What are your apocalypse plans?

A lot of times, when people ask me a question, I end up responding with a “well, that depends.”

Oh yes. I’m one of those people. It drives a lot of people nuts, but I can’t just answer a question without knowing the context behind it.

For example, one of my favorites, “What would your plan be during the apocalypse?”

Well, (say it with me folks) THAT DEPENDS. What kind of apocalypse? (that’s the most important question) Where am I starting geographically? Do I have family with me? How fast does it happen and what kind of prep time do I get? All of these are questions that need to be asked before you can answer. And if you’ve never asked yourself those questions, you’re welcome. Now you have a plan for every genre of apocalypse.

But I didn’t just write this to talk about what affects your plans in an apocalypse scenario. Even though sometimes selling might feel like an apocalypse. What I’m getting at here is Pink’s concept of Clarity. The last of his ABC’s (Attunement, Buoyancy, Clarity), clarity refers to … well… clarifying things.

To sell someone something, you want to understand their pain and motivation. But they’re not going to tell you outright, so what do you do? You clarify. They have a problem? What kind? They need to solve it? Why? Asking clarifying questions is the best way to understand (clarify) a customer’s problem, and then to help them to fully understand (clarify) their own problem.

So Clarity is my favorite out of Pink’s concepts. Why, you ask? Ahhh look at you trying to get some clarity. I did kind of just try to explain but ultimately I think clarity is really important because you can’t solve a problem if you don’t know what the problem is.

Clarify your prospect’s problem, clarify your apocalypse plans. See you in class.