Open ended questions are so important in sales techniques. When sales guys are asked about open ended questions they could never admit they don't use them properly. This subject has been over discussed and everyone knows about them. But do we really use them? Does it come natural for us to ask them, or we're struggling when doing it?

I've been involved in sales training for many years, during the different positions I've been on. In just a few years I've trained more than 1000 sales reps. Most of my training sessions had two parts: theory and practice, and when practicing what they have been taught, my trainees were having problems applying the new stuff to their sales process.

When teaching the open ended questions to my class, I realised that if I explained in the way I am about to show you next, my students were able to apply it extremely easy. Here we go:

Open Ended Questions Lesson

Definition: Open ended questions are those questions that can't be answered with just "yes" or "no".

Usage: They are used to open up a conversation. It is important your clients to answer in more than a few words, so that you'll be more likely to uncover their needs, objections, fears and so on.

Solution: Use "How", "What" and "Why" at the beginning of your question.

Examples:

• How did you manage your team over the last two years?
• What are your plans for the next quarter?
• Why have you launched your product in July?
• How did you feel about that?
• What drove you in achieving that?
• Why are you expanding your team?

It's that simple. Just by using "How", "What" and "Why" at the beginning of your question will basically solve your fear of not being able to address open ended questions. Practice matters and practicing them on your friends and family first, will definitely make you more confident in front of your clients or customers.

That's what it's nice about working in sales; you can apply your knowledge throughout all the levels of your life. Whether it is you're buying something, solving family issues, or just by trying to raise your children's confidence, your sales knowledge will help you deal with your problems.

How do you feel after realising how easy it is to ask open ended questions?