A pivotal pillar of structuring Customer Success is communication, and what you ask of your customers can greatly infuence the responses you receive from them. One of the major blunders that can lead to misguided feedback is the use of leading questions, which are the type of questions that guide the user toward a desired outcome.

For instance, "You are satisfied with the new feature, aren’t you?". The question suggests an answer making it more likely for the user to give an untrue because they are being prompted to agree even when they have objections. Instead of doing this, one would say, “What are your feelings about our new feature?” which asks for real engagement.

Listening to customers starts with asking the right questions, not just waiting for complaints.

Jeff Bezos

Jeff is making it abundantly clear that there is value in being able to ask questions over proactively, resolving issues, and understanding customer needs before issues occur.

Strategies to Eliminate Leading Questions:

Avoiding leading questions allows you to earn the client’s trust, exposing true pain points allowing for better insights and guiding important decisions towards beneficial outcomes. Let us look at the key strategies to avoid leading questions. 

1. Formulate Open-Ended Questions

Why?

Open-ended questions give clients the opportunity to express the issues they face in their own words without having their thoughts restricted to simple yes/no responses. The outcome in this case will allow leading to greater levels of engagement and enhanced results.

Examples:

• "Did our onboarding experience work out for you?" (Assumes that the onboarding experience was simple.)
• "What is your assessment of our onboarding process?" (Provides room for free and unrestrained response.)

When customers respond without restrictions, you mitigate the chances of them being biased and gain more useful information.

2. Run Away From Bias in Your Questions

Why?

Holding a preconceived notion about a certain customer interaction can foster a response bias and prevent the disclosure of real issues. The best approach is to allow the customers to tell their own stories.

Examples:

• "Because you have a favorable opinion of our application, how often do you interact with it?" (Assumes that the customer has a favorable opinion of the application.)
• "What do you think about our mobile app? How do you use it?" (Can elaborate on their experience.)

Eliminating assumptions ensures that feedback will be genuine and in regard to the customers’ feelings.

3. Keep The Question Unsided

Why?

A question should never lead the customer to answer positively or negatively. Questions asked in a friendly manner will result in the user feeling free to provide their views openly.

Examples:

• "Could we classify your talk with the support team as a positive experience?" (Makes it likely that the customer responds positively)
• "Can you share the details about your interaction with the support team?" (Can be tackled from both ends, negative and positive. )

Neutral questions provide freedom to answer freely which allows your employees to pinpoint issues more constructively.

4. Customers Should Set the Tone of The Discussion

Why?

When customers feel valued, they are willing to offer helpful tips. Instead of controlling the flow of information, let them narrate from their own experiences.

Examples:

• "What do you make of the remarkable speed of our platform?" (Assumes that able the platform is speedy.)
• "What is your evaluation regarding the the platform's performance?" (Does not predispose the respondents. )

Letting customers steer the conversation allows them to share information that you may not have planned on discovering.

5. Use Following Questions When You Need More Details on A Certain Topic

Why?

Some visitors will find responding to some questions very easy leaving it. It becomes necessary to pass some additional requests in order to explain their customer journey and attention around feedback provided.

Examples:

• "So, you didn’t have any issues with the latest update, correct?" (Encourages agreement.)
• "Could you describe how you felt about the latest update? Which parts, if any, were enjoyable or engaging?” (For Empathy and Help Seeking Behavior) A simple suggestion, yet filled with possibilities.

By enabling inquiry, customers are encouraged to provide insightful meanings instead of simple agreements.

Conclusion:

As I observed, leading these questions may twist the feedback your customers give, meaning it takes that extra averting step to confront the challenge and say the change the customer wants to experience. Omitting the presumptive and particular free-ending in inquiries opens opportunities for engagement and trust to aid authentic insights.

Next time you're on a call, take a step back and assess whether the questions you prepared and thought of will add true value to your client's experience. If you begin with tackling these steps, you will not only improve conversations but will also help maintain trust with customers.