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They Ask, You Answer book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Marcus Sheridan saved his swimming pool company during the 2008 financial crisis by doing something most businesses resist: answering the questions customers were actually asking online, including the uncomfortable ones about price, problems, and comparisons with competitors.
Marcus Sheridan · 2017 · 4h 15m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 12 questions
- 1.
What questions do your prospects or customers ask most often that your company currently refuses to answer publicly? Why?
- 2.
Walk through Sheridan's Big Five for your industry. Which categories does your company currently address, and which does it avoid?
- 3.
Sheridan argues that publishing prices reduces friction and improves lead quality. What's the strongest objection at your company to doing that, and how does it hold up?
- 4.
Think of a purchase you made recently where you researched extensively before contacting anyone. What content influenced your decision, and who produced it?
- 5.
The assignment selling concept sends content to prospects before calls. How would that change the first conversation in your sales process?
- 6.
Where is the trust gap in your industry — the questions buyers need answered that no one is willing to address honestly?
- 7.
Sheridan's story is about a small company in a commodity market. How does the framework scale differently for enterprise sales or complex B2B products?
- 8.
What content on your website or channel has produced the most qualified leads? What does that tell you about what your buyers actually care about?
- 9.
Acknowledging product weaknesses publicly is counterintuitive. Where would doing that actually strengthen your positioning with the buyers you most want?
- 10.
Who in your organization is most resistant to this approach, and what's driving their resistance — fear, incentive structure, or something else?
- 11.
Sheridan's framework is optimized for inbound search. How does it apply or not apply to markets where buyers don't search before buying?
- 12.
What would your content calendar look like for the next quarter if it were built entirely around the Big Five?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for They Ask, You Answer?
Here are 12 book club questions for They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on content marketing, sales, trust.
How long should a book club discussion of They Ask, You Answer last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in They Ask, You Answer?
Content marketing, Sales, Trust, Business transparency, Inbound marketing. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like They Ask, You Answer or questions for other book club picks.
