Open vs. Directed Questions

An open question gives the prospect a field. "Tell me about your current pipeline process." A directed question gives the prospect a path. "When a deal has been in the proposal stage for more than thirty days, what is your team's protocol?" Both are useful. Neither is universally correct. The skill is knowing when to use which. Open questions work early — they reveal what the prospect thinks is important. Directed questions work later — they test your hypothesis about what is actually important.

The common mistake is asking only open questions and hoping the prospect stumbles into the problem you solve. That is not discovery — that is fishing. Directed questions demonstrate expertise. They show you have seen this pattern before. "In organizations at your revenue stage, the biggest pipeline leak is usually between qualification and proposal. Is that consistent with what you are seeing?" That question does three things: it demonstrates expertise, it proposes a hypothesis, and it invites the prospect to confirm, deny, or refine. Any response advances the conversation.