How to use the 5-Whys technique to find the root causes of problems
Sales professionals must understand how to break down the complexity of business process issues. If salespeople don't know how to break down the problems, they can’t effectively use questioning skills to lead a customer to a solution that truly impacts their business.
Salespeople need to understand that problem-solving is crucial when business processes fail so corrective action can be taken to prevent further failures and customer or prospect frustration. Sales professionals don’t always realize that some sales process problems could be more complicated than they appear. Perhaps of more effect for a customer or prospect, problem-solving could be applied to a business process before an actual fail event, i.e., a potential problem can be predicted, analyzed, and mitigation applied so the problem never actually occurs.
So here is a quick exercise you can use either on your own to improve your problem-solving skills or if you are a sales manager. You can use it in a training meeting.
The 5 Whys is a simple problem-solving technique that helps you to get to the root of a problem quickly. Made popular in the 1970s by the Toyota Production System, the 5 Whys strategy involves looking at any problem and asking: “Why?” and “What caused this problem?”
Very often, the answer to the first “why” will prompt another “why,” and the answer to the second “why” will prompt another, and so on; hence the name the 5 Whys strategy.
Benefits of the 5 Whys include:
It helps you to determine the root cause of a problem quickly.
It’s simple and easy to learn and apply.
How to Use the Tool:
When you’re looking to solve a problem, start at the result and work backward (toward the root cause), continually asking: “Why?” You’ll need to repeat this over and over until it’s not possible to ask Why, and then the root cause of the problem becomes apparent. “Anyone can point out the problems or issues; very few can come up with solutions to the problems because they don’t understand why they occur. If you want to be a consultant in the sales world, learn how to evaluate the root cause of the issue, and then come up with a solution to address the issue.”
Example:
In this example, distribution channel partner sales are shrinking. Using the 5 Whys, you go through the following steps to get to the cause of the problem:
Why are sales shrinking? Because of the competition attacking our customers, dropping prices, and expanding their market share in our favorite vertical.
Why were we unable to meet the competition prices? Due to the limited number of customers in this vertical, we kept dropping the prices until we ran out of margins and started selling at a loss.
Why are we working on this specific vertical? Because the sales team understands this vertical and has served its clients for many years. They know all customers and their needs.
Why not try to target other verticals? The sales team didn't feel comfortable stepping outside their comfort zone. Also, the sales cycle takes longer in other verticals, which will cause the sales team to take longer to achieve their targets.
Why didn’t we encourage the salespeople to target other verticals? Because we were running behind on other projects.
It's very clear here that the management needs to implement a new strategy to target new verticals, train the salespeople, and push them outside their comfort zone. Also, there is a need to change the commission structure to encourage them to target customers in different verticals.
The 5 Whys technique can help you quickly get to the root of a problem. However, the more complex things get, the more likely it will lead you down a false trail. If it doesn’t give you the right answer quickly, you may need to use a more sophisticated problem-solving technique such as Root Cause Analysis or Cause and Effect Analysis.
The 5 Whys strategy is an easy and often effective tool for uncovering the root of a problem. Because it’s simple, you can adapt it quickly and apply it to almost any problem.
