Asking Good Business Questions

16/05/2012

By Will Kintish, Business Networking Skills And LinkedIn Authority

A good networker asks questions like:

- How did you get started?

- How long have you been in business?

- Where do you see your industry going?

- How do you think technology will affect things?

- What challenges do you see facing your industry in the next few years?

- What is your customer market?

- How do you promote your company?

- In the news recently it mentioned... How do you see this affecting you?

- How many people do you work with?

- Their relationship with their existing advisors or suppliers

Come on now, what do you really want to...

...know? If you have spotted that this person is in your market and is a potential client you want to know who their present advisors or suppliers are and when they’ll be ready to move over to you! Can’t be more blunt than that.

But as we all now know it just isn’t quite that easy. We have to ask the core questions but camouflage them in ribbons and bow questions. So let me give you some key questions to consider.

The conversation is between Priscilla who runs a printing company employing 50 people and the employment law solicitor called Joe.

Joe has ascertained all about Priscilla’s business, found out that it’s growing and they are even on the acquisition trail if the right deal comes up. She knows Joe is a solicitor. Let’s earwig.

“So, Priscilla, do you find you have a need for solicitors?”

“Yes, Joe we seem to have to being using them quite a lot these days. You know how the world is becoming more litigious.”

“You’re so right, Priscilla. What do you generally use them for?”

“Well, we use them for debt collection, disputes on copyright occasionally, oh, and employment law issues.”


--- (WAIT! Keep your powder dry, don’t get... continued on page two >

 

 

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