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Questions - 6 - Using questions to persuade
Posted by Aphra Behn on February 8, 2007
We took a brief look at the various things a good sales person can achieve with questions, now lets take a brief look at what questions they use.
We’ve already looked at what Hopkins calls “the tie down”. Annoyingly, the entire bloody planet under the age of 30 is using it, innit?
Hopkins considers three other main categories of questions in sales to be
- The Alternate of Choice
- The Porcupine
- The Involvement Question
The Alternate of Choice is a question with two answers, either one of which takes you forward.
Bush: Shall we launch air-strikes against Iraq, or invade with land-troops?
Blair: Oh, er, whatever you think best. Do you think I look more statesmanlike if I hold on to the podium with one hand or two?
By stating the options, the questioner is subtly excluding other options such as - to pluck an example out of the air - not attacking Iraq in the first place or, in Blair’s case, being a self-deluded wanker.
We’ve already met the Porcupine. At its simplest this is merely answering a question with another question.
Bush: Shall we launch air-strikes against Iraq, or invade with land-troops?
Blair: I don’t know. What do you think is best?
But it can be used to regain control of the conversation and point it in another direction
Bush: Shall we launch air-strikes against Iraq, or invade with land-troops?
Blair: What the f***? What makes you think that invading Iraq is a good idea?
Actually, that last one is a dangerous one, because it would let Bush detail his entirely spurious reasons and make them even more convincing, to himself at least. A better way to change direction would have been:
Blair: What the f***? Do you want to be considered a war criminal?
Oh dear. One can but dream. That was all in rather poor taste, innit?
Involvement questions are questions which make the person being questioned imagine themselves in the future.
What would be the minimal amount of paperwork required to grant the rebuilding contracts to Haliburton?
Won’t it be wonderful when people think of you as a Great World Leader for winning what looks like a straight-forward war?
When you’ve unlocked the Iraqui oil fields, will you have a direct majority share-holding in the company that controls them, or will you hide it in a series of investment trusts?
As you can see, sales people use questions in ways which go far beyond the simple investigative questions of Rudyard Kipling, Aristotle and Lewis Carroll.
I feel I owe you an apology for the examples though.
February 9, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Thought I’d comment to show I was reading these - you seem to have scared everyone away!
My brother works in sales, he is good at it but dislikes it immensely - he feels bad if he manipulates someone into a purchase just to make the sale. He got out of certain areas of sales because of that and now deals only with people that already want something but don’t kow which of a set of products is the best for them.
He is great to take shopping as he uses the same techniques to negotiate discounts on big ticket items.
February 9, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Yeah, I do seem to have stunned the rest of the internet into silence, don’t I? My stats haven’t taken a dive though, so I assume people are reading.
Unethical practice is unethical, simple as that. Sales techniques shouldn’t be used to manipulate, but used as your brother is using them, to help people navigate their way between choices.
Do you hire him out? I could do with him when I go shopping for a new kitchen!
Aphra.
February 9, 2007 at 5:05 pm
You’ll have to wait until after we’ve got our new sofa
February 13, 2007 at 11:45 pm
I’ve been reading and trying to digest this. I have never really thought about the power of questions before, and I am thoroughly enjoying this series.
And I LOVE your examples, I don’t find them in bad taste at all. If only more people in the mainstream were asking those particular ones. I particularly enjoyed “Do you want to be considered a war criminal?”
February 14, 2007 at 12:31 am
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed this series hmh.
Having produced this set of examples, I really couldn’t work out any alternatives. I rather like the podium question myself, but then Blair would have problems finding his arse with both hands tied behind his back.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Aphra.