I was on a coaching call with people selling IT services, and someone had an opportunity to dig deeper into what the prospect said. Another person suggested, "We could have asked 'Why is that important to you?'" The response? "I thought we weren't supposed to ask 'why' questions. It's what I heard from Chris Voss." Look, I love Chris Voss—phenomenal hostage negotiator, great book (Never Split the Difference)—and I fundamentally agree with most of what he says. He's right that "why" questions can make people defensive because we're trained from childhood that "Why did you do that?" means we're being accused of something. But here's my slightly different perspective: Chris comes from negotiating with terrorists and hostages—there's inherent conflict between the two parties. That's not consultative sales. Your prospect's money isn't being held hostage. This episode breaks down why the advice gets implemented too broadly without understanding the context. If you ask with curiosity—"Interesting, I haven't seen that before... why do you guys do it that way?"—versus accusation—"Well... what's the purpose of that?"—your tonality changes everything. I hereby give you permission to use "why" at the beginning of questions, so long as you deliver it with curiosity and not accusation. Don't overthink it. Use it strategically.//Welcome to Repeatable Revenue, hosted by strategic growth advisor , Ray J. Green.About Ray:→ Former Managing Director of National Small & Midsize Business at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he doubled revenue per sale in fundraising, led the first increase in SMB membership, co-built a national Mid-Market sales channel, and more.→ Former CEO operator for several investor groups where he led turnarounds of recently acquired small businesses.→ Current founder of MSP Sales Partners, where we currently help IT companies scale sales: www.MSPSalesPartners.com→ Current Sales & Sales Management Expert in Residence at the world’s largest IT business mastermind.→ Current Managing Partner of Repeatable Revenue Ventures, where we scale B2B companies we have equity in: www.RayJGreen.com//Follow Ray on:YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram