How’s Your Day Going?

“How’s your day going?”

It sounds like small talk.

But it can be one of the best questions you ask.

The problem is what we normally do with the answer.

“How’s your day going?”

“Crazy.”

“Yeah, me too. Anyway…”

We asked the question.

They answered.

And then we completely ignored the answer.

What if instead you got curious?

“Crazy?”

And then stopped talking.

Now they might tell you.

“We’re short-staffed.”

“We’ve got a huge project that’s behind schedule.”

“My boss just dropped something on me.”

“We’ve had customers calling all morning.”

Suddenly, you’re not making small talk anymore.

You’re learning something.

This is one of the simplest ways to improve almost any conversation.

Listen for the word that has energy in it.

Crazy.

Frustrated.

Excited.

Busy.

Concerned.

Overwhelmed.

Then double-click it.

“Frustrated?”

“Concerned?”

“Busy?”

You don’t always need another beautifully crafted question.

Sometimes you just need to notice what the other person said.

That’s particularly important in sales.

Because prospects give us clues all the time.

The problem is we’re often so focused on the next question we want to ask that we miss them.

So next time you ask someone:

“How’s your day going?”

Actually listen to the answer.

There might be a conversation hiding inside it.