7 (More) Pretty Good Questions

I was reminded recently of a column I wrote more than 15 years ago, titled "15 Pretty Good Questions." (QP, September 1993) This was a list of questions that make up a very good first conversation with a prospect—a needs/wants analysis, as opposed to a canned presentation. The printer who reminded me had a specific request: a list of questions to ask a CUSTOMER, as opposed to a prospect, for the purpose of gaining more business from that customer.

That sounded like a pretty reasonable request, so here we go.

First and Foremost

1. Is there anything about our relationship, the way we service and support you, or the way we do business together, that you would change if you could?

You may remember this question from the original column, although it came quite a bit further down that list. With a prospect, I think it's important to build some rapport before asking the critical questions. (You may also remember that this question referred to the printer-in-place in the original column.)

With a customer, the first and foremost issue is their level of satisfaction. If it's low, you probably don't have much chance of gaining more business from them in the first place. So let's see if the relationship needs repair before trying to expand it.

2. What are the/your plans for the business over the next six months or so?

First, note the distinction between THE plans and YOUR plans. It makes a difference whether you're talking to an owner or an employee. For example, let's say your customer is a veterinary clinic, and you currently get orders for forms and other internal documents from an office manager. In this case, your phrasing would be THE plans, and you might be hoping to learn that the plans include new customer acquisition—which would allow you to suggest a direct mail program in support of those plans.

An office manager, however, may not know that the vet/owner has growth objectives. And if that's the case, talking about direct mail would be meaningless, or least directed at the wrong ears. Whenever you get to talk to an owner—or to any of the most senior managers—you can ask about YOUR plans.

The key point here is that you ask about business plans, NOT about printing. If you were to ask just about printing plans, you might only hear about the sort of printing they're already planning on buying from you. ("We'll probably need some more letterhead in a couple of months.") By asking about business plans, you set up the possibility of educating your customer, and also the possibility of being a greater consultative resource.

I was out on a sales call with a client recently and we learned that the customer was planning their first National Sales Meeting. She told us that she'd be ordering program books from us, but probably not until pretty close to the event. My client asked if she meant binders or bound books, and that launched us into a discussion of the benefits of ring binders vs. wire-bound books vs. perfect bound books for an application like this. The customer had been thinking in terms of ring binders and black/white pages. By the end of the discussion, she was thinking about a wire-bound book with a mixture of color and black/white pages.

Then I piped up with this question: "Are you planning any large-format graphics for the meeting, like posters or banners?"

"Yes," she said. "We get those from a local sign shop. Why do you ask?"

"Because we have pretty extensive large-format graphics capabilities," I answered. "Any reason why we can't be involved in that part of the project?"

"No, of course not," she said. "And that's really great to know, because I like you guys a lot better than I like those guys."

"How about ad specialty items?" my client asked. "Are you planning for anything like that—imprinted pens, or attaches, or maybe embroidered polo shirts?"

"Can I get all of that from you?" she asked. "That's really cool!"