When she found the bottle was empty, she called a doctor for a refill.  He insisted that I come into his office for a quick evaluation.  You tell him to “just…fill…it!” My death stare made it clear that I wasn’t going anywhere. She called back, and the answer remained the same.

Even with excruciating pain, I could see what was going on.  He wanted the “co-pay” that goes with the office visit.  No visit, no co-pay for his time.  I was furious. 

Susan drove me to the doctor’s office.  My head felt like it would pop with pain, anger was making it even worse. Almost incapacitated, I waited in reception until I met with the doctor.  True to the whole charade, he took my pulse, looked in my ears, made me say “ahh.”  Each passing minute increased my anger.  I would have screamed, but my head hurt too much.

That’s when he wheeled his stool next to me and patted my knee.  “Mr. Christensen, you’re not suffering from a migraine, you’re suffering from spinal meningitis.”  Everything after that was a blur. They whisked me off to the hospital, inserted a needle the size of a ball point pen into my spinal column to draw fluid, and then waited for a day to see if I had the good kind (where you live) or the bad kind (where you don’t).

I was fortunate. I had the good kind.

My doctor insisted on a quick diagnosis, even though the prescription seemed obvious to me. Because he caught it early, and didn’t blindly medicate symptoms, I avoided terrible consequences of the disease.  He wasn’t doing something remarkable.  On the contrary, it was mundane.  He was just doing his job.

You could say that it’s what doctors should do—“Diagnosis before you Prescribe.”  

Now, let’s loop this story around to how you can make your sales process more effective.  Here are a few ways you can diagnose before you prescribe.  It can be as simple as asking the right questions, and listening to understand.

Use the following tips to help you ask more effective questions:

• Obtain permission to ask questions.
  
• Ask one question at a time; wait for the answer.
  
• Reward their response and then ask your next question. When appropriate, use their words in your question. It's a powerful reward.
  
• Be cautious of leading questions (i.e., questions designed to get agreement, not information or understanding).
  
• Ask "how" or "what" rather than "why."
  
• Summarize what you've heard.

Use the following tips to help you listen more effectively:

• Listening is a matter of choice and concentration. You must choose to listen actively, and you must focus your complete attention on the other person.
  
• Focus on the other person's answer, not on your next question.
  
• Listen with your ears to the auditory communication.
  
• Watch with your eyes for the visual communication.
  
• Sense with your intuition the real meaning of their communication. Can you see a difference between what they say and what they mean?
  
• Expand or exit the communication when appropriate. Don't cut it short of understanding or prolong it past interest and attention span.
  

“Diagnose, then prescribe” is not a special tool, or a magic process…it’s just a sound principle.  It’s a simple habit of understanding first. It works for good doctors, and it can work for you.