| Game |  Opener |
Team-building |
| Categories: | Energizer |
Review |
| Communication |
 Topical: Sales |
Purpose: To help educate sales representatives about asking effective questions in sales situations.
Time Required: 20 to 30 minutes.
Size of Group: 10 to 15.
Materials Required: A judge’s gavel.
The Exercise in Action: Asking probing yet sensitive questions is a critical skill for salespeople, and nothing can upset a sales prospect more than having to field judgmental questions. Lynn Tiutczenko, a training and development specialist with Northwestern Mutual Life in Milwaukee, uses a trainer-led discussion accompanied by videotapes on developing questioning skills. Participants are then given a chance to practice what they’ve learned by participating in a “Judge Mental” exercise.
The trainer selects one participant—or possibly a participant’s supervisor—to act as “Judge Mental,” an authority figure who is given a sign displaying his or her title, a designated table or “bench” at the front of the room, and a gavel. The trainer acts as the sales prospect or client, and the participants act collectively as the agent. (This exercise can be adapted for service training by creating a role-play scenario and having participants act as customer service representatives.)
Participants use a company fact-finder as the basis for their questioning; their mission is to develop a sense of the client’s needs. It is Judge Mental’s task to listen to each question and, if it is worded or delivered in judgmental fashion, to rap on the table with the gavel to stop the questioning. The Judge then explains why the question needs to be improved, and participants put their heads together to formulate a more appropriate question.
Each person asks questions for a set number of minutes, and either trainer or participants serve as timekeeper. Typically, the exercise lasts 30 minutes, so if there are 15 participants, each asks questions for about two minutes.
Tiutczenko says participants enjoy hearing how peers formulate and ask questions, and for the trainer it’s a fun way to test participants’ understanding of questioning skills and concepts.