Which type of question is most effective for identifying a customer's shopping priorities?

• A. Leading questions are most effective for identifying a customer's shopping priorities.
• B. Open-ended questions are most effective for identifying a customer's shopping priorities.
• C. Yes/No questions are most effective for identifying a customer's shopping priorities.
• D. Rhetorical questions are most effective for identifying a customer's shopping priorities.

Answer: (B)

Open-ended questions are best for identifying a customer's shopping priorities because they invite detailed, descriptive responses that reveal what matters most to the buyer, why those factors matter, and how they’ll weigh different options. When you ask what, how, why, or tell me more about, you create space for the customer to share their goals, constraints, and decision criteria in their own words. This deeper insight lets you tailor recommendations, confirm fit, and guide the conversation toward the solutions that truly align with their needs.

Leading questions push toward a pre-imagined answer and can bias what the customer reveals about their priorities, which adds risk of missing the real preferences. Yes/No questions constrain the response to a simple yes or no, leaving out the reasons, trade-offs, and nuances that show what’s important to the customer. Rhetorical questions don’t gather actual information from the customer, so they don’t help uncover priorities. Open-ended questions, by contrast, fuel genuine discovery and a clearer understanding of the buyer’s true shopping priorities.