Sometimes we get in our own way. Sometimes we assume. Sometimes we put ourselves in a box. And sometimes the many ways our thoughts can go wrong or be limited can hold back the success of our business. Mindset matters.
I find the act of inquiry, or simply asking questions, to be profoundly important for, well, basically everything. But if you want to be mundane about it, inquiry is at the core of discovering what to write, how to build your processes, uncovering the truth about anything, knowing what to do, figuring out what’s causing your feelings, and so much more. Philosophically, it’s so much more that it can be overwhelming.
We’re going to bring it back to Earth, make it practical, and see how it can guide us to improve how we bring what we offer in our business into alignment with our customers. Inquiry can help us become prosperous. As well as philosophical.
But there’s a big, fat, ugly problem with applying inquiry to exploring the true nature of what you sell. You have to know what questions to ask.
For this, I share a simple, humble technique that has helped me in many different ways. Start your inquiry with “who, what, where, how, when, and why.” Repeat it until you have it memorized. Repeat it until it becomes a mantra.
The Inquiry Mantra
The Inquiry Mantra is one of my favorite techniques for understanding and communicating. Here’s how it applies to aligning with your customers:
Who? Who is the decision maker or buyer of what you sell? Who are the stakeholders in the decision-making process? Who benefits from the purchase? You need to know who before you can explore how to best engage with them.
What? What does the customer think they are buying vs. what you think you are selling? What needs will be fulfilled by what you sell? What is required for someone to become a customer? Before you take action, you should thoroughly explore what the impacts will be.
Where? Where are you and where are you customers? Does location matter? Should you move and where should you move to? Where can you find what you need? Where do you customers look when they need what you sell. Where will your customers expect to find things? You need to know everything about “where” in order to transact.
How? How do you get in front of potential customers regarding what you offer? How do you help people complete the journey from being a stranger to being a customer? How do you ensure customer satisfaction? How do you maximize the total lifetime value of your customers? How to do things is often followed by discovering what you want to do. How is the method for what you want to do.
When? When will it start? When will it end? Is there a pattern? Is it seasonal? How long will it take? When should you invest? When will someone else act? Timing matters and it can change both what you do and how you choose to do it. Time is money and every moment counts.
Why? Why is often more important than what you sell. Why should the customer care? Why should they trust you? Why should you wait? What should you rush? Why does what you sell matter? Why you do things shows your judgement, reliability, and value. The reasons why we do things often matter more than what we do.
How to use the Inquiry Mantra
The answers to your questions should matter. If a question doesn't matter, it's not worth asking. You want to align with your customers, in ways that matter. The Inquiry Mantra gives you a tool for discovering what matters about you and your customers. This is important because if you don't matter to your customers, you literally do not matter. But if you can align with your customers in ways that matter, then you matter to your customers in ways that benefit you both.
This technique can be recursive, which the programmers in the audience will appreciate. When you get an answer, you can apply it again to the answer. If you start with “How do I improve my marketing” you can discover the who, what, where, how, when, and why of it. Then you can apply the Inquiry Mantra to the answer for each question. You can do this forever, drilling deeper and deeper. It’s okay to stop when the answers no longer matter.
When you apply the Inquiry Mantra to your business, focus on discovering what matters to and about your customers, and how you do business with them. When you conceptualize your questions, look for questions with answers that matter. These insights are precious.
Takeaway
Who matters?
What matters to them, about them, because of them, or related to them?
Where do things take place, come from, or get you to? Where do you find customers that you align with?
How can you increase the impact of things that matter?
When does it matter?
Why does it matter?
Keep going. Because being a part of what matters is a good way to become prosperous.
Bonus tip: Apply this to website design, interviews, customer alignment, strategic planning, copy writing, lead qualification, quality assurance, process development, and so much more..,
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