Faculty Guide

Session Flow with Timeline

Serial Session Topic Time

No.
1. Session Objective 5
2. Controlling a Discussion 5
3. Probing 15
4. Open Probes 5
5. Examples of Open Probes 5
6. Closed Probes 5
7. Examples of Closed Probes 5
8. Man on the Bed 20
9. Asking the Best Questions 20
9. Summary of Learning 5

Session Objectives

Activity Probes Derive Industry

Examples

Question How do you Ask questions,

based start a comment on things
discussion discussion with like weather - if
someone nothing else is
available.
Ask for the time

The purpose of this session is to enable the students understand

probing, types of probing & how to use them effectively. Ask one
student at random to read out the objectives of the session.

Controlling a discussion

Activity Probes Derive Industry

Examples

Question Now that you have Ask meaningful

based started the discussion questions.
discussion with this person - how
Carry out will you control the Discussion was first on
the discussion. the person, then on
exercise. At City administration. It
the end What was happening. was controlled by
ask the using well directed
class meaningful probes.
 Play this game with a student volunteer :

What is your name ?

Response : *************
Where do you stay ?
Response : **************
How do you commute from there daily to the resort ?
Response : **************
What do you feel about the Buses in coorg ?
Response : **************
Do you think that the Coorg administration is OK ?
Response : **************

At the end of the exercise ask the class.

Probing

Activity Probes Derive Industry Examples

QBD Have you heard Probing is to find out It is generally found

the word probing? something. out that successful
What is it? Customer Service
The needs and people are very
As Customer wants of a customer. skilled at
Service person questioning.
what sort of Asking meaningful
finding out is questions skilfully.
needed?
It should make the
How will you do it? other person think
on his needs before
As a Customer he replies.
Service person It should bring out
where is the the needs and
element of skill desires of the other
that is required to person.
probe It should be used to
successfully / ask control the
questions discussion
successfully?
A specific limited
What are the response
types of responses A detailed answer.
one can get to a
Question :
eg. What is you
 name? Closed probes
What do you
think of the
environmental Open Probes
impact of Global
warming?

Probes which get

short answer
responses are
called as ...
Probes which get
long answer
responses are
called as ...

A closed probe can get a long response too if the other person is very
talkative. Vice versa holds true for an open probe.

Open Probes

Activity Probes Derive Industry Examples

QBD Can someone Encourages a

state what is an customer to speak
open probe and freely.
what does it do?

Examples - Open Probes

Activity Probes Derive Industry Examples

QBD Can you suggest

some open probes
related to a
Customer Service
situation?

Comment on the various probes put forth by the students and explain
with suitable answers to the questions whether they are Open Probes
or not.
Closed Probes

Activity Probes Derive Industry Examples

QBD Can someone A question that

state what is a limits a customer
closed probe and response and can
what does it do? steer the topic of
discussion to a
subject of your
choice

Examples - Closed Probes

Activity Probes Derive Industry

Examples

QBD Can someone

Carry out the Man on the give us
bed exercise examples of
Closed
Read out the riddle to the Probes? Derivation:
class and ask the Open probes
participants to use Where are make the job of
questions to identify the closed probes fact-finding
missing links in the story used? much easier
and build the complete
story.
You will however provide
answers only by saying Yes
or No or by giving very
limited answers.
Carry out this exercise for
around 10 minutes. The
solution may not be arrived
at. The intention of this
exercise is to derive what is
probing and how it can be
used. Through QBD, check
from the participants what
kind of questions they have
used (they would have
essentially used closed
probes) and if open probes
and their answers were
allowed, would it have
made the job of fact-
finding that much easier.
Comment on the various probes put forth by the students and explain
with suitable answers to the questions whether they are Closed Probes
or not.
In some cases give a long answer to a closed probe to sensitise
students to the fact that a closed probe can receive a long answer if
the customer is talkative.

Faculty Note:
Exercise: The Man On The Bed. This objective of this
exercise is: (a) to derive two types of probes open and
closed & (b) establish the utility of open probes. The
solution of the exercise follows the riddle. You will read out
the riddle to the class and ask the participants to use
questions to identify the missing links in the story and build
the complete story. You will however provide answers only
by saying Yes or No or by giving very limited answers..
Carry out this exercise for around 10 minutes. The solution
may not be arrived at. The intention of this exercise is to
derive what is probing and how it can be used. Through
QBD, check from the participants what kind of questions
they have used (they would have essentially used closed
probes) and if open probes and their answers were
allowed, would it have made the job of fact-finding that
much easier.

The Man on The Bed

There is a room. In the room is a bed. On the bed is a man (his name is
John). Under the bed is a small pile of sawdust. On the floor by the
side of the bed is a piece of wood, ninety-nine and a half centimeters
long. The door opens and another man (his name is Mack) comes in.
He looks around the room, smiles to himself and walks out.
Faculty Note: SOLUTION TO THE MAN ON THE BED

The man on the bed (John) is dead.

Before his death he was the star of a circus, billed as the
shortest man in the world. He was exactly one metre tall. He
had a metre long stick (not a graduated metre rule) in his
room against which he measured himself on ceremonial
occasions.
The second man (Mack), also a dwarf, persuaded him (John)
that he (John) had grown by half a centimeter, so that he
himself (Mack) was now the shortest man, measuring
1.0025 metres (or 100.25cm). While the first man (John) was
absent from his room, the second man (Mack) sawed half a
centimetre off the stick and hid the sawdust.
When the first man (John) checked his height and found that
he had apparently grown half a centimetre, he committed
suicide because his supreme place in the worlds circus
community had seemingly been lost to his hated rival.

ASKING THE BEST QUESTIONS

This session will enable you to heighten Trainees awareness of the

variety of open and guest-friendly questions they may draw on
immediately to be able to learn how a particular guest is feeling at a
given moment during their stay.

Procedure
1. Ask Trainees to form groups of 6. Groups assemble round
flipcharts which face outwards from the middle of the room - so
that each group cannot see what the other groups will be writing
on their flipcharts.
2. Ask the groups to spend 5 minutes writing a list on the
flipchart of the most frequent questions they ask guests.
3. Groups then turn their flipcharts round so the whole group
can see them.

Look out for - questions repeated across the flipcharts;

closed questions
You can anticipate numerous closed questions such as :-
Would you like me to carry your luggage for you?
Is everything all right?
Have you had a good journey?
Have you enjoyed your stay?
Are you enjoying your stay? etc...
NOTE. Ask one member from each group to read out all the questions
from their teams flipchart. Continue around the room having each
group work read aloud with no discussion in between. After the last
flipchart is read, ask the group to comment on the degree of
enthusiasm and inspiration expressed in the readings. Most probably
you will have witnessed the monotone and rather downbeat tone that
accompanies the repetition of habitual phrases.
4. Once the group has shared their questions, ask them to solve
one of the puzzle stories on the next page and take care to
emphasise the rationale of the exercise in detail.
A key point is that we may be unconsciously relying on a
relatively small number of habitual closed questions to
learn our guests real requirements in our hotel. If we give
a guest the option of only a yes or no, a very significant
number will give us a polite answer which may suit us better
than it really suits them.

5. Ask the group to look closely at the array of closed

questions. In pairs, ask them to try to open up as many
of the questions as they can - so that guests have much
more opportunity to express their needs, wants and levels of
satisfaction.

6. After 5 minutes or so collect the improved and now open

questions on a flipchart.
Whilst writing them up, you have a chance to endorse particular
questions that you feel are guest-focused and worth promoting
in the hotel.

PUZZLE STORIES

Procedure
You are only permitted to answer yes or no as Trainees ask
questions of you. (NOTE: answers are on the following page).

1. A man with a pack on his back went into a field and died.
2. A man walked into a bar in Texas. He asked for a glass of
water. The barman pointed his gun at him. The man said
Thank you and walked out.
3. The telephone rang in the middle of the night and the woman
woke up. When she answered it the caller hung up. The caller
felt better.
4. A black-skinned man, dressed completely in black, is walking
down an unlit country road. Just as he is crossing the road, a
 large black car with no headlights comes rushing along. The
driver manages to avoid him.
5. A man went from Town A to Town B by train. On the way the
train went through a tunnel. In Town B the man went to see a
person. After the meeting he was very happy. He took the
train back to Town A. When the train went into the tunnel he
threw himself from the train.
6. A couple lie dead in a room. A dog is trying to get out of the
room.
7. A man had his arms out through the sides of a telephone booth.
The phone was off the hook. Outside the booth was a black
bag on the ground.
8. A person passed a window. A phone rang. The person
screamed.

Rationale

During the questioning there is a very high chance that you

will be asked the same question several times. This
illustrates how, as individuals attempting to solve a
problem, we do not always fully listen to the information
provided.
This exercise illustrates how frustrating and unhelpful closed
questions can be. We frequently rely on them in service
encounters but they often yield poor quality information
from guests.
Careful, structured questioning can realise a great
deal of useful information. In this exercise, for example,
open questions - if answered - would yield an explanation
immediately.
Typical examples of over-used and not very helpful
closed questions are :
(re-spun more open questions are indicated in italics)

Can I suggest we have a one-to-one once a week?

How often would you like a one to one?

Is everything all right for you?

What else might I get for you?
 Did you get something from that?
What was it that you got from that?

Did you understand/agree with what I said in the

briefing?
What is your understanding of what I said in the briefing?

PUZZLE STORIES - SOLUTIONS

1. The man jumped from an airplane but his parachute didnt open.

2. The man had hiccups. The shock of having a gun pointed at

him cured
him.

3. The woman and the caller were both guests in a hotel, but did
not know each other. Their rooms were next to each other. The
caller could not get to sleep because the woman was snoring.

4. It is day time.

5. The man was blind and went to Town B to see an eye-doctor,

who restored his sight. When the train went into a tunnel on his
return journey, the man thought he had gone blind again.

6. The couple are two goldfish whose bowl the dog has just
knocked over.

7. The man was a fisherman and the black bag contained an

enormous fish he had just caught. As he was telling his friend
about the catch, he put his arms out to show the length of the
fish. In the process, he smashed the glass on both sides of the
phone booth.

8. This happened just after the outbreak of the Third World War.
Bombs had dropped everywhere and this person was convinced
he was the last living person in the world. He decided to commit
suicide by jumping from the roof of a high building. Halfway
down, he heard the phone ring inside the building and realised
other people must be alive; hence the scream.

Summary of Learning

Activity Probes Derive Industry Examples

QBD Can someone Probing, Open
summarise the Probes, Closed
learning of the day probes and their
characteristics