When I sit down with a potential client, the first thing I do is start asking a few questions.
Often, I’ll be excited to interject a few suggestions or ideas. (“Oh, I love that you’ve tried that! You know, I’ve got a client who tried something like that last year…”) I know that if I start talking, I might ramble on for a while. So I’m always working to quiet that urge. When I give the client space to open up, I typically get the best answers from them.
Whenever possible, I try to keep my questions as simple as possible. I start with the big questions:
∙ Where do you see opportunities to improve?
∙ What do you hope to achieve with this project?
∙ What does success look like for you?
And then I start to drill down further. A question about success, for instance, might lead to other specific questions:
∙ What metrics matter to you?
∙ Where are you tracking those metrics?
∙ How much do those metrics influence the choices your team makes?
If I can ask a question in a single sentence, I do. Be direct, and give them room to reply. After that, it’s up to you to listen — and when they’re ready, ask another.
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That photo of people raising their hands comes via photographer Edwin Andrade and Unsplash.