Fred Copestake

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Most sales advice assumes the problem is that people don't know what to say

Sometimes that's true

But sometimes they know exactly what to say

They've read the book

They've been on the training

They've got the questions written down

And still the conversation feels slightly... off

Because knowing the question isn't the same as being curious about the answer

What are your priorities?

What happens if nothing changes?

Who else is affected by this?

And get perfectly reasonable answers

But if you're already thinking about the product while they are speaking, the question is mostly theatre

A slightly awkward way of getting to the thing you wanted to talk about anyway

That's not really curiosity

That's Product Gravity in a smarter outfit

The product is still pulling you towards what you know

Features. Specifications. Performance. Capabilities

Nothing wrong with any of those

Just maybe not yet

What's actually happening?

Why does it matter?

What else is connected to it?

Who needs to be involved?

What would a better outcome look like?

Meanwhile we're explaining how brilliantly we can solve a problem they haven't quite finished defining

This is where a small shift can make quite a big difference

Don't just ask the question

Stay interested in the answer

Listen for the thing underneath the thing

The concern behind the concern

The consequence behind the complaint

And when you think you've understood it, check

Have I got that right?

Not because it's a clever sales technique

Because you might be wrong

That's the bit that keeps the conversation useful

Curiosity isn't a list of questions

It's what happens when you're prepared to be surprised by the answer

#OrangeHatThinking

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