Not asking the right kind of questions?

Firstly work out a standard set of AREAS to probe in. Select no more than five.

S.P.I.N.

• Situation
• Problem
• Issues
• Needs

C.I.B.B.

• Current situation
• Ideal situation
• Barriers to progress
• Buying Criteria

Within each of those areas develop

1. An opening question ~ to draw the customer into that area and get them talking
2. A series of open questions to probe further after the first answer

Example ~ exploring current supplier arrangements as a Probe Area

1. Opening Question

• What are your current arrangements with regard to architectural hardware? [answer]

2. Probing Questions

• Sure it makes sense to have regular suppliers, let me ask you; What are some of the important aspects about your current arrangements? [answer containing three qualities]
• OK, I can understand why you mentioned those; which of those three are the most important to you? [answer]
• What makes that aspect so important to you? [answer]

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