Identifying your Customer’s needs: Using the 5 Whys

Do you really know your customer’s needs? Many customers ask for your product to address the pain they experience without really understanding the underlying cause of their problem, their true need.

The fact is, the better you understand your customer’s needs, the greater the chance of winning the deal. But unearthing a customer’s true need requires that you dig deeper.

At Sales Engineers we borrow from Lean Six Sigma and use The 5 Whys to locate the root cause of a customer problem. For example:

Customer: I want a drill — Why do you want a drill?
Customer: I need holes in my wall — Why do you need holes?
Customer: I need to hang something — Why do you need to hang something?
Customer: I need a book cabinet — Why do you need a book cabinet?
Customer: Because I have too many books — So, you need more storage for books?
Customer: Yes

The final ‘yes’ confirms the real customer need (more storage for books), yet the solution may be completely different (buying an e-reader instead of shelves).

Of course this is just an example, but the same approach can be applied to your current sales opportunities. Why is the customer interested in your product? What problem do they intend to solve? Why do they want to solve this issue? Why is this a priority?

Apply The 5 Whys when preparing for your next customer visit. We guarantee that you will, at the very least, have a lively conversation with your customer. You might even identify their real need in your first meeting!