This month’s success track is about is about the power of questions. I’m not referring to how your internal questions affect your focus and your state of mind. I’m talking about during a conversation or when you have the chance to connect with someone, how the questions you ask determine your level of connection with your clients, your prospects, your friends and even your loved ones.

It seems interesting to me how the goal of entrepreneurs and business professionals is to connect with more people, create value and help that person fill their need, yet a majority of these same entrepreneurs and business professionals that I meet everyday, really miss the mark on creating a connection.You all know that rapport comes from commonality, meaning having things in common, either consciously or unconsciously. You also know that people buy from people they like and trust. So it would seem to me that business professionals who have the intent of increasing their market share by generating more business would connect and create a positive, lasting impression with as many people as possible. Makes sense right?

Well, here’s the key to creating a real connection with another person and separating yourself as a business professional and as a person from the rest of the pack.

Ask more questions.

Yeah, that’s it… Ask more questions. The mistake I see the most in my own interaction with people is they get so focused on making sure you know how great they are, their accomplishments and of course who they know. From a human behavior standpoint, I understand that. All people have the need to show their value; some more than others of course.

There is a better way and I’m going to share with you how. Ask sincere and intentional questions. Asking questions about the other person rather than telling does three things:

1. It shows that you are interested in them as a person and what they do for a living. Remember the old saying…be interested, not interesting.

2. It displays self-confidence. By asking about the other person rather than telling about yourself, it speaks loudly about your self-confidence as a human being.

3. They leave you feeling good about themselves. People like to talk about themselves, so if you ask them sincere questions, it makes them feel good.

Remember the law of association from my previous success tracks; when people have a good feeling when they are around you, they want to talk with and meet with you again.From my perspective, that’s really the goal; creating a positive, lasting and sincere impression about the kind of person you are. It’s your personal brand.

With that in mind, here are four fundamental questions that you can implement into you connection strategy today:

1. Tell me about your business, tell me what you do?

2. How did you get started?

3. What do you like most about what you do?

4. What’s the biggest challenge in your business?

Obviously we could go in many directions with more questions, yet for the sake of duplication, these four questions should be your foundation; your fundamentals; your “go-to” questions. You will find the results are magic.

So how about you? On a scale of 0 – 10, 10 being the best, how would you rate yourself on asking good questions and creating a connection? If you’re on track, congratulations and keep up the good work. If you rated yourself on the low side, the good news is you can make a change today. That’s right, today. Write these four questions down on a note card, or put them in your notepad on your phone, and most importantly, start using them this week.

You can change the direction of your business and your life by making a few small changes, and who knows, this may be one of them for you. It’s the little things that make the big difference.

Great job today. This is your year to #RiseAbove.

This article was originally posted on February 17, 2014 by Dan Lier on www.danlier.com.