HELP. The quick reference guide.
The four moves
Open with “What is going on?” and hold the silence. Every follow-up starts with what, where, who, when, or how. Never why. Close by reflecting it back in their words: “Did I get that right?”
Sort into two columns, facts and interpretations. A fact survives “How do we know that?” Words like obviously and clearly mark a story. End with the short list of what is still missing.
Never give the answer. Ask “Where have you seen this before?” and let them pull the pattern from their own experience. The lesson they find sticks. The one you hand them does not.
Ask “What are you leaning toward?” Then three words: “Trust your gut.” The decision has to feel theirs, not a lightly edited version of yours.
Which problem are you holding?
Walk me through where the number comes from today. Which accounts carry it, and what do they actually buy from us?
Which customers use half of what they pay for? “There is no budget out there” is a story. What do renewals and usage actually show?
Where have we grown an account before without adding a logo? What made that work?
Which two accounts are you leaning toward starting with this week?
Where does the work pile up? Who touches it between the handoff and the miss? When did this last run clean?
Is “the handoff is broken” a fact or a story? What does the cycle time show at each step? How do we know?
Where have you seen a process fail like this before? What was actually underneath it?
Which step are you leaning toward fixing first?
“What is going on?” Then silence. Let them describe their own quarter. Reflect it back in their words and confirm you got it.
Closed-won is down. That is a fact. “The market got harder” goes in which column? What would tell us?
You have dug out of a slow quarter before. What did you do first back then?
What are you leaning toward? Trust your gut.
What changed in your business since we started working together? What is next quarter’s problem?
What tells us this account is healthy: usage, new stakeholders, or just the renewal? Who have we heard from besides the champion?
Where has this client solved a problem like this before? Let them recognize the pattern themselves.
Ask the buyer what they are leaning toward. A conclusion they own moves faster than one you pitched.
When did engagement drop? Who stopped joining the calls? What did the last business review actually cover?
Is “they are fine, they renewed” a fact or a story? What does usage show since the champion left?
Where have we seen a quiet account before? What did the silence turn out to mean?
Which three accounts are you leaning toward calling this week?
You are off the method when
- You fill the silence after “What is going on?” Most leaders collapse it inside fifteen seconds. The collapse is the failure.
- You ask why during Hear. Why asks people to defend. Save it for the evidence, never aim it at the person.
- You let “obviously” or “clearly” into the fact column. Those words are how a guess dresses up as a fact.
- You start solving before the sorting is done. The first fact you find is rarely the whole picture.
- You name the winner in Proceed. Surface the options and hand over the call. Only an owned decision gets conviction.
The same four moves hold whether the conversation is two minutes in the hallway or a six-month turnaround. The depth changes. The moves do not. Run it until the team runs the cadence without you.