Questions Are The Answers
Quick. Think of a few inspirational books that you’ve read over the course of your business career. Most business books have at least one thing that you can take out and make your own; provide you with a perspective or insight that can inform, influence or even transform your business journey.
While not a significant or respected best seller, a book that had some impact on me was one that I read many years ago – “Questions are the Answers”, authored by Allan Pease. Allan’s claim to fame was primarily as a body language expert who wrote numerous books on the subject, but this one particularly resonated with me because it made such sense.
In any conversation, one is usually listening, making statements, or asking questions. In a sales context – for which the book was written – It is in asking specific questions that we qualify our prospects and know precisely then how to position our sales pitch in return. So often, we tend to make statements, without first actively listening and asking the right questions to see where – or indeed if – we can add value.
And it is here that Allan Pease’s book made sense – using questions as a means to determining the appropriate answers.
Naturally, as with most sales techniques, the best approach is an authentic one, and as any successful salesperson will attest, when you really engage with your customer at a sincere authentic level, asking questions is an instinctive process to assessing how best to assist the customer.
Questions are Your Answers
As a business owner; you are probably focused on how to grow your business. While there are so many aspects in your business that require your input, looking at how to attract new customers (and retain your existing ones) is arguably top of the list.
And it is here that you are probably on the receiving end of multiple “statements”, being presented to you by an equal multitude of service-providers – and perhaps, even from your own internal team – all sharing their views, opinions and advice on how best to secure new customers or market your offering. Marketing messages, communications platforms, product improvements…the list goes on.
And the Questions to Ask?
During the process of acquiring new customers, some will inevitably ask the obvious questions: “Who are we targeting?”, “What is our objective?” “What do we want to achieve?”, “What do we want our prospect to do/think upon seeing our communication?” And these are indeed good – if not perhaps obvious – questions that should be included. But, these are all generally outer-directed questions that are usually asked from within your organisation looking out. They are posed from the standpoint of your product or service being a given and the objective seemingly being based around how to position and target a would-be customer prospect.
Surely, it would be more meaningful to see it from the outside in? To perhaps have the ability to see past your – and your organisation’s – blind spots? To ask the right question that provided answers that allowed you to identify weak areas of your business and offering?
That One Question (in 2 Parts!)
All potential customers have one thing in common. Choice.
Today, when looking to make a purchase, every single customer prospect, across every consumer and business category has significant choice available to them. In addition, with the access to information that digital and social media platforms now provide, customers can do a significant amount of research to inform their decision.
And it is here where the basis for our single question lies. In the choice that customers have available to them. When they were deciding to choose your company’s product/service, your current customers were also presented with a choice of options, and ultimately decided to choose your brand of product/service (tip: Perhaps ask them what made them choose you?)
So here is the question to consider (in 2 parts):
“If a customer prospect did not choose your product/service, which brand would they choose…and why would they choose this brand instead of yours?”
Why is this such a good question (and it is also a good one to pose to your internal team)? Well, it allows you to look at your business from the outside in, to objectively see where you are weak and, perhaps more importantly, where your competitor is not.
So often, we tend to focus on our competitors’ product/service attributes, believing that we need to simply improve on these to gain the advantage. This is sometimes true; however, when one asks why a prospect would choose this competitor instead of your brand, it tends to broaden the lens and allow to see more of the competitor’s true strengths and, areas within your own organisation where you need to focus.
After the Question, Comes the Statement
Of course, knowing the answer is only half the equation.
Once you have asked the question and ascertained where to deploy your focus and resources, it is then time to act. To make the right statements to ensure that you do in fact adapt your product/service; marketing, branding or operational approach to ensure that your brand is ideally the one that is chosen more often than not.
