I love an exception to the rule.

Chris Voss in Never Split the Difference talks about the one exception to never using a ‘Why?’ question.

I’ll give it in an example:

“We’ve got some great competitors. They’re almost all cheaper than us. They all offer the same basic service of document approvals. So why are you interested in us?

I guess it works because their not defending themselves. They’re defending someone or something else. There’s no need to be defensive. It allows people to open up.

I used it the other day and it definitely works. The customer/prospect, in this case, opened up and told me about the case.

But I think the real skill is being able to read the answer. Being able to tell just how committed they are after they’ve opened up.