The challenge

The question

• I love asking questions and am incessantly curious about people, their behaviors, and life in general
• One of my favorite questions right now is “What is your biggest challenge?”
• I can’t take credit for the question though and was introduced to it through BNI
• The question is often posed by BNI members to business owners to provoke thinking around what their current challenges are
• An obvious challenge for many business owners is how to find more clients; And BNI is a unique and effective vehicle to substantially boost revenues through referral marketing
• Part of the reason I like the question is because you can ask it to anyone (your colleague, your spouse, your potential client, your child, etc)

Professionally speaking

• Professionally, I use it with coaching clients and potential clients to understand (and often help them understand for themselves) where they should focus their attention; The question can help people prioritize and remove the cloud of frustration and feeling of being overwhelmed
• Any successful business person should constantly be assessing their challenges; If they aren’t, then they are likely gradually losing business to their competitors (I firmly believe that successful organizations and leaders are those that continue to innovate and seek to offer more to their customers or clients (and not simply resting on their laurels or dominant market position)

Talking personally

• In your personal life, the question “What is your biggest challenge?” can be used as an opportunity to build rapport and develop a relationship with someone, whether it be a close family member or new friend
• Posing the question shows interest in that person and a willingness to help them grow, discover, plan, collaborate, work together, among other things
• People so often just want to be heard, and giving them this opportunity by asking the question can often get them on the road to greater happiness and fulfillment

Caveat (of course)

• The only caveat is that you’ve got to be genuine in your asking as well as sincere in how you listen to their response; If you don’t do this, you’ve negated the value of the question
• I find the lack of sincerity in conversations today rather amazing; especially since it significantly weakens your position, power, and influence in conversation; The dominant slick-talker approach only works for so long ;)

Undertake action (The best solution to your biggest challenge)

• Below are a few responses to the question “What is your biggest challenge?”, what the response might illuminate about the situation, and some positive action that can be undertaken
• Response “I don’t have enough clients.”
• Illumination You’re wasting your time with ineffective marketing methods or you’re not capitalizing more on referrals from existing clients
• Action Research what is working for your competitors and then get creative and make yourself unique; Get out and talk to your potential clients by going to where they congregate and ask what their challenges are and make sure what you offer is in line with that they’re looking for
• Response “I’m finding it very hard to stimulate myself at work.”
• Illumination It’s time to make a career change or seek new projects and/or responsibilities in your current role
• Action Assess (yourself or with help of someone else) whether you’re just in need of something new in your existing position or whether you actually need to make a career shift into something you’re passionate about, or speak to your boss about ideas you’ve got on a new project or the potential for a move within the company
• Response “I really struggle to get out of bed in the morning.”
• Illumination There are a number of personal and professional weights on your shoulders and they are significant enough to overwhelm you, or you need to pursue something new and stimulating (new career, 3 month trip abroad, new hobby/project, etc)
• Action Brainstorm (with your spouse, colleague, friend, coach) some ideas around making a career change, or take a day off and go to the beach to just chill out and reflect
• Response “I can’t seem to motivate my team to perform better and our numbers are really down.”
• Illumination Your methods of motivation are out-dated or ineffective due to recent organizational changes, or your lack of management experience is obvious and you’re not gaining the respect of your people
• Action Seek guidance from within (another manager) or from outside (take some training or hire a coach), or have one-on-one meetings with your team to find out what motivates each of them and how you can help them succeed in their role, or do some reading on new techniques and tools used by successful leaders
• Response “Gee, I don’t really know…”
• Illumination Although a fairly common response, this response is actually a concern; Ironically, the person that answers this way likely doesn’t feel there is anything wrong (because they can’t nail it down), however their response is a good indication of a lack of focus, passion, purpose, etc (or all of the above); Many people go through life just coasting and taking what comes at them, but these people generally aren’t ones that have rich and fulfilling lives; Successful people have a good understanding of where their fulfillment is coming from as well as the areas they need to address
• Action Spend time reflecting on your life, writing down areas that you’re very happy with and areas where you’d like to see improvement, or talk to people that you inspire you or that you look up to and ask them for their secrets of success and happiness

The beauty of it all

• The question “What is your biggest challenge?” can bring to the surface something that a person is already aware of, but hasn’t been willing to address; The question can also act as a trigger for change
• Often, simply giving a person the opportunity to talk and/or get something off their chest is enough to get clarity on their challenge(s), initiate action, and then make positive change
• The more I work with individual clients and groups on ways to become more successful (both professionally and personally), the more I firmly believe that success in life is all about (and simply about) taking action
• Action through forward movement is fantastic because it:
• Builds momentum and enthusiasm within a person
• Provokes creative ideas
• Positively influences others to collaborate or take action in their own lives
• Breaks people free from a rut or a state of feeling sorry for themselves
• And often all people need is a glimpse of that light at the end of the tunnel to get themselves moving again and excited about life; then before long they’re looking back saying, “Wow, why did I wait so long…”

Practically speaking

• I’ll make it easy on you today proposing you do just one thing
• Think of someone you know and care enough about to have an interest in their success and ask them the question “What is your biggest challenge?”
• (And be sure to listen to their response!)

W.I.I.F.M.

“What’s in it for me?”

• I’m definitely not a fan of acronyms, but I love this question!
• Partly because pondering it can help you better understand other people and what they are looking for, as well as the fact that its asked by most people on a daily basis in their subconscious mind

Don’t ask, don’t sell

• The WIIFM question should be the default question explored every day by marketers, entrepreneurs, large corporations, and virtually everyone who interacts with other human beings
• Its not complicated; Its just a matter of hearing your own message, pitch, or comment using your audience’s ears and determining if you are clearly defining what they will get out of it (i.e. a better quality product (even if the price is higher), more clients, a firmer butt, more time/less work, etc)
• The question proves very effective if you market your products or services in such a way that not only appeals to a person’s interests, but actually addresses a person’s pain (Upon hearing your pitch, it ‘hits them in the stomach’ and they don’t think twice about buying from you because they desperately need whatever you’re offering)
• However, the power of this question is frequently overlooked by many business people (and even those that have been introduced to the concept continue to ignore its value)

Experience, please

• I’ve had a number of clients who came to me when they were fresh out of their professional training and excited to start their own business, however had little or no business or marketing experience
• Some common initial marketing missteps were to make their marketing verbiage too wordy, too broad, and too ‘professional’ (not spoken or written in words a lay person can understand)
• Easy mistakes to make, yes, but costly and frustrating at the same time
• The WIIFM question becomes even more important in today’s culture where everyone is inundated with literally thousands of marketing messages a day and this information overload means that people rarely have an attention span that lasts longer than 30 seconds
• In addition, today’s western culture unfortunately permits itself a level of selfishness and sense of entitlement that most would argue didn’t exist to this degree 15 years ago; All the more reason the WIIFM question must be explored
• Nevertheless, cultures evolve (both positively and negatively) and the successful are those who can adapt most effectively

People are it, man

• In leadership training programs I facilitate (a combination of group workshops and one-on-one coaching), the underlying theme, regardless of the workshop topic (be it time management, mentoring, communication, motivation, etc) is always people
• This makes sense since virtually any business and group (from big multi-national banks to your local book club) is built around people
• Understanding people and their desires and needs is key to success in business, as well as in relationships, happiness, development, progress, etc

Emotional resonance

• To ask yourself the WIIFM question on behalf of your client or friend or stranger promotes a sense of empathy within you
• The phrase ‘Walk a mile in their shoes’ is simple, yet nearly perfectly defines empathy in action
• Another question that I love and use regularly is “What are your challenges?”
• It builds rapport, shows you actually care, and opens a dialogue that can take a relationship to another level, professional or personal
• To me, life becomes infinitely more interesting when you allow yourself to shift perspectives, to permit yourself some leeway in letting the ideas of others (the more preposterous the better; talk to me about this if you don’t agree) invade our ‘selfish’ minds and possibly throw us from our well-entrenched perspective for a moment; From this often comes the spark of genius and the spark that draws something out from your ‘brilliant’ mind

Note

• There are detractors to the WIIFM approach (saying it can make people cynical or question the persuader’s motives), however maintaining sincerity when seeking to see things from the other person’s perspective will ensure you remain genuine in serving others

Practically speaking

1. Slow yourself down (A skill I’m still very much working on, but buy into it more and more)
• Schedule ‘me’ time and schedule ‘client time’
• Don’t rush to appointments
• Listen, really listen, to your clients (and your staff's) complaints, desires, and dreams (And then when they stop talking, ask them more questions!)
  
• Build a suggestion box and take the time to work it
  
• Read (books, magazines, industry blogs, newspapers, your daughter’s favorite books)
• Take more walks (without an iPod)
• Light more candles
• Meditate (even if its just an informal audio-free, dim lights, quiet sit at home or in the office)

2. Narrow your focus
• Reflect on a relationship with one person (Family member, best client, friend, etc)
• Reminisce about your relationship with them (Both good times and challenges (positive and negative))
• Then schedule time with them
• By phone or in person
• Go deeper than small talk (Dreams, goals, visions, challenges, victories, etc)

3. Practice
• Like anything new, it takes practice to become proficient at this, so don't give up if the approach doesn't come easy to you at first