In a research meeting we are trying our best to follow the 95-5 Rule, where we listen 95% of the time and talk 5% of the time. One of the challenges we can face in this situation is that the contact may not understand what we're doing and why. In fact, they probably aren't used to this type of a call with a salesperson. Thinking it's a traditional sales call, they may ask us questions and expect us to take over the rest of the call by sharing our answer and other perspectives. Once that happens, the research meeting is over!

When the customer asks us a question, the onus is on us to answer right, in an attempt to keep the 95-5 Rule alive. The best and simplest response we can have when asked a question in this type of call, is to be honest and find out more about the question and the issues behind it before answering.

As an example, the customer could ask you, "How strong is your global presence?" You could go into the strength of your global presence, not knowing if your answer was good or bad, and in the process risk losing control of the call. Or you could answer the question with a question, by responding, "Why, is global presence important to you?" That could lead to another series of high impact questions, which could help you when you eventually answer the question.

Note: This is not done to avoid answering the question. It's done to help you maintain control and answer the question succinctly and appropriately. Answering a question with a question is a powerful skill that can serve us well in all of our sales activities.