How to Ask Better Questions

by | Mar 21, 2023 | 0 comments

As animal based business owners, asking better questions is a critical part of our success. It helps us to better understand our audience, build relationships, uncover their motivations, and look for opportunities to provide even better results.

By asking better questions, we can not only learn more about our own business, but also discover ways to meet other needs and add value. It’s a great way to foster a deeper understanding of the people we are working with, and to open up conversations about the animals we are all passionate about.

We all have unique experiences, insights, and perspectives to share, and asking better questions can help us to draw out those elements of our client’s story to better understand their needs and uncover opportunities that we may not have considered before.

Asking better questions can be an invaluable tool for any animal based business owner, and it’s an easy way to get the most out of our conversations with our clients.

Transcript
Jaz:

Welcome to The Business Animal podcast. Saddle up for a

Jaz:

gallop to the top of the animal industry, where you'll learn how

Jaz:

to tame your wild business beast, with tips, techniques,

Jaz:

and tools that will take overwhelm to obedience school,

Jaz:

and have you wagging your tail with joy. And now your hosts,

Jaz:

Kim Beer, and Cara Taylor Swift.

Kimberly Beer:

Hey there business animals. It's Kim with

Kimberly Beer:

Be More Business

Cara Taylor Swift:

and Cara with Fast Horse photography. Hi, Kim.

Kimberly Beer:

Hey, Cara, how are you doing today? You know,

Cara Taylor Swift:

I'm okay hanging in here. My I just took

Cara Taylor Swift:

my dog out and threw the Frisbee. And I'm hoping she's

Cara Taylor Swift:

done with her after Frisbee. She does this thing where she sits

Cara Taylor Swift:

next to me and pants. So I'm just going to apologize to

Cara Taylor Swift:

anyone here. Here's Labrador panting in the background. It

Cara Taylor Swift:

comes from a good wholesome place.

Kimberly Beer:

Nice. So she had a good wholesome morning. Oh,

Kimberly Beer:

goodness. So we have a really interesting topic today. So I

Kimberly Beer:

say we dive right in. Because this is a great topic. What are

Kimberly Beer:

we talking about today? Well, we're

Cara Taylor Swift:

talking about asking better questions. And I

Cara Taylor Swift:

think people are probably wondering, like, why are you

Cara Taylor Swift:

having this topic? Obviously, we need to ask questions. But the

Cara Taylor Swift:

big thing is, is that I found in my business, I don't know about

Cara Taylor Swift:

you can but the better I am at asking questions to my potential

Cara Taylor Swift:

clients, the better I am at fulfilling their needs and

Cara Taylor Swift:

understanding where my business needs to go.

Kimberly Beer:

Absolutely. And you know, I have my little book

Kimberly Beer:

that I wrote, and I'll give a shameless plug to the little

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book of big sales to us, which you can buy on my website at

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bemorebusiness.com for only $10. And that includes shipping and

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handling. So go buy it right now. But one of the things and

Kimberly Beer:

one of the reasons why I'm excited about this topic is

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because my number one selling move is three thoughtful

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questions. And I will tell you, as I have gone and worked in

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sales and marketing and business development, I can tell you my

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ability and art form in asking questions has improved

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dramatically over the years. And with every improvement of this

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particular skill, my business gets better my sales get better,

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everything gets better, my customer satisfaction gets

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better. So asking better questions can certainly lead you

Kimberly Beer:

to a lot of better places.

Cara Taylor Swift:

Absolutely. And I think it's one of those

Cara Taylor Swift:

things that as business owners, that through practice, and

Cara Taylor Swift:

through being thoughtful, we can actually get better at it. It's

Cara Taylor Swift:

one of those things that we get better and better at it. And I

Cara Taylor Swift:

definitely don't think that business owners, especially when

Cara Taylor Swift:

they're having interactions with their clients that they ask

Cara Taylor Swift:

enough questions.

Kimberly Beer:

No, they don't. And the thing is, is that in

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particular, when you're doing sales, if you don't ask enough

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questions, or you don't ask the right questions, you end up

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doing all the selling. And I am just going to read you one

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little paragraph here from my book about this sales move with

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the three thoughtful questions. The easiest sales are made, when

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consumers come to the conclusion they need to buy your product or

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service before you even start your sales pitch. The way to set

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this easy sell up is to ask them questions that lead them to

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discover why they need what you're selling. And that is the

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absolute truth. And in the process of it is you are

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building rapport with those clients because they finally

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feel heard, they feel seen. And they are the ones that end up

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selling themselves. And all you have to do is sit back and just

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simply be more aware of the questions that you ask and lead

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those questions in the appropriate direction and your

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customer will do all of the work to sell themselves. Now, who

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doesn't want to do that versus pitching and trying to figure

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out how to manipulate people into buying and worrying about

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all your sales language when you let them convince themselves.

Kimberly Beer:

You don't have to worry about any of those things.

Cara Taylor Swift:

Well, and that's because you're also

Cara Taylor Swift:

you're taking the time to let them tell you their why you're

Cara Taylor Swift:

taking the time to then understand their why like why

Cara Taylor Swift:

did they contact you today, there's a reason. And it's not

Cara Taylor Swift:

just because they want to give you their credit card, right?

Cara Taylor Swift:

There's a bigger emotional or a bigger need that has to be

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addressed and taking the time to better understand that is going

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to help you in so many different ways. better meet the needs of

Cara Taylor Swift:

your clients. So it's gonna help you better understand their

Cara Taylor Swift:

need. It's going to help you understand why they came to you

Cara Taylor Swift:

today. It's going to help you build a relationship between the

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two of you. I mean, just having a conversation where you're

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asking questions is relationship building, and you're building

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that rapport with them. It's gonna help you provide better

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results because you actually understand what they Need and

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that you have the solution for it. Or maybe you don't have the

Cara Taylor Swift:

solution, but you're going to understand that by taking that

Cara Taylor Swift:

time. And finally, it's going to help you look for opportunities

Cara Taylor Swift:

where you can meet other needs that they have and other ways

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that you can add value to their experience. I mean, to me, that

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creates raving fans, when you can ask questions, really, truly

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understand where they're coming from, and what they need, and

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then provide the appropriate service that fits that. And then

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you're adding extra value by being able to find other ways

Cara Taylor Swift:

that you can help them and other ways that you meet need, they're

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going to want to come back to you next time.

Kimberly Beer:

Absolutely. And there's one other little

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psychological thing I'd like to mention right here. And that is

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that we are all our own favorite subject. As much as we would

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probably like to deny that we truly do like talking about

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ourselves and sharing about our lives. It's what makes us feel

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connected to everyone around us. And when you as a person in a

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business, are taking enough interest in your consumers to

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ask them questions, whether it be focused on sales or

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exploration or research, or just simply figuring out if you could

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have a different or better business process, that is

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putting them front and center. And every single person on this

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planet likes to be held in that space from time to time, if not

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often. So it's really hugely beneficial psychologically to

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them. And what's funny is that, especially in sales, when you

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turn your sales system around to asking questions versus giving

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pitches, your customers feel like they had so much better of

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an experience, and that they learned so much more. But here's

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the thing, they didn't learn necessarily anything more from

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you. They learned it all from themselves, which is so cool.

Cara Taylor Swift:

Well, and you're asking those questions,

Cara Taylor Swift:

too, that's helping them identify what their needs are.

Cara Taylor Swift:

And they're kind of absolutely your own solution by through

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that communication that they're giving you that they're in need

Cara Taylor Swift:

of your service, you know, and you're able to kind of fill in

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the gaps. So I love that I know, we want to jump into our big

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three. So if you're okay with it, I'll just list off our big

Cara Taylor Swift:

three. And then I want to do just a little thing on like, the

Cara Taylor Swift:

different types of questions if that's okay,

Kimberly Beer:

absolutely. Take it away. Okay.

Cara Taylor Swift:

So our big three today is to start by

Cara Taylor Swift:

asking yourself, you know, what is the motivation for asking the

Cara Taylor Swift:

question? And we'll dig into that. Number two is ask

Cara Taylor Swift:

questions that beg for a longer answer. And number three is

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become an excellent listener. So one of the things when I was

Cara Taylor Swift:

thinking about this episode, is I came across a really cool

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article from the Harvard Business Review that talks about

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the four different types of questions. And I had never, I

Cara Taylor Swift:

don't know about you can, but I had never really thought that,

Cara Taylor Swift:

that when you're having conversations with people that

Cara Taylor Swift:

there are different levels of conversation. So the first one

Cara Taylor Swift:

is called introductory questions. So that's going to be

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like your Hi, how are you? Or Hello, how are you doing? It's a

Cara Taylor Swift:

very simple question, followed by the next set of questions,

Cara Taylor Swift:

which is your mirror question. So it might be something like,

Cara Taylor Swift:

Oh, I'm doing good, how are you? So you're kind of mirroring back

Cara Taylor Swift:

to them? Then you have which I think a lot of conversations do

Cara Taylor Swift:

this, you move into your full switch questions, which are the

Cara Taylor Swift:

questions that change the topic. So that might be something like,

Cara Taylor Swift:

Well, tell me why you call today? Or how can I help you? Or

Cara Taylor Swift:

where did you hear about our services, you're just kind of

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moving them into the real, what I would consider the meat and

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potatoes of the conversation that you're about to have, which

Cara Taylor Swift:

is your follow up questions. And these are the ones that we're

Cara Taylor Swift:

focusing on today, the most powerful, and there were as

Cara Taylor Swift:

business owners, we really need to focus on our growth, because

Cara Taylor Swift:

this is how we get all of the information that we need to

Cara Taylor Swift:

provide services to our clients and to really meet their needs.

Cara Taylor Swift:

So these are the questions that let us know that we're listening

Cara Taylor Swift:

to them. They're the questions that help us understand more and

Cara Taylor Swift:

let our clients know that we want to know more. They're the

Cara Taylor Swift:

questions that are going to let our clients know that we

Cara Taylor Swift:

actually care about their needs, that we care about their animal

Cara Taylor Swift:

and that we're interested in them. And they're the questions

Cara Taylor Swift:

that like Kim was referring to, they're the ones that are going

Cara Taylor Swift:

to make people understand that we respect them or help them

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feel respected, and help the client feel heard. So when I

Cara Taylor Swift:

started thinking about this, I was like we absolutely those

Cara Taylor Swift:

follow up questions. That's where we have to focus this

Cara Taylor Swift:

episode. So then you move that into what is your motivation for

Cara Taylor Swift:

asking this question? Kim, do you want to take it from there?

Kimberly Beer:

I do. So I do want to talk about that because

Kimberly Beer:

here's the thing. customers know when you're being manipulative

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at some level, and if you're asking questions with a

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motivation, that is just simply to manipulate them into buying

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something, the energy in that transaction between you and them

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is going to be really apparent So you need to set yourself

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straight a little bit in finding out what is your motivation for

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actually asking that question. If you're asking the question

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because you want to manipulate them into a purchase, it's

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probably not the right motivation. And you need to

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reset that. Because when you approach questioning from a

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place of curiosity, versus a place of self gain, then you

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start to really be able to build rapport with who you're across

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from. The other thing you need to do when you think about what

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is your motivation for asking this question, sometimes the

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motivation is to learn more about that individual to learn

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more about their situation, so you can better customize what it

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is that you have in your business to serve them. But

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also, we may need to get better questions to get them into the

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exact right product or right service. Or we may need to have

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motivations to ask detailed questions around things that

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allow us to deliver for that specific individual. So there's

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a lot of motivations that are pure and good, that are around

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asking those questions. But I want you to check your ego at

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the door and check your needs at the door, when it comes to

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asking those questions. And the way that you get better at this

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is by doing that. So you can ask questions that are specifically

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designed and motivated to help that customer achieve something

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better, whether that's with your product and service or not?

Cara Taylor Swift:

Well, yeah, because sometimes that you are

Cara Taylor Swift:

literally qualifying them as clients like this is your

Cara Taylor Swift:

opportunity to determine what their needs are, and if they're

Cara Taylor Swift:

even a good fit for your business. And you've got to ask

Cara Taylor Swift:

questions to determine that, I think a big mistake is when we

Cara Taylor Swift:

get people on the phone, and we immediately start talking about

Cara Taylor Swift:

our process, or we immediately start talking about our service.

Cara Taylor Swift:

And then we get 10 minutes into the conversation and realize

Cara Taylor Swift:

that they don't live anywhere near us. So they're not eligible

Cara Taylor Swift:

for our service, because we're not going to go to travel that

Cara Taylor Swift:

far. Or that, you know, for me, I'm a I'm someone who

Cara Taylor Swift:

photographs, people with their horses, I don't supply horses

Cara Taylor Swift:

for photography. So I get people that contact me frequently

Cara Taylor Swift:

asking me if, you know, I have horses that they can use for

Cara Taylor Swift:

their maternity shoot, for example. And if I go through my

Cara Taylor Swift:

whole process, and then we find out halfway through that they

Cara Taylor Swift:

don't have a horse than I need to qualify them as actual

Cara Taylor Swift:

clients. So I think that's a big piece of it. You're so right.

Cara Taylor Swift:

And then, you know, moving into asking questions that beg for a

Cara Taylor Swift:

larger answer that next of our big three, there's so much to

Cara Taylor Swift:

that. And one of the biggest things that I have found, is it

Cara Taylor Swift:

okay to think about your questions in advance and to

Cara Taylor Swift:

prepare some questions to get you started and practice those

Cara Taylor Swift:

questions. Because you do have to get certain information from

Cara Taylor Swift:

your clients. And so it's okay to kind of be prepared for that.

Kimberly Beer:

Absolutely. I am all for thinking up those

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questions in advance both the ones that start the

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conversation, and the ones that further the conversation along

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for that specific client. I do have some things that I do like

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to say around this subject of asking questions that beg for

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that longer answer, because I will tell you one thing and that

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longer answer is all the data and information that you need to

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know to make that customer happy. Now there may be a choice

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where you say, just like you said, with the qualifying

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clients, you may say you may be happy or somewhere else. But

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you're going to get the data and the information. But the only

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way for you to do that is to ask open ended questions. If you ask

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people yes or no questions. There are questions that can be

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answered with a yes or a no, those are called closed ended

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questions. When you ask those kinds of questions. The person

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on the other end of that conversation doesn't share any

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more of their story. And yes or no always comes with shades of

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grey. So there's always more to the story. And a single word is

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not going to get you everything that you need to know, out of

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particularly a sales conversation. So I always say I

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want to have open ended questions. For example, this is

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one in sales, I see a lot of people ask people, Well, are you

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ready to purchase now? Or can I go ahead and fill out the sales

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form or whatever that case happens to be sorry, that

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doesn't work. People then have a choice between yes or no. And

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it's a very easy choice for them to make. What you want to do is

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you want to give them a little bit more latitude and you want

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to be able to learn along the way. So instead of saying that

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you can give them an either or like, Would you like me to wrap

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that up for you or would you like to just go ahead and carry

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it out as is or would you like me beautiful over it. So you

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have a whole like set of choices for them. But even better than

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that, is, when you ask them a question that gives them an

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opportunity to go even further. So one of my favorite ways to

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sort of further that sale to kind of further that example,

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would be to say, if you were going to choose a package, from

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my services that we've talked about, which one do you think

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would be the best fit for you? And why? And just ask the and

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why. And you're gonna get a really long answer that's going

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to fill you in on exactly where they are. And right in that

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you're going to learn a bunch of stuff, right? You're going to

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learn where their push backs are, you're going to learn where

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their motivations, their gain points are, where their pain

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points are, you're going to learn what their specific goals

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are, you're going to learn about what they think or need from

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your service. I mean, it's gold, all of that stuff is gold. A

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couple of other little tips that I have are also to speak your

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customer's language. As people who live in industries that have

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their own vernacular, we tend to talk in our industry, slang and

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vernacular, our customers don't always share that. So if your

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customers don't, then you need to talk their language. And

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always be willing to dig deeper by following up. So when you ask

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a question, and somebody gives you the answer, then I know it's

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not a good listening skill to listen to respond. But do catch

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on to where you could respond to that, or even better. And this

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is the even better, ask another question that allows you to dig

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deeper, and follows up on that particular answer that they gave

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you.

Cara Taylor Swift:

That's excellent. And I think about I

Cara Taylor Swift:

mentioned above the practice piece of that. And the reason I

Cara Taylor Swift:

say practice is because I do think there is something to be

Cara Taylor Swift:

gained for practicing the questions and practicing the

Cara Taylor Swift:

words, the actual words that you will use, like you said, the

Cara Taylor Swift:

vernacular, they're using that language and getting comfortable

Cara Taylor Swift:

using it. Because when you're talking to them, you don't want

Cara Taylor Swift:

it to sound like you're quizzing them, or that you are

Cara Taylor Swift:

interviewing them, or that you want or that you're going

Cara Taylor Swift:

through a checklist of questions, you know, you have

Cara Taylor Swift:

questions and you need information. But you want to be

Cara Taylor Swift:

able to use a neutral tone, a conversational tone, a friendly

Cara Taylor Swift:

tone in order to get there. And the more you can practice those

Cara Taylor Swift:

words coming out of your mouth and be comfortable with the

Cara Taylor Swift:

language that you want to use, the easier that's going to be

Cara Taylor Swift:

for you. I also suggest at this time to be really careful about

Cara Taylor Swift:

asking leading questions like you really want to get to the

Cara Taylor Swift:

root of what the issue is, without inputting what you think

Cara Taylor Swift:

they need, or where you think they're going with that. So by

Cara Taylor Swift:

asking questions that aren't leading questions, you can more

Cara Taylor Swift:

accurately I think, get to that point. I also think that when

Cara Taylor Swift:

you're thinking about the questions that you're going to

Cara Taylor Swift:

ask, you want to structure them, so that you are getting in an

Cara Taylor Swift:

order of importance in in a way that really kind of naturally

Cara Taylor Swift:

leads to your next question. So for example, I might be talking

Cara Taylor Swift:

to a potential photography client. And I might say

Cara Taylor Swift:

something like, Well, why don't you tell me a little bit about

Cara Taylor Swift:

your horse to kind of get them talking, like Kim said earlier,

Cara Taylor Swift:

people love to talk about themselves, they really, really

Cara Taylor Swift:

like to talk about their animals, and they will talk to

Cara Taylor Swift:

you all day about their animals. But then my next step might be

Cara Taylor Swift:

after that, well, what do you like to do with your horse? You

Cara Taylor Swift:

know, how do you spend your time together? It feels like kind of

Cara Taylor Swift:

a fluffy question in that, how does that have to do with

Cara Taylor Swift:

photography, but the truth is, is I'm getting to know them, I'm

Cara Taylor Swift:

getting to know how they like to spend their time with their

Cara Taylor Swift:

horse, I'm getting to know how they value their horse in their

Cara Taylor Swift:

life. And all of that comes back to the wall, or they might put

Cara Taylor Swift:

on their walls one day, or how they're going to use their

Cara Taylor Swift:

images. So I think about my questions, and I'm moving them

Cara Taylor Swift:

in a way that gets me to another question, which might be well,

Cara Taylor Swift:

how would you anticipate using the images that we create

Cara Taylor Swift:

together? What spaces in your home do you think would be best

Cara Taylor Swift:

to display wall art? So I'm working my way there, but I'm

Cara Taylor Swift:

getting there in a way that is really natural, and is taking

Cara Taylor Swift:

the client through that series of questions. I also say each of

Cara Taylor Swift:

your questions should have a purpose. So I'm not just gonna

Cara Taylor Swift:

randomly start asking questions like they need to have a

Cara Taylor Swift:

purpose. That's all kind of directing them down the road.

Cara Taylor Swift:

Does that make sense of what I'm saying him?

Kimberly Beer:

It does? It does, because we do have a tendency

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sometimes to get off on chit chat, especially back in the

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beginning of the conversation where you have those four types

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of questions and you have the mirror question, because

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sometimes the answer to the mirror question will lead you

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off the topic which is really like it can go down a rabbit

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hole, right? And then you don't get to the topic that you really

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need to be talking about. But you as an intelligent person

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who's listened to this podcast and now knows how to ask better

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questions, is going to know how to re guide that conversation

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right into the place that you want it to go. And then allow

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it, the important thing is not just to guide it, but then to

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allow it to go where it needs to go. And I think that brings us

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to the last and most difficult proposition of this entire

Kimberly Beer:

podcast episode. And that is to become an excellent listener.

Kimberly Beer:

Our culture is really built around not listening. We have it

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drilled into us as kids, that we need to respond, and we need to

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respond quickly. And we don't practice a lot of asking

Kimberly Beer:

questions, but we practice to the nth degree responding. And

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so as the person who is learning how to ask better questions, a

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big part of that is learning how to be a better listener, which

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means that you have to listen more than you talk in these

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conversations. And that is hard, especially if you're an

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extrovert. Because being an extrovert, we process everything

Kimberly Beer:

that we intake through our mouths. In other words, I always

Kimberly Beer:

say it has zero filter between my ears and my mouth, there's

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like, the filter is so thin, because when it comes in, it has

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to go back out for me to process it completely. But that derails

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your conversations sometimes. So as an extrovert, we have to

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practice really hard at learning how to process internally. So

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which introverts do naturally. So we need to learn and practice

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that skill, of being able to process without speaking, so

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that we can allow the other person to go ahead and finish

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talking. And one more point on this, and then I'll, I'll let

Kimberly Beer:

you take over because you have a good list here for people for

Kimberly Beer:

learning how to listen better. One of the biggest lessons I had

Kimberly Beer:

in listening actually came from a fiction book, it's about the

Kimberly Beer:

Indian nations, it's about Navajos, it's written by, I

Kimberly Beer:

cannot remember the author's name, I had it right before I

Kimberly Beer:

opened my mouth, it was in my brain, and now it's gone. But he

Kimberly Beer:

writes books about the Navajo detectives, you all will know

Kimberly Beer:

who it is, if you've read this gentleman, and his name is not

Kimberly Beer:

important to the conversation. What the important part of the

Kimberly Beer:

conversation is, is that in Navajo tradition, you don't

Kimberly Beer:

speak for a certain period of time after somebody else

Kimberly Beer:

finishes speaking, just in case they want to add something or

Kimberly Beer:

just in case they're not completed with their thought.

Kimberly Beer:

And they wanted to take a pause to compose themselves. And I

Kimberly Beer:

really wish we would adopt more of that beautiful tradition into

Kimberly Beer:

our high pitched Western culture gotta get shit done attitudes,

Kimberly Beer:

to where we took the time to just simply be quiet, and allow

Kimberly Beer:

the other person to be able to cannot only complete their

Kimberly Beer:

thought, but see if there's anything else that they would

Kimberly Beer:

like to add. Because I can tell you, if you practice that, in

Kimberly Beer:

the in between when you really want to speak up and respond,

Kimberly Beer:

and you allow it, there's so much, it's when people go

Kimberly Beer:

deeper, they give you that response, because it's what

Kimberly Beer:

we've been trained to do in our schools, we're trained to give

Kimberly Beer:

responses quickly and fastly and with as much detail as possible,

Kimberly Beer:

and we rehearse them and we know them. And then when we get asked

Kimberly Beer:

that we sort of regurgitate that response. And then if the person

Kimberly Beer:

on the other side of the conversation doesn't talk, then

Kimberly Beer:

we want to fill that space with something. And we will fill it

Kimberly Beer:

with things that are really deep and profound many times if the

Kimberly Beer:

other person doesn't just jump right in, and respond back. And

Kimberly Beer:

so I think we should try to adapt that more in our world. So

Kimberly Beer:

take it away, Cara, you've got a you've got some really good

Kimberly Beer:

suggestions here for listening better.

Cara Taylor Swift:

That's such a good point. Because I think that

Cara Taylor Swift:

we do have to give people space to answer our questions. And a

Cara Taylor Swift:

lot of times, we feel like we have to fill empty space or

Cara Taylor Swift:

empty air with something. And sometimes it's just a matter of

Cara Taylor Swift:

just giving a little bit of space will prompt them to fill

Cara Taylor Swift:

in further details that we need. Before you even have to ask a

Cara Taylor Swift:

follow up question. So yeah, I think that's such a good point.

Cara Taylor Swift:

And I think with that, taking the time to recognize how much

Cara Taylor Swift:

talking you might be doing in the conversation can be really

Cara Taylor Swift:

huge. I find that when I'm talking with potential new

Cara Taylor Swift:

clients on the phone, I'll go through my questions and then

Cara Taylor Swift:

there's a segment where I say to them, okay, well, let me tell

Cara Taylor Swift:

you a little bit about my process and we can then discuss

Cara Taylor Swift:

if you feel like that's a good fit for you. And so I will start

Cara Taylor Swift:

doing my process and it can be a little long winded. And I will

Cara Taylor Swift:

be aware of that, and looking for ways continuously to kind of

Cara Taylor Swift:

like ask a question and pull them into that process to

Cara Taylor Swift:

determine if it's a good fit for them. But I do find myself

Cara Taylor Swift:

continuously kind of now being aware of how much talking I'm

Cara Taylor Swift:

doing, and trying to find ways to have it more conversational

Cara Taylor Swift:

versus me just explaining the process to them. And I also try

Cara Taylor Swift:

when I'm going through that, because it can be a long winded

Cara Taylor Swift:

speech for me to refer back to things that they have told me.

Cara Taylor Swift:

So I'm referring back to maybe areas in their home where they

Cara Taylor Swift:

think they might want wall or or concerns they have about their

Cara Taylor Swift:

horse or their child being photographed, or questions that

Cara Taylor Swift:

they had and making sure that I'm answering those when I'm

Cara Taylor Swift:

going through that process. Those are probably the biggest

Cara Taylor Swift:

things that we haven't covered already. But I just think it's

Cara Taylor Swift:

really important. If you can take the time to think about and

Cara Taylor Swift:

practice being a good listener, it will actually help you ask

Cara Taylor Swift:

better questions in the end. And part of that is just because

Cara Taylor Swift:

you're spending the time listening, which helps you then

Cara Taylor Swift:

understand what you need to ask next. And can mentioned also,

Cara Taylor Swift:

you know, not thinking about what you're going to say next

Cara Taylor Swift:

while they're talking like, actually spend the time

Cara Taylor Swift:

listening to them and not trying to rehearse your response that

Cara Taylor Swift:

you're about to give them as soon as they quit talking can be

Cara Taylor Swift:

really helpful. Like that will come to you when you need it.

Cara Taylor Swift:

You know those answers, but you don't need to necessarily think

Cara Taylor Swift:

about how you're going to say that like actually take the time

Cara Taylor Swift:

to listen.

Kimberly Beer:

Absolutely. I think all of those are great

Kimberly Beer:

tips. And the author's name that I was hunting for is Tony

Kimberly Beer:

Hillerman. So, if you want to read it, oh good. You found it

Kimberly Beer:

novel. Yeah. Ellerman Yes, just in time, just in time to close a

Kimberly Beer:

call. Yes, Tony Hillerman is an awesome author. So and you learn

Kimberly Beer:

a lot of really good listening skills by following some of the

Kimberly Beer:

things in his books. Okay, so

Cara Taylor Swift:

I think that's it for us today then on

Cara Taylor Swift:

asking better questions. We hope you guys have enjoyed this

Cara Taylor Swift:

episode. A couple things to consider are big three, what is

Cara Taylor Swift:

your motivation for asking the question? Ask questions that beg

Cara Taylor Swift:

for longer answers and take the time to really become a good

Cara Taylor Swift:

listener. We hope you guys have enjoyed this episode. If you

Cara Taylor Swift:

did, please let us know. We'd love to hear from you over on

Cara Taylor Swift:

social media, Instagram and Facebook, specifically at The

Cara Taylor Swift:

Business Animal. You can find us online at the business

Cara Taylor Swift:

animal.com And on all of the places that you listen, there

Cara Taylor Swift:

usually is a place that you can rate review, you can follow us,

Cara Taylor Swift:

you can subscribe and you can download any of those options we

Cara Taylor Swift:

love. It helps us get our episodes out to other animal

Cara Taylor Swift:

based business owners just like you.

Jaz:

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Business

Jaz:

Animal. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And

Jaz:

if you learned something today, leave us a review. To learn

Jaz:

more. Find us at thebusinessanimal.com We'd love

Jaz:

to hear from you. Until next time, keep your business well

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