We don’t mean the focus eloquently detailed by Simon Sinek in his book “Start with Why”, nor the emphasis delivered by Tony Robbins in his inspiring TED Conferences Talks.
We’re highlighting the very basis and starting point for any engagement with a prospect candidate or client, in our understanding the ‘why’ that drives what they’re looking for and in their order of priority.
It is in fully understanding why people want, what they want, that enables us to provide the best practicable solution(s) to their needs.
We should always qualify our prospect before fully engaging with them to ensure they match who we can deliver to, and therefore not waste their or our time.
But when we do engage with them, we believe there are 3 fundamental steps to follow in delivering the right solutions specific to each individual:
1. Identify and prioritise the ‘needs’, not just the ‘wants’.
2. Match your tailored solutions to these ‘needs’ agreeing their relevance.
3. Close – a specific agreed action of next steps to a timescale.
If you don’t ask ‘why’ your prospect ‘wants’ what they say they want, then you won’t really understand their ‘Need’. You may only know what they’ve decided is the best solution to their need.
Henry Ford nailed it when he said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”.
In asking ‘why’, you can understand their true Drivers / Motivators from which you can discuss and match the best tailored solution. The motor car, not a faster horse, for example.
We humans are complex beings so there will rarely be only one ‘need’, but several. It’s key that we understand and confirm the priority order of their importance, and again that we understand why.
By testing these needs in their priority order as we understand them, through consulting in discussing potential solution options, we can then gain greater clarity on where we’ll allocate our valuable time in delivering the ‘best available’ solution, whether that be a new role or new talent for a role.
The better the qualifying, followed by a clear understanding of needs, the more accurate and effective will be the matching and consulting.
These 3 steps need to be confirmed consistently throughout the life-cycle of the engagement, as the only ‘constant’ is change, and so we may find these priorities have changed and we’re no longer delivering the best solution.
What process do you use to truly understand and deliver to your prospects’ needs?
