Show notes
The success of your business is always determined by the what, why, when & how. What are you doing? Why are you doing it? When are you doing it? And How? If you don't have the desire to help your clients, if it's all about you making money, or if it's all about you accomplishing a personal result for yourself, and you don't have enough care or consideration for the person you're selling to, I think it's going to be hard to be successful long term.
David: Hi, and welcome back. In today’s episode, co-host Kevin Rosenquist and I discuss the what, why, when, and how of your business. Welcome back, Kevin.
Kevin: Good to see you, David. How you doing?
David: Doing great, and you?
Kevin: Good. Good. All right — so, what, why, when, how. Let’s start with the first one. Why is it critical to define your what before anything else in business?
David: Well, the way I look at it is, if you don’t know what you’re doing, then why you’re doing it, when you’re doing it, and how you’re doing it are kind of irrelevant.
Kevin: Doesn’t really matter.
David: Right. You sort of—
Kevin: Yup.
David: Yeah, you kind of have to know what it is that you’re setting out to do. Whether you’re operating solo or with a team of people, identifying what you want to accomplish — in your business or in any specific area of your business — is always the first step.
So, if the what is “getting clients,” then the question becomes: What is my procedure? What is my process going to be for getting clients? That’s the what.
You identify that first. Once you’ve even thought about what you want to accomplish — or what you think you might want to accomplish, if you’re still in the ideation stage — the what is important.
But the reason I go to the why next is because if you don’t have a strong why, you might not be committed enough to what has to be done.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that people who have ideas but don’t have a really strong, compelling reason for doing them tend to struggle to get those things done.
Kevin: So it can become a motivation issue to some degree?
David: It certainly can, because if you’ve got strong reasons for wanting to do something — whether it’s to support your family, to create a growing enterprise, or to eventually sell the business and make a profit — that strong why will definitely impact your motivation.
So I think that’s a big component. Without it, why does anyone really do anything?
Kevin: I suppose you could technically start with the why, right? Because if you have a reason for doing something, you can then build the what around it. Or is that a bad way to go in your mind?
David: Well, if you’re thinking in terms of starting a business, that would actually be the what. But I guess it’s possible to start with the why. For example, if my why is “I want to support my family and I’m not happy with what I’m doing now,” then I might arrive at a what like, “I want to start my own business,” or “I want to do A, B, or C to make that happen.”
That hasn’t worked that way for me personally — but it could for someone else. If you’ve got a strong enough why, you can then start thinking about what needs to happen in order to achieve the things you have in mind.
Kevin: When it comes to the when, why is it so important to define a timeline?
David: Wow. Anyone who’s in sales probably has some strong thoughts about when. If you’ve ever spoken to a prospect who seems really excited and seems like a perfect fit for what you offer — and then they just keep dodging you or stop taking your calls — that’s a perfect example of someone who doesn’t have their when dialed in.
In any conversation — with prospects, clients, or coworkers — we need to identify the when so everyone’s on the same page about the importance of the action and the likelihood of it happening. Because without a when, things just don’t happen.
A lot of our work is with people in the promotional products and print industries. In those cases, people will call and ask for a price: “Can you give me a quote on 1,500 of this particular item, in this color,” and so on.
If you just answer that question without knowing when they need it, you may be shooting yourself in the foot. What if you provide a quote that’s valid today, and then they wait six months and come back expecting the same price?
It doesn’t make much sense to quote someone without knowing when they plan to move forward. That’s why I think the when aspect is so critical.
Kevin: Let’s move on to the how. Obviously, that can change over time — how you’re going to implement things. Businesses evolve. How detailed does the how really need to be before taking action?
David: It needs to be detailed enough that you know what your next action will be. We recently did an episode where we talked about the idea stage, the action stage, and the system stage. The how is really about the systems or processes you’re building.
It’s about the actions — the how is about what you’re doing and which of those actions you want to turn into a system.
The how becomes especially important when you’re doing something repeatedly. You want to build a process so you’re not reinventing the wheel every time.
Anytime a business wants to grow or scale, having procedures in place — your how — is vital.
If multiple people in your organization are doing the same thing in different ways, it makes sense to ask: Who’s most effective? How are they doing it? Are there elements of their approach that others could adopt to get similar results?
Kevin: Is this something you coach businesses to keep revisiting — their what, why, when, and how?
David: Absolutely. It becomes clear when it’s time to revisit them — usually when things stop working. You might have procedures that worked great and then suddenly don’t.
When that happens, you have to ask: Has our process changed? Has our market changed?
A good big-picture example is how sales communication has evolved. Ten or twenty years ago, most sales conversations happened over the phone. Now, they might take place over social media, in Messenger, via text, or elsewhere.
So we need to look at what’s effective now and adjust accordingly.
Kevin: I’ve always hated when people text me for business. I’m more of an email guy — but I suppose it depends on when you grew up or entered the business world. Some people still prefer phone calls, but younger generations often favor text.
David: Right.
Kevin: Yeah.
David: And it’s not always our call, right? The client gets to decide how they want to communicate. We can either adapt to them or hope they adapt to us — but realistically, they probably won’t. If they can work with someone who already communicates the way they prefer, that person is more likely to get the business.
Kevin: Absolutely. Are there any tools you recommend for keeping these four ideas front and center?
David: For most people, if you’ve got a CRM in place, that’s where a lot of it happens. You should know what your first step is, what the next step is, and what comes after that — so you don’t have to think about it each time.
If a client has an event coming up, make sure that’s scheduled so you can follow up at the right time. Things like that. That’s probably the most important tech for this.
Kevin: What about a business that’s been around for 20 years but never really thought about these things? Is it too late, or can they still come into it now?
David: It’s never too late. This can happen the moment you become aware of it. Everything you’ve done so far has involved a what, why, when, and how. You may not have been conscious of it, but once you are, you can fine-tune each one — and make it much easier to take the right actions at the right time.
Kevin: How can clarity on these four ultimately help a sales team perform better?
David: For a sales team, they need to identify the right prospects and clients. They need to communicate effectively, show how they can help, and understand their own motivations.
The why should be more than just “I want to make money.” It should include “I want to help my client achieve a specific result.”
If you don’t genuinely care about helping your clients — if it’s all about your commission — it’s going to be hard to succeed long-term.
When you combine a strong what and why with a clear when and how, things align. For instance, if a client needs to send you artwork by a specific date and you don’t make sure that happens, the order won’t go through.
These four elements play together. Everyone kind of knows them, but when you consciously identify and apply them, things become much clearer.
Some people listening might say, “I’m good with the what and why, but my how isn’t getting results.” That’s a sign to re-examine your implementation.
Kevin: You made a great point on the why too — if you’re only doing this for yourself and not because you genuinely want to help, that comes across eventually.
David: Exactly. And if you find yourself in that position — if you realize you don’t like your market, your clients, or your work — it might be time to consider a different profession.
Kevin: Yeah, maybe it’s time to get out. For sure. You mentioned that people often get tripped up on the how. Is that the biggest stumbling block?
David: Probably, yes. Because it can be intricate. The how determines whether the what gets done, whether the when happens, and how the why plays out. Because it requires detail and discipline, it can be the hardest of the four.
Kevin: Right. We’ve talked about what, why, when, and how. So how can people learn more about this approach?
David: Just go to TopSecrets.com/shift. Pick up a copy of our free PDF. If you’re struggling with any of these areas — the what, when, why, or how — download the report. If you’d like to have a conversation with us, you’re welcome to do that as well.
Kevin: When should they do it?
David: They should do it right now.
Kevin: I think we covered them all.