Diagnosing Problems So You Can Fix Them Fast
A prospective customer walks into your office and says, “It’s too hot in my data center.” You look up from your pile of slick marketing materials, hand the customer a box fan, take his money and send him away.
It’s a new twist on a very old joke. “Doc, it hurts when I do this.” “Then don’t do that.”
And it’s funny because it’s absurd. Telling the patient not to do the thing that’s causing pain doesn’t address the underlying cause of the pain any more than a box fan solves the problem of an overheated data center.
Last time, we talked briefly about asking compelling questions to dramatically change sales meetings – or any kind of conversation. We noted that we can increase effectiveness and value simply by asking questions, instead of continually talking about ourselves, our products and our services.
But asking questions – and listening closely to understand the answers – serves another powerful function to increase your effectiveness. The answers provide invaluable information for diagnosing business problems, which you MUST do before you go trying to provide solutions.
I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: your so-called "solutions" are nothing more than widgets and wing-dings if they don’t SOLVE a meaningful problem for your customer. And, to determine what meaningful problems you might be able to solve, you’ve got to diagnose. Rather than thinking of yourself as a salesperson or a value-added reseller, think of yourself as a doctor.
When most of us go to the doctor, we don’t say, “I’ve got scurvy,” or “Please treat me for ague.”
Instead, we go in with symptoms (chills, fatigue, the inability to stop reciting the opening scene from “Reservoir Dogs”), and then we answer a lot of questions. “When did the compulsive recitation start? Do you ever recite other movie scenes? Did you have a special relationship with Lawrence Tierney?”
Our doctor listens closely to our answers, matches those answers against a vast store of knowledge and comes up with a diagnosis.
Only after the doctor has asked questions, listened to the answers and used those answers to arrive at a diagnosis can she prescribe a treatment. While the doctor thoughtfully mulls over the symptoms and answers, hours, days or weeks might elapse before the diagnosis and resulting treatment.
The same is true in the IT world. Don’t walk into your first customer meeting with a bottle of pills (or a box fan) and expect your customer to open up the checkbook. Instead, walk in with that list of compelling questions you made after reading the last article. Ask, listen, be patient and listen some more. Take those answers and symptoms away and really think about your diagnosis.
Next time, we’ll talk about some specific tools to guide your diagnosis process. Until then, enjoy playing doctor!
Eryc Eyl / Freelance Writer and Business Consultant
No comments:
Post a Comment