How your WHY wins/loses more Sales than your WHAT
Patrick Boucousis
Value-Based Selling Coach | Developing Top 10% Performers | Strategies for Must-Win Complex Sales
Philip
Philip of Auckland used to sell home and commercial security systems. Prospects called and asked him to come and quote for the installation of cameras and alarms, and he did. And he did OK.
Now Philip empowers home and business owners to feel safe and to know that their assets are secure, and he’s doing much better. The change came from asking prospects:
‘Why do you need security?’
‘To be safe and to stop break-ins’
‘What does safe feel like to you?’
‘No one has asked that before. What do you mean?’
‘Well, how will you feel that is different to now?’
They begin to realize that security isn’t simply a matter of cameras; it is a feeling, and each individual has a unique perspective.
They’re impressed that Philip takes the trouble to understand the experience they want, and they invariably ask him to do whatever is necessary to give them that, often without even asking for a quote.
Philip experienced a 30% increase in sales when he started with ‘why’ rather than the usual 'what’.
Adrian
Adrian, a commercial photographer in Sydney, used to get calls from various executive assistants asking to price a set of photos, for example, headshots of their executive team. He provided quotes and despite diligent follow up, 10% at best resulted in jobs.
Now Adrian helps organizations create impressions and when they request a quote, he asks:
‘Why do you need headshots?’
‘For our website.’
‘How do you want visitors to respond to the images?’
‘Say what?’
‘What impression of your team do you want people to have?’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Well do you want them to feel you’re formal, or informal, professional, laid back, innovative, hard-charging or what?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Who would know?’
‘Our Marketing Manager.’
‘Can you put me through to him/her then please?’
Adrian gets elevated to the decision-maker with whom he collaborates to create a brief that will deliver their desired outcomes. As a result, he wins most of the time and at higher fees than before. The jobs are also larger and he gets more of them.
Things changed for Adrian when he started with ‘why’ rather than ‘what’.
Gary
Gary was a sales rep with a multi-national IT systems vendor who learned of a Government Department developing a new enterprise system for 30-oddd vocational training colleges.
When he asked ‘why’ they said, ‘so all colleges will be on a common system, instead of the disparate ones they now have.’
Checking with the college principals, Gary learned they had zero confidence in a project run by Head Office and delving deeper he discovered a pervasive ‘us and them’ culture.
Gary was motivated to conceive a project with a different WHY that gave principals a system they wanted and eliminated the us and them. It was such a big win for Head Office that they agreed to fund it, resulting in a $14M project for Gary.
You’ve probably spotted a theme here.
And if you’re a fan of Simon Sinek, of ‘Start with Why’ fame, it’s a familiar one.
Instead of the usual ‘WHAT do you need’ sales discussions, Philip, Adrian and Gary initiate ‘WHY do you need anything’ conversations.
'WHY' Conversations
WHY conversations are outcome oriented, encouraging Buyers to talk about themselves, what they value and the results they want. They’re aspirational and Buyers enjoy them.
WHAT discussions, on the other hand, are input oriented e.g., needs explorations, and are more like interrogations. Buyers feel that Sellers’ principal interest is to discover what they might sell. And indeed, they’re soon followed by product suggestions with Sellers going on to explain why Buyers should care.? As if.
Apart from the ‘start with why’ theme, there is another consistent theme in those stories, well two actually. The Sellers were welcomed by Buyers. Wholeheartedly, as they were seen to be of real value in helping them achieve the outcomes they desired.
And the third theme: Did you notice that Buyers seemed not particularly aware of their WHY. And if they were, it was less aspirational than it might have been. Simply by facilitating a WHY discussion, the Sellers empowered Buyers to set their sights higher.
In addition, price was not a factor. Some Buyers simply said ‘send me your invoice,’ a clear indication that they trusted the Sellers.
And here’s the kicker. In the last case, the Head Office had budgeted $800K to develop the college’s system. In the event, an order of magnitude more compelling WHY inspired them to invest $14M!
Those are all true stories.
So Why does WHY work?
Sinek’s ‘Start with Why’ focuses on leaders not Sellers. His seminal TED Talk How Great Leaders Inspire Action (66M views and counting) made the case that the most influential leaders all think, act and communicate the same way ?? and it’s the opposite of what everyone else does. They start with WHY, as illustrated in his Golden Circle diagram.
The rest start with WHAT.
As Sinek explains:
'People follow great leaders because of WHY they do what they do, not because of WHAT they do.'
They are inspired by and share the beliefs of their leader,
Sinek may just as well have been speaking of Sellers, given our objective is also to inspire (influence) action. And he does use sales examples in his book. However, I am applying his model differently (his is more a marketing focus, mine is sales). Nevertheless, the principles are what matter.
Can his model explain why Sellers (80% of whom fail to inspire Buyers 80% of the time) overwhelmingly rank with the ‘rest?’ We start with WHAT they need (influencing) rather than WHY a Buyer should even believe in us.
And why should Buyers believe in us? What are our beliefs? What do we believe that Buyers can also believe in? More to the point…
What is a Seller's Purpose?
In my view, the pervasive Seller tendency to class ‘influencing’ as a WHY is the root cause of the dysfunction in selling. It puts us in direct conflict with Buyers promoting our own interests ahead of theirs, and even worse, at the expense of theirs.
No one wants to be influenced i.e., sold.
However, everyone is keen to be empowered.
Imagine then if our purpose, our WHY, was to empower Buyers to achieve greater outcomes for themselves, rather than us influencing them to buy from us?
In short, a purpose beyond (and higher) than our own self-interest
How might that work?
Well,
If we are to have Buyers follow us, not simply accommodate us, but truly follow us and feel safe with us, then they need to believe in us.
Simply put, Buyers must believe we have a higher purpose than simply satisfying ourselves. For Philip, Adrian and Gary, theirs is empowering Buyers.
They start with WHY to understand what Buyers really want (not just need) i.e., their desired end state, and Buyers immediately sense those Sellers genuinely care about them.
As the WHY conversation proceeds, their total lack of Seller self-interest further demonstrates that care and quickly grows trust. Theirs and the Buyer's WHY’s (what is best for the Buyer) align.
With the WHY established, conversation seamlessly transitions to HOW the desired outcomes might be achieved.
I call that collaboration INVENT because, as I explained in my previous article, 'One Step to double Your Sales' it is the Buyer and Seller co-inventing the Buyer Solution, the WHAT, in generic Buyer language (no mention of products).
The WHAT is not a product, but a specification for the product/service they will buy. And thanks to their involvement, Sellers know exactly what to offer to win.
And 9/10 they do.
Here’s the thing. Buyers buy not because of WHAT the Seller offers, but because they believe in the Seller’s WHY. They see the Seller offering them their (Buyer) solution, not the Seller's product. Created it with their own hands, it is the best choice for them. It is a safe decision.
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If you would like to explore whether and how Philp, Adrian's and Gary's approach might work in your sales environment, please ask. Pick a time for a no pressure obligation-free chat.
My focus is Buyer-Centric sales approaches; you will find plenty of free material in the?Resources page of my website.
And, join the conversation to help reshape the perception of Sellers in the?Implementing the Seller Code?Group.
Finally, for an insight into how Buyer and value-focused your sales processes are, try this FREE self-assessment. There are two versions.
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2 个月https://youtube.com/shorts/0IpvRZ0GJfA?si=jP99yBaD7KSY4Rve
The Ally Method?: The Science of Alliance - Going Further, Faster for Longer Together
2 个月Patrick, your examples of Philip, Adrian, and Gary are powerful illustrations of how shifting the conversation to ‘why’ transforms sales. What fascinates me is how their success stories underscore a deeper truth: the most significant shift isn't just asking 'why'—it's in how sellers position themselves as trusted allies rather than vendors. But here's something I’ve been thinking about: Where do we go after ‘why’? In each case, these sellers successfully transitioned from the ‘why’ conversation into delivering the right solution. But what’s often missing in many sellers' approaches is how to bridge that gap without losing the buyer's trust. Moving from aspirational to actionable requires finesse—how do we prevent the 'what' from feeling like just another sales pitch once the ‘why’ is uncovered? Another layer I’m keen to explore is when the buyer doesn’t know their ‘why.’ You’ve nailed it with examples where the seller prompts them into self-realisation, but there’s a gap when buyers are either unwilling or unable to articulate their why. How do we navigate that? Is there a role for more structured questioning to coax it out, or should sellers adapt based on different buyer types?
Improve the bottom line by helping people get on better with each other at work
2 个月This is vitally important information to get out to anyone selling (own business, work for others).
Founder, Trusted Advisor Associates
2 个月Patrick, I thoroughly support the thinking your work exemplifies, and your several initiatives. Your piece reminded me of a little-known but powerful book that opened my eyes years ago. It was called You’re Working Too Hard to Make the Sale, by Bill Brooks and Tom Travesano. The money line I learned by heart was, “People prefer to buy what they need from those who understand what they want.” You don’t even have to give them what they want; it’s sufficient to be felt to understand it. I see echoes of this thought in your emphasis on the “why” of things. “Why” gets to feelings, motives, purpose in ways that, as you note, are often not even self-recognized by buyers. Asking why is a form of respect, via curiosity, an other-focused attitude so sadly lacking in sales in general. And respect, as Robert Cialdini pointed out years ago, triggers the powerful human instinct of reciprocity. If you respect someone, by enquiring about their purpose, the natural response by them is to respect you in turn. To listen to you. And ultimately it results in results like you note, “send me an invoice.” (Price is rarely a real issue; it is merely a socially acceptable way of saying ‘I’m just not feeling it’”).