It Starts With Clients

Week 10 Use Power Questions

A client of mine met with a managing director at a large private equity firm. The firm was racing to divest a company it owned. “We're in a rush,” he told my client. “I want only one, very specific project done.” After exploring that opportunity, my client suggested some additional work that would enhance the project's success. But the managing director waved his hand and said no.

My client then asked him a simple but transformative question: “I'm curious, if you did have more time before selling this company, what else, ideally, would you fix in order to make it more valuable to buyers?”

The executive paused, and reflected in silence. He finally spoke: “Hmm … well … actually, there are also two other problems I'd probably address.” He briefly described them. There was more silence. Then he added, “Ok, please put them in your proposal as well.”

The question instantly shifted the discussion and considerably changed the focus of the work. The client went from wanting to pay the least fees possible for a small project to agreeing to a broad scope of work that would dramatically increase the value of the asset.

If you aspire to be a trusted advisor to your clients, you have to get better at asking thought-provoking questions. I call them Power Questions. In talking about their most important external providers, many senior executives have mentioned ...