As a Solutions Consultant, I am a huge fan of the discovery/needs assessment part of the sales process. I get to ask all kinds of questions to determine how I can help fill in gaps to allow my clients and prospects to succeed. There is one question that I get the most mileage out of: "WHY?"
The Power of WHY:
Revert Back to your inner child: Remember when you were a little one asking WHY after every answer? You just weren't satisfied with a quick response were you? You KNEW there HAD to be more to it. Revert back to this frame of mind on sales calls. Remind yourself of something very important: People say things for a reason. See the example below to understand what I mean.
Example: You hear a CFO say, "I have to find a better way to control my labor cost." Ask: WHY? Why does he have to find a better way to control labor cost? Why does he need to reinvest those dollars in another project? What happens if he can't reduce labor cost and reinvest into a new market segment? What time frame is he working with? What impact on his personal career and the organization will it have if he doesn't do this correctly?
Your result in asking why is a complete picture of what the CFO has to gain by reducing labor cost, what the organization has to gain by doing so AND what the impact will be if things stay the same. Now you enter the picture with the ability to ask even more questions to find ROI dollars with your solution. Your business case is directly tied to the CFO/organizations ability to succeed and you can show how many dollars they are wasting every day they don't partner with you.
* The contents of this blog are my opinions only and are not a reflection of ADP, inc.
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