Five Magic Questions For Consultants and Coaches
Outstanding consultants and coaches don't sell; they help their clients to make the best decisions for themselves. They gain their trust and add genuine value. Ask your clients the following five questions as soon as possible during the first consultation.
1. How can I help you? (In other words, what shall we talk about?)
Once asked, shut up and listen to your client’s response. Don’t interrupt, pay close attention to what they’re saying and how they’re saying it. Your first objective is to engage with your clients and build rapport. Let them know you are genuinely interested in fully understanding their needs by giving them your undivided attention before talking about or trying to sell your solutions.
Contrast this approach with self-centred laptop presentations, history of the company, case studies, CVs of all the key consultants, etc. that often characterise first meetings.
2. What works well already? (In other words, what success have you had in dealing with this problem?)
The rush to identify problems and solutions can show little respect for the progress a client has already made. By taking our time with this step, we build real rapport and trust (as opposed to superficial body-language stuff) and therefore we are more like to hear the real problems later. If writing a proposal, I suggest you add a section for this.
3. If there was one thing you could change, what would it be?
Take your time and allow them to think before answering. A minute of silence can feel like a hundred years, but if your client is the type who likes to carefully consider her or his answers before responding then a minute of your time is the least you can give. Our own unease with silence can very often lead us to jump in with another question before the client has had sufficient time to formulate an answer to the previous one. The underlying message they receive is that we are not truly interested in their responses and are racing to get the deal done. It is the end of any rapport and trust you may have built already.
If the client comes up with a list, coach them gently to get to the root problem. Too often we get so excited by the potential scope of the work that we gloss over this. This is where we help them to clarify where the real root of the pain lies. If they do the analysis, there is a much greater probability that they will accept a solution that they have played a part in developing.
4. If we solved this problem, what difference would that make?
This is where they come up with lots of benefits, and you write them all down - in their language. Feel free to repeat the question in several ways. Ask for the benefit of the benefit. Keep going until they cannot think of anything more. These are the reasons they will buy. (You might also choose to ask them what would happen if the problem was not solved. This is useful if you suspect you might have to help them overcome later indecision - the greatest scourge of corporate life today!)
5. If I could help you with that, would you be interested?
Either they are or they aren't. There is little point in spending time on a solution where there is not genuine interest.
These questions are but a starting point. Their value lies in enabling you to quickly establish trust, build rapport, and to identify and agree how you can help your clients to shine!
Outstanding consultants and coaches don't sell; they help their clients to make the best decisions for themselves. They gain their trust and add genuine value. Ask your clients the following five questions as soon as possible during the first consultation.
1. How can I help you? (In other words, what shall we talk about?)
Once asked, shut up and listen to your client’s response. Don’t interrupt, pay close attention to what they’re saying and how they’re saying it. Your first objective is to engage with your clients and build rapport. Let them know you are genuinely interested in fully understanding their needs by giving them your undivided attention before talking about or trying to sell your solutions.
Contrast this approach with self-centred laptop presentations, history of the company, case studies, CVs of all the key consultants, etc. that often characterise first meetings.
2. What works well already? (In other words, what success have you had in dealing with this problem?)
The rush to identify problems and solutions can show little respect for the progress a client has already made. By taking our time with this step, we build real rapport and trust (as opposed to superficial body-language stuff) and therefore we are more like to hear the real problems later. If writing a proposal, I suggest you add a section for this.
3. If there was one thing you could change, what would it be?
Take your time and allow them to think before answering. A minute of silence can feel like a hundred years, but if your client is the type who likes to carefully consider her or his answers before responding then a minute of your time is the least you can give. Our own unease with silence can very often lead us to jump in with another question before the client has had sufficient time to formulate an answer to the previous one. The underlying message they receive is that we are not truly interested in their responses and are racing to get the deal done. It is the end of any rapport and trust you may have built already.
If the client comes up with a list, coach them gently to get to the root problem. Too often we get so excited by the potential scope of the work that we gloss over this. This is where we help them to clarify where the real root of the pain lies. If they do the analysis, there is a much greater probability that they will accept a solution that they have played a part in developing.
4. If we solved this problem, what difference would that make?
This is where they come up with lots of benefits, and you write them all down - in their language. Feel free to repeat the question in several ways. Ask for the benefit of the benefit. Keep going until they cannot think of anything more. These are the reasons they will buy. (You might also choose to ask them what would happen if the problem was not solved. This is useful if you suspect you might have to help them overcome later indecision - the greatest scourge of corporate life today!)
5. If I could help you with that, would you be interested?
Either they are or they aren't. There is little point in spending time on a solution where there is not genuine interest.
These questions are but a starting point. Their value lies in enabling you to quickly establish trust, build rapport, and to identify and agree how you can help your clients to shine!
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