Good Questions Move Client Development Opportunities Forward

Is it possible to solve a problem we don’t understand?  No, if we don’t know about a problem we can’t resolve it.  Yet faced with client opportunities we often attempt this.  We walk into a meeting and begin laying out all of the features and benefits our firm has to offer.  The potential client becomes a deer in front of headlights desperately trying to figure out what all of this means to them. 

Legal professionals are in the business of providing a service that improves or solves things that a potential client is unhappy with.  To be effective, we have to get information from people about what a problem is and, ideally, how we can solve it.  So how do we get someone to open up and discuss it with us?  Be genuinely interested in the client.  When we ask questions and pay rapt attention to the answer, the client feels important.  When a client feels important and we understand their problem, they are likely to see our service as a viable solution for their situation.

Good questions build bridges with our potential clients.  This power comes from asking a good question and getting an honest answer.  When we ask a good question, we throw a line to them.  When we show interest in the answer, they pull us closer because we are engaged.  All these lines begin to form a strong bond.  Not only are we getting valuable information and beginning to understand the problem, we are strengthening our relationship in the process.  We want to know about them and what they are dealing with.  When done effectively we not only have good recommendations but we are delivering it to a client that likes and respects us.

We have two ears and one mouth.  Do the math.  Ask good questions and listen.  If we do that, we will easily listen twice as much as we speak.  To begin improving your skills at listening to the client envision their problem as a story.  We have to get the client to tell us their story.  Ask questions to get all the details about the plot.  Never interrupt them with how we feel about the story or something we have that can improve it.  Simply let them tell the whole tale.  There is no higher compliment than paying close attention to a client’s story.  If we listen well to their story, later on we are well prepared to illustrate how the story ends happily ever after with our service.

We build credibility by the questions we ask, not the information we give.  Let clients talk about themselves.  Our turn will come at the end to explain how we can help we've positioned ourselves into an educated position about their situation and are now capable of competently addressing the problem.  If done well, clients are receptive to our solutions because it fits right in line with their story.