If you look at the Wordsmithie team part of our website, you will see that many Wordsmithies have outside interests besides writing and designing. Some of them are quite fascinating, and range from leading urban hikes through San Francisco to massage therapy to Emmy Award-winning TV work. I happen to be a business and life coach as well as Wordsmithie COO.

When someone comes to me for coaching, I first like to ask them questions that help elicit and clarify their goals.The first questions often include:

-What is your goal?

-How will you know when you achieved your goal?

-What would it be like once you have achieved that goal?

-Are there any potential downsides to getting your goal?

In a similar vein, at Wordsmithie we like to ask questions at the beginning of a new project to find out more about what our clients want to achieve from an engagement with us. These questions can include…

-What do you want to achieve with this engagement?

-What is your overall marketing strategy, and how does this project fit into your larger strategy and objectives?

-What would the ideal project engagement look like to you?

-What is your working style?

There are obviously more questions based on the context and team, but we like to gather information so that we come up with the right solution for our customer.

Why asking questions is so important

There are results you want to see from your marketing dollars. That is what people are really look for – results. We’re listening to make sure we get you the results you’re after.

The questions above are useful for gathering many other types of information. By drawing out all of the details, we paint a picture for ourselves of what a client is all about. Sometimes, especially if clients are unsure of goals or feeling stuck identifying desired outcomes, going back to the larger picture is helpful. By considering the strategy and the outcome, its easier to identify goals and KPIs that make expenditure of marketing dollars…well, forgive the pun, to makes that make “cents”!

Try asking these question the next time you want to get the full story about something, or just to dig a bit deeper if you’re having trouble identifying goals and outcomes.

In the meantime, we’re listening.