Global

Discovering what the customer really needs: Questioning and active listening for sales teams

A ready-made course you customise for your organisation, with a live session deck and two surveys. You only add the 10 details that are specific to your organisation.

See the live deckSee the full outline
Try the coursePreview the survey
Length
40 min
Lessons
6 lessons
Frequency
At seller onboarding
Last reviewed
21 Oct 2026
Grey areas: customer types, hidden motives and awkward replies
What would you do?

A customer enters a branch and says "just looking"

Try it: this is one of 16 interactive activities in the course.

What's included

Three pieces that work together

Copy once, get everything. Learners prepare on their own, you answer questions live, and the surveys tell you what stuck.

Self-paced course

Short lessons with real workplace scenarios, not walls of text.

  • 6 lessons, about 40 minutes
  • Process, sorting activity, scenario, tabs and quizzes

Live session deck

An AhaSlides presentation to run after the course, in person or online.

  • 10 slides
  • Quiz, poll, scale, open-ended slides
  • A closing slide for your contacts

Two surveys

Find out what landed, and whether people use it on the job.

  • Post-course feedback, about 2 minutes
  • 30-day check-in
  • Anonymous by default
  • Results feed your next refresher

Learning objectives

At the end of this course, learners can

Each objective and the lesson that covers it.

IDObjectiveSourceWhere it's covered
TO 381.0Achieve ≥ 80% on the final assessment-Whole course
SO 381.1Explain why discovery comes before the pitchBest practiceWhole course
SO 381.2Choose open, closed and probing questions for a purpose, and rewrite a closed question as an open oneBest practiceWhole course
SO 381.3Listen actively and play back what you heard in your own wordsBest practiceWhole course
SO 381.4Find the need behind the request and the buying motive in a customer's statementBest practiceWhole course
SO 381.5Summarise needs and check agreement before you pitch, within the selling rules for regulated products + your infoOrganisation's selling rules ; local consumer-protection rules [secondary]Whole course

Your part: what a template can't do for you

  • Your workplace details: fill in the 10 highlighted fields so the course describes your own policies, contacts and locations.
  • Records: record completion in your own LMS or record system.

Course outline

6 lessons, about 40 minutes

Minutes per lesson are an estimate, shared out by page count.

ContentInteractiveVideoYou customise
1

A customer who was pitched at for ten minutes

3 pages

8 min
Before you beginNoteList
An invented storyTextImage
What was missing?ChecklistKey factQuiz
2

Open, closed and probing questions, and listening

3 pages

8 min
Three kinds of questionTabs
Rewrite the questionFlashcards
Listen, then play backProcessTextMatching quiz
3

Finding the real need, and summarising before you pitch

3 pages

8 min
The request and the needAccordion
Summarise and checkProcessNote
Put it in orderSorting activityQuiz
4

Grey areas: customer types, hidden motives and awkward replies

3 pages

8 min
ScenarioScenario
ScenarioScenario
Spot the motiveSorting activityMatching quiz
5

Putting it into your next call, and where to get help

2 pages

5 min
SupportProcessYour infoYour infoYour infoYour infoYour info
Your next callChecklistMulti-select quiz
6

Final assessment

1 page

3 min
PracticeQuizKey factNoteButtonYour info

Live deck and surveys

10 slides to run live, two surveys to close the loop

Pink slides are interactive. Both surveys are anonymous; pink questions are written for this course.

ContentTitle, agenda, "not legal or professional advice
PollIn a typical call, how much of the time are you talking?
ContentOpen, closed and probing questions, and the play-back
QuizWhich is the open question? ("What matters most about this for you?" ✔)
QuizI cannot be without it for a week" shows which motive? (Speed and continuity ✔)
QuizA customer says "just looking". Best response? (Welcome them and ask one open question ✔)
ScaleHow confident are you finding the real need behind a request?
Open-endedRewrite one closed question you use often as an open one
Q&AAsk the trainer anything
Content · customiseClosing {{SALES_ENABLEMENT_CONTACT}}, {{SURVEY_1_URL}}, {{SURVEY_2_URL}}, {{COURSE_URL}}
Post-course feedback: 11 questions, about 2 min
  1. Overall rating 5 stars
  2. Relevant, realistic, right length, helpful activities agree/disagree grid
  3. What was most useful? multi-select
  4. Confidence before this course, and now 1-5 scale
  5. How many discovery questions do you ask in a typical call now? (estimate) short text
  6. How confident are you uncovering budget and decision makers? 1-5 scale
  7. In your last conversation, did you check agreement on the need before you pitched? multiple choice
  8. I feel able to slow a conversation down to ask more questions. 1-5 scale
  9. One thing we should change or add open text
  10. Would you recommend this course? NPS
30-day check-in
  1. Have you used what you learned since the course? multiple choice
  2. How confident are you today? Compare with day 1 1-5 scale
  3. Do you know where to find the sales playbook and the sales enablement contact? yes / no / not sure
  4. A moment where the training helped, or where you weren't sure open text
  5. Which topics should the next refresher focus on? ranking

Results show whether people use the training on the job, not just whether they finished it.

Make it yours

10 fields to fill in, and you're ready

Everything else is done. These are the details only your organisation knows; each one is highlighted inside the course.

  • Sales enablement contact{{SALES_ENABLEMENT_CONTACT}}
  • Compliance contact{{COMPLIANCE_CONTACT}}
  • Sales playbook link{{SALES_PLAYBOOK_LINK}}
  • Sales conduct policy link{{SALES_CONDUCT_POLICY_LINK}}
  • Crm system{{CRM_SYSTEM}}
  • Escalation route{{ESCALATION_ROUTE}}
Show all 10 fields
  • LMS or record system{{LMS_OR_RECORD_SYSTEM}}
  • Survey 1 URL{{SURVEY_1_URL}}
  • Survey 2 URL{{SURVEY_2_URL}}
  • Course URL{{COURSE_URL}}

FAQ

Common questions

Can I run discovering what the customer really needs: Questioning and active listening for sales teams training online?

Yes. The course is self-paced and online, and the live deck lets you add a live session in the room or online.

How often is this training needed?

At seller onboarding, before a new product or segment push, and as a refresher when calls show too much pitching and too little listening.

Who needs this training?

Sellers, store and branch staff, and customer success reps who run conversations with buyers (run by L&D with sales enablement).

What records should I keep?

Record completion in your own LMS or record system, so you can show who finished the course and when.

Can I edit the content?

Yes, everything. Change the wording, swap scenarios for ones from your workplace, add your logo, or remove parts that don't apply.

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Last reviewed: 21 October 2026Templates are a starting point, not legal advice.

Ready to run it?

Open the live deck to see how the session runs alongside the course and both surveys.

See the live deck