Advancing from seller to trusted advisor wins you lifelong customers resulting in years of repeat business and referrals. As an advisor you become part of the value that customers pay for. Advisors solve problems in a logical fashion that coalesces stakeholders and promotes collaboration. This helps decision-makers select and implement the right solution.
This simple problem solving approach keeps you focused on what the customer needs most – lasting solutions to problems. Three questions that earn you trusted advisor status:
WHAT do you see, hear and/or know that is problematic?
Early in my career I worked for an SVP who asked, “Does the patient have a fever?” She wanted to know that we were seeing, hearing or knowing things that ensured the customer had relevant problems that were acknowledged by their decision-makers. Sometimes sales and marketing people see problems and answers that may not be real resulting in chasing false leads. My SVP forced us to prove it was real by clearly identifying what we saw, heard or knew that was problematic.
WHY are these things causing problems?
Successful problem solving requires that everyone sees and attacks the same problem. The lack of collaborative thought and action, by all stakeholders, leads to failure even with the right solution. The process of discovering and deciding WHY the problem exists versus just reacting to WHAT you see, hear and/or know, constructs a collaborative foundation. Acting without that collaborative foundation relies on luck to find success. My dad would say, “It’s great to be lucky but it’s hard to repeat.”
Continuing with the medical metaphor is relevant because your doctor wouldn’t treat you without first knowing what’s causing the fever. If you had an infection you wouldn’t want to be treated for flu. The diagnosis must be right as it must for business problems.
Companies selling intellectual property offer a useful example. Product piracy allows customers to get products almost free. In emerging markets it was assumed that price was the issue but reductions had temporary or no effect. Research determined that people wouldn’t pay for something they could get for free because they’d be considered stupid. The WHY wasn’t about high price but instead about ego especially given the pirated product was perceived equal to the genuine product.
WHAT best next things you can do to address WHY the problem is happening?
With a proper diagnosis the doctor can choose the right treatment because WHY the fever happened is known. Industry is continually working on the intellectual property issue but the focus is more on delivering unique value to customers and resellers because they now know that simple price reductions don’t address the ego problem.
WHAT-WHY-WHAT is a simple problem solving discipline that focuses your creativity on WHY the problem exists. You’ll create lasting solutions and you’ll earn trusted advisor status, resulting in lifelong customers.
©2016 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities® LLC
