As a business coach, I use a variety of tools and techniques to get the best results with my clients. One of those tools is the types of questions I ask. Here are three types that can be particularly useful in your discovery process.
1. Curiosity – Questions that lead to exploration, not just information.
Anybody can gather “information,” but the very best advisors ask questions that cause the client to engage in thoughtful self-reflection. For example, you could ask, “You just sold your business for life-changing money. Assuming you have 30 more healthy years to live, how do you envision using your money so you can look back 30 years from now and feel like you used that money wisely?” When you go beyond just getting information about “accounts and amounts,” all sorts of possibilities open up.
2. Clarification – Make sure you and your client are operating with a common understanding.
The same word or phrase can mean different things to different people in different contexts. I had a coaching call recently and my client said they wanted their culture to feel like a family. Well, “family” in a business setting could mean different things to different people. So, I asked, “Just so I’m clear, could you describe what you mean when you say ‘family culture’?’’ One key here is that you shouldn’t “define” what you are trying to clarify and then ask your client if your understanding is correct. It’s better to ask your client to further clarify so you don’t end up putting words in their mouth that they just agree to because it’s easy.
3. Intensity – Make sure you are clear on how strongly your client feels about something.
For example, early in my coaching engagements, I often ask my clients to write a short narrative that describes their vision for their life 3 – 5 years from now. After we discuss it, I then ask, “On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being over the moon, how compelling is the vision you just described?” One time when I asked that question, the client said, “Six.” Obviously, that was not what I was expecting. When I probed further, he said he wrote his vision based more on what the industry says he should be building in his business, instead of what he personally wanted to do. I asked him to recast his vision based on what HE wanted and ignore the “grow, grow, grow” that the industry promotes. Turns out he was happy with modest growth and maintaining a “less complicated” practice. Had I not asked the intensity question, we would have barreled ahead with a big growth plan that was destined to fail. Asking the “On a scale of 1 to 10 …” question yields a goldmine of value and helps you prioritize what’s most important to your client.
By using these three types of questions more often, you’ll reduce or eliminate miscommunication with your clients and prospects and end up with deeper, richer relationships.
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