Asking good questions is an essential survival skill for franchisees.

But not all questions are created equal.

Good questions draw out information, stimulate discussion, clarify facts and help shape meaningful conversations: essential for a franchisee communicating with customers, franchisor, staff and suppliers.

Developing the skill of good questioning takes self-awareness, reflection and practice.

What you need to know about asking questions

Where do you rank your ability to ask good questions? Most people think they are pretty good, unfortunately most people are wrong! The first step of becoming a great questioner is awareness.

Honing your questioning skills starts with being aware of some of the bad habits most of us have been guilty of at one time or another.

Not being present in the conversation

We’ve all done this one. Zoning out as someone is talking. Maybe we’re not that interested, we’ve heard it before or we are just waiting for our turn to speak. This type of behavior causes issues as the other person usually knows and we miss the opportunity for a meaningful connection and uncovering useful information. If I’m finding a conversation tiresome or boring or unproductive, it’s usually because I’m not asking good questions. We can only ask targeted, relevant insightful questions when we pay attention.

Posing an opinion as a question

How much better is this new marketing campaign? It might be a fact it is much better. But it also might just be an opinion. We use these types of questions usually for validation. There is credibility in being more direct, I think this promo is great, what do you think? 

Or a more useful way to find out information impartially is; how do you rate this campaign against the last few?

Assuming the answer

Assuming you know what a person is saying [or trying to say] and either tuning out or not clarifying their answer underpins a lot of miscommunication. Make sure you’re not just hearing what you want to hear, Asking questions to confirm your understanding.

Stacking questions

Asking more than one, often unrelated questions is fraught with danger. How were sales today, did you pick up the dog medicine, want me to register for the conference? It’s confusing and often leads to information being lost, misunderstood or ignored.

We often do this so we don’t forget the information we want or because we think on the fly. Write questions down if you’re worried you’ll forget.

Not being clear on the question we are asking

Some people’s brains and mouths work at the same speed –they say things as they are thinking about them. That’s fine over dinner with friends, or in a casual chat but when you’re trying to have a meaningful interaction or uncover important information lack of clarity can damageyour credibility and lead to confusion.

Stop and think about the question you want to ask. Give yourself time to collect your thoughts.

Loaded questions aka leading the witness!

We usually know when someone is trying to nudge us into a corner [especially in a sales process] by artful [and sometimes blatant] questioning. When we feel manipulated we tend to either shut down or go on the front foot. Either way our defenses go up.

Check your intentions [and your agenda!] and be honest in your questioning.

Not providing context

Sometimes not knowing the purpose of a question can cause suspicion. If you need to share the back story for the response to be worthwhile then do it, if you don’t then don’t.

There’s a balance between oversharing and contextualising.

Questions frame a conversation as we retrieve and explore information, great connections help us create new connections and make meaning together.