Let’s talk about the important skill of asking the follow-up question.
This is one of the most important skills you can develop.
If you would rather listen to my 2-minute, 38-second podcast where this blog post originated, you can click the play button below.
If you prefer to read the transcript, keep scrolling because I have included it below.
{Transcript}
Welcome back to Legal Marketing Moments, my 2-3-minute podcast!
Let’s talk about the art of the follow-up question. This might sound trivial, but it is extremely important. In fact, probably one of the most important things you can be aware of when you are having a conversation with another person. And whether that is in-person, on the phone, on video, whether it be Zoom or Teams, or however else you are on audio, video or in-person with someone, this is really important.
When someone makes a comment to you about something, I want you to try really hard to not think about what it is that you are supposed to say next and focus very much on what they are saying. I had a conversation with someone close to me recently where he told me something about the conversation with another person, and I said, “Well, what caused that?” And he said, “I don’t know.” And so that caused me to think about the art of the follow-up, because when I asked him if he had followed up and asked him that question, and this was somebody who would have respected that follow-up question, wasn’t deeply personal, this person would have answered.
So I want you to remember that when someone makes a comment, whether that be about business, maybe they are sharing something with you that is personal, which is a clue. That’s a trigger that means they consider you close enough to share personal things with, so take that as that is. That means they brought you into their personal world.
But very often it is about business. And what I want you to do is to then think, well, okay, what is the follow-up question I should ask? And sometimes it’s as simple as,
“Wow, what does that mean?”
or,
“Why did they say that?”
Or any number of questions.
Somebody says, “Having a tough year,” don’t just let that sit. Again, they’ve trusted you. You might follow up by saying,
“I’m sorry to hear that. What does that mean?”
And then that doesn’t have to be it. Listen very closely to what they’re saying, and then decide whether a follow-up question is appropriate.
It is a conversation, so I want you to be very, very aware of it because when you are as aware as possible of what is going on in the minds of those who are important to you, then you stand the chance of building a more trusted relationship with that person.
And isn’t that what this is all about? You want them to know that they can trust you. Of course, you want them to know you’re smart.
