Chapter 5. The three-letter word

Part 7 of 20 in How to Sell: The Key to Success← Part 6Part 8 →

This chapter from the 'How to Sell: The Key to Success' series highlights the importance of asking 'why' in sales conversations. It explains how this simple question can transform sceptics into buyers by uncovering their true concerns.

Bettger called it the most important word he had found in selling, and it has three letters. Why. Not a technique layered on top of a pitch. A replacement for the pitch, until the pitch has earned its place.

A sceptic is a person protecting something. Time, status, a budget they will have to defend, a workflow their staff already hates but understands. Argument makes them protect it harder. A question gives them room to inspect it. Bettger noticed that questions did six kinds of work: they prevented arguments, they stopped him talking too much, they helped the other person see what he wanted, they clarified muddy thinking, they revealed the key issue, and they made the other person feel important. Founders need all six, and they usually do the opposite. They explain.

Why, and then what else

The first why opens the door. It is not always the real room. Bettger’s follow-up was a plain second question: in addition to that, is there something else? The first objection is often the polite one. Price. Timing. “Send the deck.” “Let me speak to my partner.” The second answer is closer to the key issue. A third why, asked without irritation, often lands on it.

Used on the four sales, it sounds like this.

• To a parent: “You want me to take the offer. Why?” Then, “In addition to the money, what else worries you?”
• To a candidate: “You are unsure about joining. Why?” Then, “Apart from the salary, what else would make this a bad move?”
• To an angel: “This does not fit. Why?” Then, “If we set valuation aside, what else is in the way?”
• To a buyer: “This is not the right time. Why?” Then, “Besides timing, what else would have to be true for you to try it?”

You are not cross-examining. You are curious, and you can stop. Two or three whys are a conversation. Seven whys are an interrogation. Bettger’s manner was the point as much as the word. He wanted the truth more than he wanted to win the minute.

The key issue

Every stalled deal has one issue that matters and several that do not. Founders bleed out on the ones that do not. They redesign a dashboard because a junior user frowned, while the owner’s real issue is whether the data leaves the building. They cut price because someone said expensive, while the real issue is that the CA has not been in the room. Asking why is how you find the issue. Staying there is how you close. Bettger’s instruction was to concentrate on the primary want and to stop chasing side objections once you know which one decides.

Write the key issue in a sentence after every serious conversation. “She will buy if her accountant trusts the export.” “He will join if he can ship without a committee.” “They will fund if they see five paying users, not fifty conversations.” If you cannot write the sentence, you do not have a sales problem yet. You have a listening problem.

Let them talk themselves toward the yes

A sceptic who has answered three honest questions has often done the selling. They have described the cost of the current workaround. They have named the person who must agree. They have said what a good outcome looks like. Your presentation, when it finally comes, should be a mirror of those sentences, plus the specific way you can help. This is the turn Bettger cared about: the sceptical client becomes an enthusiastic buyer not because you overpowered them, but because they heard their own reason clearly enough to act on it.

Why is the key word. In addition to that is the second key. Together they separate the excuse from the issue.

Practice. Take the last five stalls in your pipeline, including family and hiring if that is where the stalls are. Write the objection you were given. Write the why you did not ask. Ask it this week, in one sentence, and write down the answer in their words.