Open-Ended Questions

Is it a good time to talk?
Um, no.

Are you the right person?
Nope.

Open to another call?
No way!

Yes–no questions can hit hard…
…when asked at the RIGHT time.

Yet many of us ask them ALL the time.
Too often. Too soon.

They stifle conversation.
They paint people into a corner.
They rarely lead to big opportunities.

Ask more open-ended questions.
You won’t need many.
They're powerful. They pull people in.

This list comes from known experts.
Names that have shaped the craft.

Copy and paste these questions…
but then USE them.

Watch how well conversations go.
Notice how much more you learn.

✅ OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS
(and Statements)

• Give me some examples.
• What have we missed?
• What else?
• What additional items..?
• What are other reasons..?

• In what other ways..?
• Tell me about...
• What do you mean by..?
• How so?
• Why is that?

• What does that mean to you?
• How would you..?
• Elaborate…
• So what you’re saying is…
• How does this compare to..?  

• Who else needs to get involved?
• What makes you think..? 
• How do you select..? 
• What’s most important to you about..? 
• Where do you see..? 

• How have you employed..? 
• What has been your experience with..? 
• If you could change one thing about..? 
• How would you improve..? 
• What plans have you made to..?

• How will you do that? 
• How will you deal with that? 
• What plans have you made for..? 
• How will you use it to your advantage? 
• How will competitors react to that? 

• How are you capitalizing on..? 
• How much is one new customer worth?
• What would a 1% change look like? 
• How much is a new relationship worth? 
• How often do you..?

• How does this fit?
• What makes you ask?
• How do we know your team is on board?
• How valuable is..?
• How does this align with..?

• What prompted this change?
• Why is this now a priority?
• How do you measure..?
• How will this scale?
• How would you stack rank..?

What would you add to the list? 🙂

At Kahua, our salespeople, SDRs, CSMs, Solutions Consultants, and leaders ask open-ended questions deliberately - to get to the root of issues, to diagnose and prescribe, to uncover pain points and best practices, and so much more.

Feather these types of questions and statements into your conversations and watch the clouds part. You’ll understand and articulate more clearly - and squeeze the juice out of everyday dialogue.