Probing Skills

Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

Identify probing as a skill

Identify the significance of probing for good customer
service

Identify the formula of probing and select the correct one
for it

Identify types of questions

Practice effective probing
Lets consider a real-life scenario
Leena, I want
to buy a dress
for myself.. Will
you help me?
1.Ya sure Neha
, when do you
have to wear it
3. What's
your budget?
4. What is
the
occasion?
5. Whats your
favourite
colour?
6. You like
traditional
wear or the
modern
wear?
2. Do you
have any
particular
designer in
mind?
Lets Discuss the importance of each question
1. First question will help Leena to know the urgency to
go out for shopping.

2. Second question will help Leena to focus on a
particular showroom, if any.

3. Third one will help Leena to narrow down the options
according to the budget.

4. Fourth question will help Leena to understand how
formal/informal the dress should be.

5. This will further help in narrowing the options

6. This will finally help them go to the most appropriate
store to buy their choice of dress without wasting much
of a time
So what did we notice?

Role of questions in the various situations.

Importance of asking right questions at the right time.

Asking right question is a skill that is sometimes given the least attention to

Asking the right questions helps in understanding the perspective of the
person we are talking to

Clears Misunderstanding

Strengthen or break our assumptions



What is Probing???
Probe: To search or explore very thoroughly
Probing:

To ask investigating questions to develop the understanding

Probing is a technique of questioning to discover what a persons need, wants and
his opinion about a certain issue
Everyone can ask questions, but the art of asking the right questions
at the right time is a skill that needs to be mastered
Why is Probing Important in
customer service?
Probing helps you to:
Uncover and develop customers need
Focus your customer on issues that you want them to consider
Change tracks in a discussion
Makes the other person think
Keep the other persons attention
Prove to your customer that you really care for them
Sometimes helps in closing a deal


What is an Effective Probing?
Uncover customers concern and develop a
solution for the issue
Encourage the customer to talk
Keep the customer interested
...but above all
Formula For Probing
eneral Information centric
They include questions regarding issues like:

Situation
eg. What was the mode of payment?

Background
eg. When did you request for the change in plan?

Confirmation
eg. When can you pay the Bill?




Explanation centric
They include questions regarding issues
like:

Pin pointing the problem
eg. I understand that this is the exact / type/
department/ problem you face. Am I right?

Weighing pros and cons on each of the
solutions
eg. X solution will take more time than Y.
Would that suit you?
TAT (Turn Around Time) centric
They include questions regarding issues like:

Deciding the final solution
eg. Sir/Madam, so should we go for solution X?

Confirming/ Agreeing on the solution plan and TAT
eg. So solution X will require ___ cost and
___time. Will you be comfortable?

Giving a promise of delivery with stated TAT
eg. Can we freeze on ___ date to deliver X
solution?
Bheja Fry
Lets quiz our observations
Workbook
activity!
Types of questions
Categorized on the basis of answers expected from the questions.
Close Ended
Questions
Open Ended Question
These kind of question are expected to generate an
answer which is :
Descriptive
Urges to give opinion
In the round about fashion
Facilitates frankness
Helps in understanding
Helps build rapport
Closed Question
These kind of question are expected to generate an
answer which is :
Concise
Urges to give facts
Pin points
Yields more accurate information
Helps in clarifying
Helps in achieving Customer satisfaction
Close Ended
Questions
Examples of close ended and
open ended questions
Closed-Ended Question
Open-Ended Question
Do you get on well with your boss?

Who will you vote for this election?

What color shirt are you wearing?
Tell me about your relationship with
your boss

What do you think about the two
candidates in this election?

That's an interesting colored shirt
you're wearing
Precaution
Dont ask too many questions which can irritate customers

Dont ask unnecessary questions, stick to the customers concern

Maintain a polite and friendly tone throughout the conversation

Be genuinely eager to help

Be a professional and dont use colloquial phrases like oh my god, What the
hell etc
Any questions