The more I learn about sales, the more I find myself applying new techniques we learn in class to other situations. In Lean Launchpad, I’ve been interviewing multiple people every week, and just recently I found myself using leading words and asking “But, why?” of my interviewees. It’s a technique I wish I had been using since day one. Asking “why” has forced the people being interviewed to think deeper about the answers they’re giving. Often, this has led to a more complete answer that includes ideas and thoughtful insights that end up shaping the direction of my team’s project. I think using the phrase “What do you mean by that?” has been the most helpful, because then the person goes into much more detail about what they meant by their original answer.
It’s interesting to see how an answer changes when you force people to think more about what they’re saying. We often like things to be black and white, easy to understand, and we’re quick to move on. But sales can be an opportunity to slow down and really get at the heart of an issue as you search for your customer’s pain – which is why mastering the art of the interview can be vital for any salesperson.
Ethan David
I agree with you that this class has been extremely applicable to other areas of my classes or my personal life. Asking the “why” question opens prospects up to explain the deeper, underlying reasons for things, whether this is conscious or subconscious.
Its pretty cool that you’ve actually gotten to use a few of these things that we’ve learned. How do you think it helped in your interviews? Did you realize that your product needed to be adjusted to the pain? Did it give you any actual problems you previously didn’t know about and now have to fix?
I’ll have to keep an eye out for opportunities to use these techniques. Thanks