Solutions Are Useless Without a Proper Diagnosis

What really goes on with a doctor’s visit?

Ideally, you realize that you have some symptoms that are preventing you from functioning at 100%. You then get an appointment with the doctor, they ask you a fair amount of questions about your symptoms and lifestyle, and then they make some recommendations–usually involving a prescription of some sort.

So how would you feel if you just went into the doctor and they gave you some pills without investigating the problems?

Maybe a little skeptical? Craning your neck to see if there’s a medical school diploma anywhere in the office? It goes to show you that as much as we all focus on the solution, we still realize the importance of a thorough, accurate diagnosis of the problem if we want to actually get better.

In a recent conversation with a new client, we discussed an associate that was struggling. We decided to call the associate into the conference room and sort things out. When we asked him why he thought his client development goals were not being met, he shared that he was not comfortable generating new accounts. After a few more questions about new client development, the partner of the firm pointed out that the prior week the associate shared that he didn’t like to close.

So, rather than working on new client development techniques or closing techniques (managing the symptoms) it became very evident that the real problem for the associate was fear (the disease). It was not that he didn’t know how to approach potential clients or attain a client, it was the fact the both new client development and signing the client represented risk. Until we were able to fix the associate’s aversion to taking risks and fear of rejection, treating those symptoms wouldn’t do any good in the long run.

We need to make sure we are working on the right part of the problem! When you are in meetings with clients and potential clients, be sure to take enough time to clearly articulate and explore the disease behind the symptoms. Once you’ve got the proper diagnosis, you can address their real needs rather than wasting time creating solutions for perceived or ancillary issues.