There’s a question I always want answered in the discovery process.

I call it the “what’s in it for me?” question.

Please don’t ask it exactly with those words, though. It’s just a good way to frame it to you.

I’m trying to understand their motive. Why this outcome. Why now. Why them.

Sometimes it’s professional → Hit the number. Get the promotion.

Sometimes it’s emotional → Prove someone wrong.

Sometimes it’s practical → Make enough money to be present at their kid’s baseball game.

But the question really only works when it’s just you and them.

Once other people enter the room, answers get safer (less personal). But in private, if you give them the space, buyers will tell you why this matters to them.

And often, it’s not in what they say, it’s in what their words point to underneath.

It’s revealing for you. And clarifying for them, simply to say it out loud.

I get it if your gut reaction right now is skeptical about doing this (especially if you haven’t before).

But if there’s one thing that increases the odds they buy from you (and you doing a remarkable job), it’s getting an answer to this question first.

Thank you for reading.

Be well. Talk soon.

— Peter

P.S. This is the question I ask in every pricing audit conversation. It often sounds like: “If pricing stopped being a stressor and started working the way it should, what would that actually allow you to do?”

If your answer feels meaningful to you, hit reply.