Exploratory questions are the easiest ones to ask of a current customer or a person you already have a relationship with. Don’t waste time asking lame questions like how their business is. Drill down deeper by inquiring about something that gets them to share information with you. Ask them something specific like, “How have you noticed your customers responding to the economy?” The goal is to get the customer to more deeply reflect on their business. Lead off with a good exploratory question and then proceed to ask them follow-up ones based on their initial response.
