You hand it back — politely, and with a question of your own. That's the porcupine: their question arrives covered in points, so you don't grab it bare-handed. “How many estimates are you looking to get?” asked of you becomes the same curiosity returned — because their question is data about what they're weighing, and a flat answer spends it for nothing.
The short answer
“If I could show you how to solve that, would that be helpful?” — “Would it make sense to replace all of them at the same time?”
Documented porcupine turns: the question answered by discovering what sits under it.
A homeowner's question is rarely only a request for a fact. “How long does the estimate take?” can be schedule logistics, fear of a three-hour pitch, or a spouse arriving at six. The porcupine finds out which before you answer the wrong one — and the returned question keeps you learning at the exact moment most reps stop and start lecturing.
How it runs
The porcupine is not evasion. Dodge a direct question twice and you're a politician, and the trust bill arrives immediately. The discipline is sequence: return the question once, hear what the question is really asking, then answer the real one fully. Used that way, it converts their interruptions into discovery — some of the best information in an appointment arrives disguised as their questions, because people ask about what they're actually deciding.
Go deeper
The homeowner in a Spar round will test your ears the way a real one does. Round 1 is free; the full camp is $29/month. Spar before you knock.