Open_And_Closed_Question_In_Sales_Call_&_Sales_Meeting

Open And Closed Question

Good listing skills lay the foundation for the rest of the sale. Question drive the two-way process of communication. They direct discussion to where you want it to go, keeping you in control.

The kinds of question you ask depend on the kind of information you require.

Specific information needs           -    specific question

General information needs          -     general question

Technical information needs        -    technical question

Positive information needs          -     positive question

Similarly:

Bad questions                 -       get bad answers

Confused questions      -         get confused answers

Problem questions        -       get problem answers

So, think type of question will give you the best information back and plan the question you will ask. A few well-chosen question, planned and prepared in advance, can make your selling much more efficient and effective. There are literally thousands of different types of questions. Outline over the following pages are some broad categories of question that are most commonly used.

Closed Question

Closed question have only a yes/no response. They are normally used to gain specific information about a customer’s situation, need or point of view. Closed question can also be used to direct and control a discussion. Be wary of using too many closed questions, as the customer will feel as if he/she is being interrogated.

Example of closed questions

Salesperson:      “Are you looking for a safe effective therapy for swine flu diseases?”

Customer:          “Yes”

Salesperson:     “can I presume that safety is a problem for you?”

Customer:        “yes”

Usually, if a customer is more open and his answers contain a lot of information, this is a good sign and shows that the customer is open to communicating. It is therefore generally preferable to use open-ended questions.

Open Question

Open question are designed to gain the maximum amount of information from a customer. Normally they are the most positive and productive types of questions and they must be carefully thought out. Generally speaking, open question are the “W” question: What, Where, When, Why, Who, and just to break the rule, How?

Be cautious when using open question as you can lose control of the call if you allow the customer to change the subject as the result of a badly phrased open question. A vague general question will get what it deserves – a vague general answer. And an open question that is highly detailed and technical will get a highly detailed and technical answer.

To control this, the salesperson can very the information within the question itself to help guide the responder to an appropriate answer. Think of the information that you want to gain and adapt your question accordingly.

To illustrate, the following question are arranged in order of generality, depending on the information content.

“What type of antibiotic do you use?”       information = Low
                                                                          generality = high

“What type of first amoxicillin do you use?” information = medium
                                                               Generality = medium

“What price range of therapy  are you looking for?”       
                                                                   information = high 
                                                                   Generality = low

LEADING QUESTION

These questions are highly directive and let the customer know what type of answer the questioner would like. They can be used to clarify situations and check opinions and very often start along the lines of: “Don’t you think if would be best if…” or “Do you agree that…”

Within the body of the question, the answer is either heavily implied or in some cases given outright. Beware that these types of question can seem to be highly manipulative and may backfire. However, they can used to great effect at the close of a sale to assume the customer has bought and to let him know he has bought.

Give examples of leading questions you have used in your everyday sales situation in our comment box or feedback form.

MULTIPLE QUESTIONS

This is a whole stream of questions following directly on one another that leave the customer confused. Using multiple questions is potentially dangerous because if the customer is confused he will interpret and priorities what he thought he heard and respond accordingly. This leads to the salesperson becoming confused and the whole communication process breaks down. Avoid these types of question unless you aim is to confuse and frustrate your customer.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

As their name suggest, these questions offer the customer a number of choice. Obvious advantage are that these questions are highly directive, and the level of control is high. However they are from of closed question and can have same potential disadvantages.

PERSONALITY STYLES AND QUESTIONING

Different kinds of people respond differently kinds of questions and customers are no exception.

THINKERS Respond to: Open questions Tolerate: closed questions Dislike: visualizing questions	AUTHORITARIAN TYPES Respond to: Open questions Tolerate: closed questions Dislike: visualizing questions
AFFILIATIONS Respond to: Open and visualizing question Dislike: closed questions	EXTROVERTS Respond to: All types of questions, particularly open and visualizing question.

EXPLORING SUMMARY 

Why ask questions?

To gain information and uncover needs.

What type of Questions?

Mix and match your question depending on the information you are looking for and the kind of customer you are dealing with.

Types of question	Advantages	disadvantages
Closed	High control value Very directive Channels discussion Clarifies understanding	Low level of information Can seem interrogative
Open	High level of information Allows customer to talk	Needs careful construction
Leading	Highly assumptive Leads customer	Confuses customer Frustrates questioner

In this post we have learn about how to ask Open And Closed Question In Sales Call & Sales Meeting this lesson is very useful for us if we are a professional salesperson. 

if we have done this part it means we have go to right direction with customer 

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