Adaptive curiosity III

We’ve been exploring what I call 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 - and how you coach it. Two further thoughts have come out of those posts.

1. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁

A customer says something interesting.
A project has been delayed. Another initiative has taken priority. Budget has suddenly become an issue.

An inexperienced salesperson may acknowledge the answer and move to their next prepared question.
An experienced coached salespeople instinctively recognises when there’s something worth pursuing.

Like a line of dominoes.
The customer’s first answer knocks over the first domino.

Your curiosity then 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿. “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥?” Another domino falls.
“𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵?” Another domino falls.
“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵?” And another.

That’s the difference between curiosity and 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆.

You keep following that particular path while there is something useful to discover.

Not just for you. For the customer too.
Because good questioning often helps customers make connections they haven’t made themselves.

Eventually, you’ve taken that path far enough. And you back-up.
Ready to pursue another topic, another thread, another line of questioning, another row of dominos.

The best salespeople do this almost instinctively. It appears innate.
But they weren’t born with it. They learned it. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

2. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲ad

At the debrief, the manager / coach asks:

“They said the project had been delayed. Did you find out why?”
“They mentioned another priority. What was driving it?”
“You said budget was an issue. What had changed?”

And sometimes the answer is: “𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘢sk.”

But after enough meetings - and enough good coaching - something changes.

The salesperson is sitting in the next customer meeting.
And the customer says something interesting.
And somewhere in the back of the salesperson’s mind they hear their manager:

“Why?” “What's behind that?”

The sales professional knows they'll be asked later. So they ask now..

Over time, the manager's voice in their head becomes quieter.
Because the salesperson is asking more of the right questions during the meeting. They've got this.

And one day: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶ng.

And their curiosity adapts instinctively to whatever the customer puts in front of them.

That’s Adaptive Curiosity.
And that’s what good coaching can develop.