How asking “why” can change your business.
I speak to a ton of entrepreneurs and agency owners. Well over 100 every year through podcasting, events, coaching, and my quarterly business review series.
My favorite question to ask is “why”
Why didn’t that marketing effort work?
Why are you expanding your services?
Why are you hiring your entire team in the Philippines?
But if you leave that question at the surface level (only asking once) there is so much untapped knowledge and opportunity.
The optimal way to ask “why” is on repeat until there is nothing left to talk about. In my experience, the truth and motivation for any action lie in the why #3-5.
Here are two scenarios that highlight the power of this idea. These both happened to me within the last 2 weeks.
Ex1 - I got a cold Instagram dm about some service
It asked me about my current revenue
I told them that I would never disclose that information to a stranger and that it was probably the best way to get a rejection
They told me to have a “blessed day”
The conversation ended
So where did this guy miss out?
He had my attention. An experienced marketer giving him direct feedback on his campaign.
What if he asked, “why do you feel that way?”
I may have given him the time to explain what he could have done better. He could have explained his service offering to me. Maybe that service would have been something I actually needed. He could have acquired a customer.
Ex2 - I sent a marketing survey via cold outreach.
The woman responded and said she would take the survey
She completed it and emailed me to let me know
I responded by telling her that she was awesome for doing it so quickly
She told me “Don’t get too excited until you read my feedback”
Spoiler alert, it was negative. Her position was that it felt like a sales trick and that the questions were not well structured
I recorded her a loom video explaining what I was trying to do and inviting her feedback
She emailed me 10 minutes later with her phone number. She was very impressed by the video
I called her immediately (this was all within 20 minutes)
We spoke for an hour about her business, her thoughts on the survey, how it could improve
We parted ways having an understanding of each other, both with some takeaways for our respective businesses
I have a suspicion that she will send me clients in the future
Can you see the difference?
The money is in the “why”
Why did this approach feel like a sales trick?
Why did you take the survey if you felt that way?
Why does the fact that I have a coaching offer make you feel that the survey is not a genuine research opportunity?
Where are you missing opportunities to ask "why" within your own business?
I encourage you to delve deeper into the following areas:
Your team, their personal motivations, and career aspirations.
Your existing customers: Why do they remain loyal to your company?
Your lost sales calls: What prevented them from moving forward with your business?
Your services: Why do we offer these specific services, and how can we enhance them?
Your processes: Why do we execute these actions in this manner?
Your vision and motivation: Why am I running this business, and what do I aim to achieve through it?
By delving deeper into these areas, you can uncover significant growth opportunities. Outdated perspectives and practices are likely to surface, allowing you to evolve and progress.
Mike
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