Ask and Learn

I have been doing some mystery shopping lately and I have discovered an interesting pattern. Even in the places that are, comparatively speaking, very good, there is common weakness. People are great at answering questions but very few ask any. On the weekend, I went with a friend to look at a $90,000 boat he was thinking of buying. We spent over half an hour talking to the salesman because he was so knowledgeable. But if my friend and I hadn't asked any questions, the sales call would have lasted less than 5 minutes. The salesman didn't ask one question. How could he possiibly understand his customer's needs without asking questions? As Stephen Covey wrote in the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, seek first to understand and then to be understood.