Probing Questions
This technique is the use of a series of questions to help clarify your customer’s needs, feelings, and wants. The probing questions will be simple ones that cover one issue at a time so as not to overwhelm the customer.
While most questions are designed to help the interviewer explore a topic in more detail, probing questions elicit further information from customers.
For example, “What brought you in today?” This is a question. An alternative may be to say, “I see you are browsing the plasma TV sets. Are you interested in more information about them?”
If a customer says yes to buying a television, the employee might ask them if they’re interested in any particular size. The conversation can continue for example with the employee asking simple questions about the TV sizes to be based on what has been said before.
The question-and-answer process demonstrates your attentiveness and interest in specifics.