The more I work with sales reps, the more I realize two things: 1) Sales reps really don't dig into the "Why" of their customer's business. Few ask the questions to their customers "Why are they in business?" Few sales reps try to understand their customer's true vision, the mission and values that drive the company. When a sales rep does learn and understand those key driving forces, it enables him or her to engage the senior executive, especially the business owner, in a conversation on a whole new level.

Too many sales reps, including myself at times, begin the conversation with "What and How." What are we offering and how we can solve their problems. We may do this through a customer aligned sales process of good question asking, understanding their goals and engaging in jointly discovering the best solution. But, we forget to begin with the "Why".

The second thing I realize is that many senior level executives don't spend enough time thinking about the "Why." They spend most of their mental and physical efforts on the "What" of their business and "How" to deliver the What. When this happens, employees tend to be less engaged and are just showing up to work to collect a paycheck. Turnover tends to be higher and the sales reps are "just doing their job" to make their quota. Most sales reps are not passionate about fulfilling the company mission.

Here is a Ted Talk video of Simon Sinek talking about beginning with Why. https://youtu.be/sioZd3AxmnE