77show a prospect that you are genuinely interested, you
must be the person who asks the most thoughtful ques-
tions. To convince a company that you understand it,
you will ask the best follow-up questions—based on its
answers. To convince a company that you will be a good
consultant to them over the course of the contract, you
will have out-learned your competitors by the inventive-
ness and quantity of your questions. Your curiosity will
get you the business. But you can’t just rely on impul-
sive, on-the-spot questioning. Being prepared is the se-
cret. Preparing your questions is even more important
than preparing the presentation of your services.
Indiana’s former basketball coach Bobby Knight al-
ways said, “The will to win is not as important as the
will to prepare to win.” This is not only useful in busi-
ness. If you are about to have an important conversa-
tion with your spouse or teenager, it is very useful to
prepare your curiosity rather than your presentation.
When you prepare your curiosity, you always seem
to have one more question to ask before you leave, just
like Lt. Columbo from the old TV show now showing in
reruns on cable. As the character played by Peter Falk,
Columbo disarmed his subjects by asking so many seem-
ingly impromptu questions. Like a disorganized but in-
nocently charming child, he would ask about the tiniest
things. As he prepared to leave, he always paused at
the door, as if absent-mindedly remembering something
he forgot to ask. “Excuse me sir,” he would say, apolo-
getically. “Would it inconvenience you if I asked you
one more question?”
Great relationship-builders ultimately learn that the
sale most often goes to the most interested party and
the quantity and quality of your questions will measure
your level of interest. You might be thinking that this
Be a good detective