I just had a participant in a class yesterday who talked about a situation that is common in the service world.  Many times a customer will call to order a product or service.  They think they have described what they want in perfect detail, yet we know that we do not have enough information.

 It is very important in a case like this to master some basic questioning techniques.  To avoid upsetting the customer we must first repeat what the customer said and then make a statement such as this: “Thank you for providing me with that information.  I now hope you can provide me with the following information so that I am sure to order exactly what you need.”  This statement validates that they are on the right track and basically asks permission to ask some additional questions.  Notice that the focus was on “I” not you. In other words, it is me who needs help, not YOU.  If the customer was told, “You haven’t given me enough information to place this order”, the customer might become defensive.

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