want to get sales, you have to ask questions.
Sometimes it is difficult to decide how to go about it, especially when you do not wish the other person to know why you need to know the answers.
There are basically 5 types of questions.
1.
Open question.
You can ask an open question to start a discussion.
One example of an open question is to find out what the other party thinks.
For example, "do you think the company will give out bonus this year?" is an open question.
You will get an opinion.
A most common open question is "how are you?" The answers vary.
This is the best way to start a conversation.
2.
Yes or no.
This is a kind of closed question.
Lawyers love to ask yes or no question in cross-examination.
For example, "do you know this person?" The witness can only say yes or no.
He cannot say maybe.
Some salesmen use this method to start a sales pitch.
An example is, "do you want to earn ten thousand dollars every month?" You will definitely say yes.
The following one will likely be, "Do you know how to earn ten thousand dollars every month?" Closed question becomes a leading question to arouse your curiosity.
3.
Fact-finding.
Bosses love to ask fact-finding question, such as, "what is the gross profit for this month?" The bosses expect you to give an exact figure.
4.
Follow-up question.
It usually happens in a sales follow-up.
The purpose is usually to build customer relationship.
5.
Seek feedback.
You will find this type of questions in many feedback forms, such as, "how do you rate our service?" You can choose the answer ranging from Excellent to poor.
In your daily conversations, you tend to use many different types of questions.
How to ask the right questions in any given situation is an art.