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Ask Questions and Listen to the Answers
Thanks Alison for a helpful reminder on this. It is all too easy to start telling people things without finding out what questions they want answered.
Outside of work I help lead small groups on church Alpha courses. Learning to ask open questions and then to follow up answers with further questions has helped get real discussion going.
The most important thing having asked any question, in any context, is to really listen to the answer. Your next comment or question needs to reflect the fact that you listened and took in what was said. If you ask a series of questions (however open) but then plough on with further questions which take no notice of what the other person has said then you are not showing proper respect to the other person - and they will notice.
So the other important skill apart from asking questions is listening - the two have to go hand-in hand.
Spot on
I've taken a number of communications courses. One of them threw out a statistic: in 40% of disagreements, there is no difference of opinion, there is merely a difference of understanding. Occasionally when things seem to go off the track around the office, I have to pull back and think, "are we communicating?"
If communications doesn't solve the problem, at least it clarifies what you're fighting about and is more likely to lead to a mutually agreeable solution.
Mind your language
I agree, questions are a key business development tool and accountants can also use them to enhance their service value. But, this seemingly simple activity is actually quite a deep subject and tracking your clients language is vital.
A question can (and should) be asked in different ways depending on the client. This is part of the the Selling BUY Number sales system for accountants. For example, one thing to keep in mind is that clients think and process information in different ways.
Some people are more visual, others will be more inclined to use sound, perhaps with with self-talk, while some will use feelings more. If you listen carefully, you will hear it in the client's language...does that ring a bell? Do you see what I mean? Can you get a handle on that?
Now, if you were asking a client about the plans for the business you could say:
Can you explian your vision for the business?Can you give a feel of what you want to acheieve?I'd like to hear about your plans, could you tell me what you have in mind?
When you get this right clients will say "he/she speaks my langauge" and that is a good thing. But, the other side of the coin is that you could be using your style while your client is using another and that reduces your effectiveness as a communicator which reduces your impact as an advisor!
There are other really important things you can track as part of your client profiling through language.
Bob
Ask the Right Questions
Thanks for these comments. They all provide useful extensions to the article. Absolutely, listening is the other side of the coin, and is absolutely critical to filling out the experience for the respondent. Respect and trust can quickly be broken if the questioner doesn't actively listen and pick up on clues in any response given. Picking up on the use of language - visual, auditory and so on, is also powerful. However, in my experience, concentrating on the type of language used is the next level of sophistication in communication skills, and takes both an interest in doing it and considerable practice to really get to grips with it. As an NLP Practitioner, I still have to concentrate on this. PACE hear frequently that 'advisors don't listen', so as a first step, asking great questions then listening carefully is a useful first step.