who doesn’t want to hear the right answer? But, do you know that only when you ask the right question, you can get the right answer.

Before we get into the topic, I would like to state Albert Einstein’s quote,

“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask.”

Einstein knew that before you can find the right answer, you first need to find the right question.

A Recent Incident of Encountering with a Client

We recently got a project to offer our freelance services. I shared a 

detailed questionnaire with my friend that we need to send to the client. If the client responds to every question, we can understand them and their business clearly. But the answers are not as detailed as I expected. As a result, I had to ask the client more questions to get the details I seek.

What do you think is the reason?

My friend had vomited some questions and descriptions to some questions.

To be frank, even you don’t know what to say when someone asks you a question. So you give a generalised answer.

But when someone adds details like what they expect from you, you give the exact response they are seeking.

You must be wondering how detailed the questions would be. So I will share one of those questions.

One Question from the Questionnaire

IDENTITY (Who you are)?

[What makes you a special person in the eyes of your Audience? CATEGORIES:

(a) Age, relevant physical traits

(b) Personality traits

(c) Acquaintances, network and special relationships

(d) Personal and professional history/heritage

(e) Stories and personal anecdotes you like to tell

(f) Idiosyncrasies, dislikes, people and things you hate and/or fight against, personal crusades

(g) Culture, interests, passions, causes you to believe in

(h) Beliefs, personal challenges, ambitions, values

(i) Purpose (the ultimate reason behind your actions)

(j) Vision (who you would like to become in the mid or long-term future)]

What will you do if someone adds this description to the question? Yes, you will introspect and give as detailed an answer as possible.

You know what?

My friend vomited this beautiful question when creating the form.

You can look at the response I received from a client.

One more situation leads me to set up the right expectations from a client. We started working, and when I asked him about the advance amount, I understood what the client was thinking. It helped me set my boundaries.

Final Thoughts

Only when you are clear regarding what you want to know, you get it. The same goes with asking the right questions as well. Moreover, you should have the guts to ask the right questions. Also, it will save a lot of time as well as avoid embarrassing situations.

I hope you find this post useful. If you want the questionnaire I use, do let me know by commenting below. It would mean the world to