By Felicia Slattery

Bottom line: if you don't ask questions, you won't make sales. Period.

Here's the secret: you have to know which audiences to approach and with what types of questions in order to have the greatest success in your business. As my business has developed, I realize there are 6 groups you need to be asking questions in order to get the best results possible.

1. Prospects: Those who have said, "Yes I'm interested, tell me more" are most often looking for a solution to a particular problem when they encounter your website. Allow them to tell you exactly what that problem is at the moment by asking them what it is, and you're on your way to providing the solution if it's within your capacity to do so.

2. Clients: It's important to regularly check in with those who you already do business with or those who have been clients in the past. These are the people who have proven with their wallets they believe in you, your product, and/or your service. Make sure they are happy by asking what you can do to improve their experience with you and if they are finding value in what you offer them.

3. Mentors/Coaches: If you don't have someone to ask questions to help guide you, you'll find you're lost a lot more often. Life and business are so much easier when you can seek the counsel of an expert to ask, "Am I doing this right" or "What did you do and how can I do it too?"

4. Peers who do what you do: Some would look at those in your same industry as competitors, but when you look them as fellow business owners you can see you have much information to share with each other. Ask them how their business has evolved, what their favorite technique is for generating new business, and what are their favorite tools of the trade and why. Then BE OPEN to the answers!

5. Peers who serve the same audience you serve: If you serve Moms, or entrepreneurs, or whomever - when you speak to others who serve them as well, you can get new insights into your target market unlike any other. By asking what trends they are seeing in your marketplace and what they have done to deal with any current challenges, you can discover potential new offerings or new ways of communicating with your target audience.

6. Service providers: When you hire someone to do a job for you, typically you are hiring someone for their expertise or knowledge. There is a benefit to learning from those providers while they are working for you. Even if the question is simply, "What can I provide you to make your work for me more efficient and effective?" You can save yourself some money and discover useful business practices you can keep in mind for future similar projects.

Asking Better Questions was the topic of my Communication Success Network's August teleseminar where we discussed exactly what you need to know to not only ask great questions but how to decide who to ask them to. We covered all of the following:

* The 6 different groups you should be asking questions and why
* 3 primary purposes for asking questions in business
* 3 characteristics of questions and the appropriate time to know which is right to use in what situation
* 7 common problems associated with asking questions and how to fix them!
* Some top ways to ask questions with 5 suggested FREE tools
* The frequency you should be asking questions

You'll have the opportunity to join in upcoming days. So be on the lookout for more information coming soon!

Copyright 2009 Felicia J. Slattery.

Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed, is a Communication consultant, speaker & coach Are you credible? Find out how. Now. Free: https://www.CredibilityAndCashFlow.com

Social networking icons by komodomedia.com.