Recently, I was in my local Subway restaurant with my daughter. We had a coupon for “buy one 6-inch sub, get the 2nd one free.” So we ordered our subs and I presented the coupon to the person manning the cash register. She reviewed the coupon and politely informed me that they could not accept it. The coupon was only valid in the Greater Philadelphia region and this store was in the Lehigh Valley. No matter that it came out of the local paper.
Okay, I understood. I changed my approach and asked if she would charge the 2 six-inch subs as a foot-long. That would cost me only $6 rather than $9. Hey, don’t laugh. Which one of you would scoff at achieving an equal outcome at 33% less expense?
So the attendant asked the manager if it was okay to charge the foot-long price for two six-inchers on different breads. To which she logically replied “no.” I told the attendant that she was asking the wrong question and asked to speak directly to the manager. I explained to the manager about the coupon confusion and asked, “Since I would’ve ordered a foot-long had I been aware of this coupon confusion with your franchises, could you process this order as a foot-long as a compromise?” To which the manager readily agreed.
The attendant had asked the wrong question. She had provided no context for understanding the request.
We, as business people, and especially as marketers, have to be aware of the type of questions we ask and the context in which we ask them.
I suggest 2 distinct areas where we can apply smart questions – when speaking with our target audience and when speaking with our Sales teammates.
I’ll restrict my focus to questions for the target market for now. When you’re trying to learn what your prospects want or need, should you simply ask them? One would think that’d be the best way. That the direct approach would yield the best results. Unfortunately, it is not always the best way to proceed.
Often our potential buyers are not really sure what they need. Sometimes they’re too embarrassed or proud to admit they have any areas they need help with. And some just plain can’t see what’s wrong. So, direct questioning is not always helpful.
A better set of questions to ask is to explore the work-life and challenges that our audience experiences daily in the performance of their jobs. Ask what’s going well and what’s been challenging for them lately. Expand this to include their opinion on industry trends or what they think of the vendors they visited at the last trade show.
Remember to ferret out the “why” aspects of each reply. Understand thoroughly what’s behind their reasoning and their choices. Compare it with others’ replies. Look for commonalities. Eliminate outliers. Find trends.
The overall goal is to create a full picture of what’s going on with your prospects and their work. With this insight, it becomes possible to identify gaps you can fill, figure out ways to morph your solution if needed, and choose messaging that directly addresses their underlying pains.
I’ll save discussion of how Marketing can ask better questions of Sales for my next post.
What question(s) have you found to be helpful in finding out truth you can use? Let us know!