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A Strategic Approach To Planning For A New Business Year – Ask Your Clients Questions

Written by: Glenn Ebersole

Article Overview: 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. What are some examples of questions you could ask your clients? Your strategic thinking business coach suggests the following:

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

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