Captain’s log, stardate 20170524

“The result was astounding”

Sent by Jonathan Stark on May 24th, 2017

Reader Stephen Godfrey wrote in to share an inspiring story about having his first Why Conversation with a prospective client (shared with permission, bold mine):

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Hi Jonathan,

I got an email from a lead that was talking to an acquaintance of mine. He said that he needed a Minimum Viable Product for a company that he started, and that he needed some tech help. He mainly was looking for a good developer who has experience in marketing and security, and I fit the bill.

And when scoping out the project I thought I’d try the Why Conversation. At first, I was nervous because the questions are setup to ask “why me of all people? Why not someone cheaper? etc…” but I was stunned by how well they worked.

I found out that the client has a passion for this project and really wants this done (why this?).
I found out that he has a small team of front-end people ready to go, and he needs someone skilled on the back-end. He also has users ready and waiting to pay him now (why now?).
I found out that he wants to have a close developer who has great communication skills. He wants to meet with them during his normal business hours, and he trusts me because of who he got the referral from (why me?).

The result was astounding. He couldn’t wait for the proposal (I used your template), and when I sent it to him (with prices twice as high as he wanted) he said:

“This is wonderful! What are the timelines for each option?”

So there it is. I didn’t believe it at first, but now I do. The Why Conversation questions work, and they are golden.

Best,

Stephen Godfrey

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Congrats, Stephen! Thanks for sharing. I hope others are inspired by your experience and will try a Why Conversation for themselves.

Yours,

—J