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Simon Says: Open or Closed?
By Elaine
Senecal / Illustration by Chris Lewis
May 2004
The
person asking the questions controls the call, right?
Yes! Asking questions allows
us to direct the next part of the conversation.
Asking the right questions moves the conversation along to the direction
of a close or a sale.
Your
agents should know how to choose the questions they ask in order to gather the
information they need. We are talking about close-ended questions versus
open-ended questions.
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An open-ended question encourages the customer to talk, to engage in conversation.
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Close ended
questions are answered with a simple "yes," "no," or a brief
phrase.
How
to decide which way to go? Think
about the customer's level of expertise and the objective of the call.
What is your final goal?
For
instance, imagine that you are an agent providing PC support through a help
desk. One item you need to know is
what operating system (OS) the customer uses.
Mr. Customer basically knows how to turn on the PC and type, but you
don't know this until you ask, "What OS are you using?"
Most
likely Mr. Customer will be too embarrassed to ask what "OS" is and will
again explain his problem without answering the question.
However, if asked a close-ended question, such as, "Do you know
which operating system you are using?" or "Are you using Windows
XP?" the results will be much better.
Open-ended
questions usually begin with words like - what, how, or why.
Close-ended
questions usually begin with words like - will, does, do, did, can, and
are.
Will
you try it? Does it make sense?
Regardless of whether you serve inbound or outbound clients, the same
rules apply.
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