The Question of Why
“Why” questions allow you to understand the motives of your customers. Some customers act out of fear, others out of self-interest, and still others out of a desire to increase profits. Being able to uncover motives brings you invaluable insight into how your customers operate. This knowledge then allows you to provide individualized service for your customers.
Getting information on motives is tricky. If you simply ask, “Why?” over and over again, your customers will probably get annoyed or be offended. The examples below give you the opportunity to probe deeper and to better understand what’s motivating your customers:
Tell me, what is prompting your interest in . . . ?
What’s causing this to happen?
What’s driving the need ...
Get Questions That Sell now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
