In my last blog, I shared with you why many of the tips being written regarding how to recruit Gen X's will (in my opinion) fail.  Many such tips focus on how Gen 'Xs are "so different than the rest of us."  In my opinion, this is very dangerous thinking.  To summarize, I said that if scripts are used to replace the fundamentals, like showing curiosity about a person's story, not only will they not work, but they will actually turn candidates off.

Whether you recruit or sell, the art of fully understanding a person's pain is ALWAYS the most important thing for you to master…and the quest for this information is never as simple as a script.  The following interaction is a great example of the power that can be gained, just by learning about your customer.  The strategy this salesperson uses can be applied, not only to sales, but also to recruiting, dating, marriage, raising children, and almost any credibility building activity.

Last Saturday I ventured into a golf store with the intention of buying golf shoes that I had seen on sale in the Seattle Times ad section, listed for $59.  I was in the store a total of 30 minutes, and left with $200 Ecco golf shoes, and I was happy about it.  How on earth did this happen?  

The sales guy never approached me with anything resembling a script.  He did not sell.  Instead, he allowed me, first, to try on the cheapy golf shoes I had seen in the ad, while he began to ask a series of very important questions in the most natural and unassuming way:

"How many years have you been playing?" (answer = since I was 10 years old)

"How old are you now?" (Answer = 52)

"How many pairs of shoes have you bought in those 42 Years" (answer = 4)

"Why are you buying now?" (answer = I am sore the next day when I walk a golf course with my existing twelve-year-old shoes).

All that remained to do was help me connect the painfully obvious logic that my cheapskate mind was avoiding:

"So let's see…If you are not going to buy another pair for ten years, and you play 15-20 rounds of golf per year, and prefer to walk, then even if you get the Ecco golf shoes (the easiest on the feet) – You'll only be paying an additional $1 per round of golf for enormous comfort, for the next ten years."  

Hmmm…  He practiced what most salesmen forget — understanding the pain and the resistance before offering a solution.  He would NEVER have been able to sell me those shoes without asking me that list of questions.

I'm not saying that scripts don't have their place.  Of course they do.  But, I am witnessing a trend where they appear to be replacing the fundamentals.

So what questions do you ask?  Why are you asking them?  Everyone has varying needs, pain, and resistance…and you don't know this information, until you begin asking.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.