Questions to ask in business and sales

A sale, a supplier contract or a business purchase goes better when the hard questions come first. These sets are for owners, salespeople and consultants: client discovery, vetting suppliers and agencies, buying or starting a business, and meeting founders, investors and marketing leaders.

218 sets · 10,025 questions · each with a note on why

A few to start with

How much of this year's plan is already committed?
Sponsorships, event contracts, agency retainers, and annual tool licenses can consume most of a budget before the year starts. The uncommitted remainder is the only part where a new idea, including yours, can land.
From: Questions to Ask a CMO
How are you planning to use it?
The same jacket, pan or laptop is right for one use and wrong for another, and shoppers do not always know which details matter. Listen for the hardest thing they will ask of it, such as rain, a daily commute or a toddler, and recommend for that.
From: Retail Questions to Ask Customers
What do you expect from me, and what will you be doing yourselves?
Plenty of projects stall on the client's side of the line: the content that never arrives, the interviews nobody books. Naming their tasks in the first conversation makes it much easier to bring one up later when it is late.
From: Questions to Ask a New Client
Do you work on landing pages, or is that our side?
Campaign performance is capped by the page it lands on, and this is where responsibility most often falls between two parties. Settle it before results are disputed rather than after.
From: Questions to Ask a PPC Agency
How is yours different from the similar one I saw in the next aisle?
At a show the competitor is a two-minute walk away, so the rep expects this and usually has a sharp answer. Take the claim to the other booth and put the same question there. Where both accounts agree, you have a real difference to weigh.
From: Questions to Ask Vendors at Trade Shows
What is your food cost as a percentage of sales, and how do you calculate it?
A useful answer comes from counted inventory and supplier invoices: opening stock plus purchases minus closing stock, set against food sales. 'About a third' with no count behind it is a guess. Ask for three months of invoices from the main supplier and do the sum yourself, then compare the result with what restaurants of the same type in your area run.
From: Questions to Ask When Buying a Restaurant

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