An Invaluable Tool for Any Professional – the New Power Questions Smartphone App

GUEST POST BY ANDREW SOBEL

Note from Bob:  If you are a Leader who “Leads with Questions” (or desire to become one) you are going to be thrilled with my good friend Andrew Sobel’s new “Power Questions” app!  In today’s post I asked Andrew to share with you all about this incredible new app that he has spent the past year developing! You will immediately want to get this app, just as I have done.

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Mark Twain, American Author and Humorist

Good questions help us get to the heart of our most important issues, at work and in life.

When I wrote Power Questions with Jerry Panas, I thought it would do well. But I had no idea that it would strike such a nerve. It’s been translated into 20 languages, and been a bestseller in multiple countries. More importantly, as I developed the material further in my work with both for-profit and nonprofit clients, I started seeing real, immediate, positive behavior change. I thought: With smartphone technology, why not put all these techniques and questions in the palm of our hand—through an App?

So here it is. The Power Questions App took over a year to develop, and it’s now in the Apple Store and Google Play Store. It will give you the right question you need at just the right time, for dozens of meeting scenarios.

I am such a fan of Bob Tiede—both for his work with CRU and his passion for questions—that I have extended the 50% launch discount on the App for another full week for his readers. There’s more in this App than in a $20 hardcover book.  Until March 8^th—when the price goes up to $3.99–for an investment of only $1.99 you will have access to:

• Over 500 questions
• Questions sorted by 43 different meeting scenarios
• Strategy tips for each meeting scenario, in addition to 10-12 Power Questions
• 25 short videos I created on Power Question strategies, only available in this App
• The opportunity to share your “Power Questions Story” (the Your Story tab), get it published on my website, and read others’ stories about using questions in their key relationships

If you’d like to get the App, here are the links:

APPLE STORE

GOOGLE PLAY STORE

And if you like the App, I’d be grateful if you would consider rating it…thanks!

TO WHET YOUR APPETITE, HERE ARE 15 IMPACTFUL WAYS YOU CAN USE POWER QUESTIONS

1. Focus the conversation: “From your perspective, what’s the most important issue we should be discussing this morning?”
2. Understand their agenda and high-level goals:“Why are you…?”, “What key goals or accomplishments will you personally be evaluated on at the end of the year?”
3. Test for urgency: “Where would you position this among your priorities right now?”, “What is your timing to act on this?”
4. Determine value: “What is the value of fixing this right now?”, “When fully realized, how much do you estimate this opportunity is worth?”
5. Enable self diagnosis: “How would you rate the level of collaboration in your department on a scale of one to five?”, “In determining compensation, would you say you are more focused on internal equity or market equivalence? Which end of the scale are you moving towards, and why?”
6. Understand personal impact: “How will this initiative impact your own role and set of responsibilities?”
7. Increase personal understanding: “You’ve been in this business for over 20 years now…I’m curious, how did you get your start?”, “You’ve achieved a great deal in your career—is there still something you’d like to accomplish?”
8. Gain commitment: “What options are you considering? What are you leaning towards? What would enable you to make a final decision?”
9. Identify desired behavior change: “As you look at how your people are dealing with this challenge, what specific things do you wish they would do differently or better?”
10. Broaden the canvas: “Can you tell me about some of the interdependencies in your organization? For example, how will the success of this depend on X, Y, or Z?”
11. Reframe: “What are other contributing factors to this problem?”
12. Challenge: “I’m curious, how did you decide upon 8% as a goal? Some of our clients have achieved 10-15%.”
13. Tap into emotion and passion: “As you look at all of your initiatives, what are you personally most excited about?”, “What legacy would you like to leave here?”
14. Identify stakeholders: “Who are the key stakeholders in your organization who will have a role in this?”
15. Learn about relationship habits: “I’m curious, who have been your most trusted advisors or service providers, and how did they earn that position with you?”

Andrew Sobel is the leading authority on the strategies and skills required to create consistent revenue growth through lifelong client loyalty and trusted business partnerships. He is the most widely published author in the world on this topic, having written eight acclaimed books on building clients for life, including the international bestsellers Power Questions and Clients for Life.  You can connect with Andrew @ AndrewSobel.com