'We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It's our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.'
- Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com head
To be successful in most situations, be it business, work or play, you need to have good communication skills. Being successful also means talking, listening and communicating your needs and wants. In business, customers mean business. If you want to sell a product or promote an idea, you need customers. Therefore, customer contact is crucial, and communication is key to your success.
Communication also means professionalism. Like your attitude and appearance, the way in which you communicate, as well as ask and answer questions, should be a reflection of your consistent professionalism.
Of equal importance is understanding your customers' background and personality.
Asking questions is important in most situations. The purpose of questions in business is to find out more about your customer, their concerns or about the product you want to sell them. Every question should be designed to gain information that will be helpful to them and in closing the sale.