Questions are great – but only if they lead to thinking about things differently. If we always ask the same questions are we potentially only exposing ourselves to the same answers? And if that’s the status quo, are we only going to do what we’ve always done?
Customers and clients aren’t doing what they’ve always done, however it appears that many organisations keep asking ‘traditional’ marketing questions; limiting themselves to only finding out what the ‘traditional’ answers are e.g. the ‘tip of what the iceberg’ represents but not what the main mass represents…
Coming up with the right questions isn’t that easy, that’s why it’s a necessary exercise to identify and ask the difficult ones. Here are some to get you started:
- What do we want to accomplish online?
This might sound a simple enough question, but unless you’ve identified what success looks like you won’t know if you’re getting closer to it or not…! - How can we find out where our customers are?
This isn’t as difficult a question to answer in isolation, but when you add “…and when we find them, how should we talk to them without sounding ‘salesy?’” then it puts a fresh perspective on things - What can we learn from interacting with our customers that will help us improve what we do?
This is the ‘biggy’, because this question starts off a whole plethora of others…! But I truly believe one of the first questions you should ask your customers is “Are we doing things right?” or if you don’t want to ask closed questions ask “If there was one thing that we could do better what would it be?” - Are the products/services you’ve purchased from us in the past still meeting your requirements?
Everything changes – and that includes peoples needs and wants. Unless you ask this question you could be missing out
Asking questions like these is only half of the equation. In order to gain customer trust and respect they’ll need to witness that you’re taking action on the information they’re providing you with – otherwise the next time you ask you may not get any answers at all…
So, are you still asking the same questions as you’ve always done or have you started or been asking questions that are more thought provoking…?
One who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; one who does not ask a question remains a fool forever ~ Chinese Proverb
As always, happy to be challenged and educated 
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Love this. I see so many people repeatedly ask the same questions and where once they were successful, suddenly a new kid on the block overtakes them. This is usually simply because they dare to ask something different and new and – shock – give the client what they actually want!