Questions to Grow Your Client Base...

Not all customers are good customers! Best is defined as those with similar values, purpose or mission, and help grow your company. Win/Win for both.

Questions for Growth…

Only some customers are good! How do we select the best customers for our business? Best is defined as those with similar values, understanding your purpose or mission, and wanting to be part of your growth and development. Customers who will stick with you and your business.

Customers serve different roles in our business development depending on where we are in our business journey. Startup customers, developmental customers, challenging customers, ones we exchange or partner with, and ones we need to pull us up to the next level. Each phase of customer growth requires us to re-assess our skills and capabilities.

Questions we can use to help us determine what type of customers we need for our next phase of growth.

Open-Ended Questions: Ask open-ended questions to encourage your contacts to share more information, allowing you to gain deeper insights into their needs, where you can add value, or where you might want to go to enhance your product/service offering.

Examples include:

"What are some of the biggest challenges you're facing now?"
"Can you tell me more about your goals for the next year?"
“What would you like to do that you can’t right now?”
“What is your envisioned future?”
"What does success look like for you by the end of this year?"

Empathetic Questions: Show your contacts that you understand their concerns by asking compassionate questions that communicate care and support.

Examples include:

"It sounds like you've been facing some obstacles in that area. How has that impacted your business?"
"What actions have you taken to overcome the lack of resources to accomplish your goals?"
"What kind of support would be most helpful right now?"

Clarifying Questions: To ensure you fully understand your contacts' needs, please ask clarifying questions and encourage them to elaborate on their thoughts.

Examples include:

"When you mentioned stronger workers, what exactly did you mean?"
"Can you give me an example of how that has affected your business?"
"Could you please expand on your concerns about the lack of resources?"
“What resources do you think you don’t have?”

Reflective Questions: Reflective questions can help you confirm your understanding and show your contacts that you are actively listening.

Examples include:

"So, if I understand correctly, your main concern is… Is that accurate?"
"If you could solve A or B, what would that look like?"

Thought-Provoking Questions: Stimulate deeper thinking and reflection by asking questions that challenge assumptions and invite new perspectives.

Examples include:

"If you could wave a magic wand and solve one problem in your business, what would it be?"
"What do you think the future holds for your business?"
"How will you know when you have arrived?” (your vision of success)

Answers to these questions help you create your envisioned future with this customer. It lets you see what value you can bring, how to leverage your resources, or how to grow your company.

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Categories: : Sales