Crunchbase – 4 Tips to Close More Deals by Bringing Empathy and Curiosity to Your Outreach

The late, great Clayton Christensen popularized the notion of Jobs to be Done with his famous milkshake story, which recounts his experience as a management consultant working with McDonald’s to help it stimulate growth in a flagging product category. This led to a deep inquiry into the motivations of the milkshake consumer, which challenged the conventional assumption that the McDonald’s milkshake was seen as a frothy accompaniment for a meal.

Christensen discovered that the milkshake served a wholly different purpose, fulfilling a very specific job to be done: Providing a delightful, lasting diversion during a long commute to or from work. While this was an unobvious conclusion, once discovered, it became the insight that helped bring the product category back to life.

Why share this story? Because by leading with curiosity and empathy, and putting aside biases and assumptions, Christensen was able to render a powerfully original conclusion, which made all the difference. Sales reps may not be engaged in multimonth consulting projects like this, but the best ones bring the same spirit to their interactions with prospects.

Read the full article, including the four things you can do to up your game, here.