Questions Leaders Need To Ask Customers

This may be hard for male readers to understand, but when a woman moves, finding a skilled hairdresser is a critical, top-of-theto-do-list task. When I moved to northern Wisconsin, I asked for recommendations, made appointments with several of those people, and chose one to be my official haircutter. Over the years that she cut and [...]

This question is designed to take the conversation to the level of specific action. This is the What would make us better? question, with teeth. You’re asking your customer to express the thoughts and ideas they had while waiting on hold, fighting to get an invoice corrected, or shaking their head over one of your [...]

I remember one of my earliest business conversations involved the kitchen table, my father, and a company called International Business Machines. I was about eleven. Dad was telling us that his company had gotten a contract to make a part for IBM, but his team didn’t know anything about the product the parts were going [...]

Not many organizations choose to have conferences and hold meetings where I live in northern Wisconsin. (Maybe our annual snowfall has something to do with that decision.) That means that, to do my work, I need to travel. When you stay in hotels often, you sign your name frequently. Check-in. Check-out. Room service bills. Bar [...]

This is the flip side of the last question. By asking this question, you’re seeking information that will allow you to compare and contrast your customer’s opinion of you and your competition. I don’t know any business or organization that doesn’t have competition. I don’t know any business or organization that doesn’t need to know [...]

Remember the song from Fiddler on the Roof when Tevye asks his wife of many years, "Do you love me?" It’s a wonderful moment, and you can tell couples who have been together for a long time by their behavior during that scene. They poke each other, grin, hold hands, or mouth, "Well, do you?" [...]