The 5 whys is an important theory that Sakichi Toyoda came up with, he is a world-renowned car manufacturer and founder of Toyota. He came up with this theory when one day he was trying to figure out why his machine fueling was breaking so he asked the question why so many times until he found the root cause for this issue. This is a theory that is used in sales because when talking to a potential client you want to find the root cause for them contacting you. Once you find this cause you can truly connect with the client and work together to get what each other wants.
When you first ask this question your client will most likely give you a fake answer because no one likes to answer a why question because it involves you thinking deeply about what you are looking for. So after the first one, they will typically give you a very broad answer, but by the fifth or sixth why you will have them answering very profoundly and truly answer what is on their mind which is exactly what you want. When asking these questions you never want to blame the individual for instance if you are a landscaper selling to a client who had a bad landscaper before you never want to talk bad about them you want to ask them why they thought he was bad and let them answer that hard question.
In sales, this method does a great job of identifying pain points in the client’s current business. With this information of knowing all of their pain points, you will have a way better chance of securing a deal with them by the end of the talk because you seem like the only solution to these problems.
BoweryJE22
I love this concept you shared. Often, people offer surface-level responses to complex problems, perpetuating errors unknowingly. By embracing the power of the simple question “why,” individuals can break free from seemingly unsolvable situations and uncover solutions that were previously elusive.
I completely agree with the importance of the “5 Whys” method in uncovering root causes and addressing systemic issues rather than blaming individuals. In fact, it’s fascinating how such a simple questioning technique can lead to profound insights. Did you know that the “5 Whys” method is also commonly used in Six Sigma and Lean manufacturing practices to drive continuous improvement for companies? I did!
I’ll see you later.