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Part - II

Imagine that as a salesperson for a credit card agency you have to visit a prospective customer for the first time. You call on the person because the marketing department gave you a lead that he has an interest in your products. Early in the visit you learn that the marketing department was right, and the person is indeed planning to get a credit card. You start to ask questions to see what he has in mind. Does he know anything about credit cards or about your agency? Does he even know whether a credit card will do what he needs to do? You know nothing about the customer or his need, so the range of probe will be wide - you have to start with the situation.

As you find out more about the customer and the range of probe drops gradually. You should then probe to find out the problems the person is facing without a credit card or maybe with an existing card. Does the present card have a very low credit limit? You should also identify the impact of these problems as you probe. Is the interest rate of the existing card too much for him? Can you sell him a card with lower interest rates and more freebies? The answer to these questions shall help you identify the specific needs of the customer. Which bank's card would be suitable for him? What should be the minimum cash-limit on the card? Or maybe, can he be given a card at all?

If you observed, you moved from the situation to the problem and their impact and finally to the need. The funnel-shaped approach helps you to explore a wide scope and touch upon issues that you normally may overlook. Looking back to our example think about the loss of the person if he is given a gold card: the man spends half a million on the card is unable to pay back on time. Imagine your loss - will the man ever recommend anyone to your agency? During the interaction if you ask him the right question you will know that possibly a silver card is most appropriate for this customer.

As you realize effective probing creates a win-win situation in any interaction. You can save unnecessary expenses, loss of credibility and obviously a lot of rework and time. As they say, the trick lies in working smarter and one of the ingredients for that is probing effectively.

Concluded.

* Contributed by -
Rajiv Das,
Systems Engineer,
Wipro Technologies,
Madhapur,Hyderabad.