I think probing questions should be left to Attorneys in a court room. Salespeople are often taught to ask probing questions. But who wants to be probed? Do You? I didn’t think so. Neither do your prospects. Steve Yastrow has it exactly right in his recent blog post. In it he states:

“Questions are effective, but they are most effective in the context of a conversation. To Joe’s customers, these questions didn’t feel like a conversation. They felt like an interrogation.

Conversation is a key element of any relationship-building customer interaction. Customers will feel more comfortable if the questions you ask are integrated into a back-and-forth dialogue than if they come rapid-fire, one after another.”

He goes on to explain more about how to conduct the “conversation”. It is well worth the read. You can get the entire article here.