A Strategic Approach To Planning For A New Business Year – Ask Your Clients Questions
A Strategic Approach To Planning For A New Business Year – Ask Your Clients Questions
By: J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr., Chief Executive of J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group ™
A new business year has begun and hopefully your strategic thinking and planning has been underway for some time. A strategic thinking business coach suggests that asking clients some probing questions will be very beneficial in your planning efforts for the new business year. The strategy of asking these questions is to gain insight for developing the best solutions for your clients’ problems.
Asking questions will help you gain needed information from your clients; build rapport with your clients; increase the clients’ comfort level; understand the clients’ needs; and discover the clients’ concerns, frustrations and fears.
You can begin by asking questions that will let you know what is going right with your clients and hen transition into areas where problems may have occurred. And it is always important to initially focus on your client, rather than you and your client. It is critical that you make sure the client understands that he or she has ownership in this process of questioning.
What are some examples of questions you could ask your clients? Your strategic thinking business coach suggests the following:
1. What are your goals for the new business year?
2. What strategies do you expect to use to capitalize on last year’s successes?
3. What do you believe is the number one challenge for your business in the new year?
4. What is the single biggest frustration you have in your business going into the new year?
5. What is the one major change you want to make happen in your business in the new year?
6. What is the one thing you value most about our working relationship?
7. What can we do to sustain and enhance our business relationship?
8. How can we improve on the services we provide to you?
9. If you could change just one thing about our business relationship, what would it be?
10. How can we be a more valuable asset and resource for your business?
You will be pleasantly surprised at what your clients will divulge to you that they never to9ld you before. And why is this so? I will tell you why – because you never took the time to ask them. Your strategic thinking business coach advises “always know who you are doing business with” and if you do, you will be in a much more strategic position to provide better client solutions because you will understand your clients’ real needs and goals.
Your strategic thinking business coach encourages you to use strategic thinking to plan for new business year. If you would like to learn more about the strategic advantages you can gain by asking your clients questions and how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com
A Strategic Approach To Planning For A New Business Year Ask Your Clients Questions - To learn more about this author, visit Glenn Ebersole's Website.
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“A Strategic Approach To Planning For A New Business Year – Ask Your Clients Questions”
By: J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr., Chief Executive of J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group ™
A new business year has begun and hopefully your strategic thinking and planning has been underway for some time. A strategic thinking business coach suggests that asking clients some probing questions will be very beneficial in your planning efforts for the new business year. The strategy of asking these questions is to gain insight for developing the best solutions for your clients’ problems.
Asking questions will help you gain needed information from your clients; build rapport with your clients; increase the clients’ comfort level; understand the clients’ needs; and discover the clients’ concerns, frustrations and fears.
You can begin by asking questions that will let you know what is going right with your clients and hen transition into areas where problems may have occurred. And it is always important to initially focus on your client, rather than you and your client. It is critical that you make sure the client understands that he or she has ownership in this process of questioning.
What are some examples of questions you could ask your clients? Your strategic thinking business coach suggests the following:
1. What are your goals for the new business year?
2. What strategies do you expect to use to capitalize on last year’s successes?
3. What do you believe is the number one challenge for your business in the new year?
4. What is the single biggest frustration you have in your business going into the new year?
5. What is the one major change you want to make happen in your business in the new year?
6. What is the one thing you value most about our working relationship?
7. What can we do to sustain and enhance our business relationship?
8. How can we improve on the services we provide to you?
9. If you could change just one thing about our business relationship, what would it be?
10. How can we be a more valuable asset and resource for your business?
You will be pleasantly surprised at what your clients will divulge to you that they never to9ld you before. And why is this so? I will tell you why – because you never took the time to ask them. Your strategic thinking business coach advises “always know who you are doing business with” and if you do, you will be in a much more strategic position to provide better client solutions because you will understand your clients’ real needs and goals.
Your strategic thinking business coach encourages you to use strategic thinking to plan for new business year. If you would like to learn more about the strategic advantages you can gain by asking your clients questions and how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com
A Strategic Approach To Planning For A New Business Year Ask Your Clients Questions - To learn more about this author, visit Glenn Ebersole's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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