Just ONE Thing
Still Answering the Same Questions Every Day? Use ASK to Finally Stop It
Episode 251
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Hey, good morning everybody. Rick White from 180 Biz here. We're a coaching and training company for the independent auto and truck repair shop industry, and I am so glad you're here.
Let's get started.
Today we're gonna talk about ASK.
What do I mean by that?
A lot of times, what happens when somebody comes to you and asks you a question? What do you do? You give them an answer. Does that make sense? You're just like, bam—give them an answer.
So I want you to think this through. It's just like, get it done, get it done, get it done, get it done. But in the process of doing that, you're creating a prison for yourself.
You're ending up in a situation where you're creating a prison for yourself in a way that's really, really hard to get out of because you're teaching everybody to come to you instead of figuring it out themselves.
So I think this is a super, super important thing to think through.
What I want you to do is think through something a little bit different instead. Because when you give someone an answer, you give them a fish, right? But when you get them to think about it themselves, you teach them to fish, right?
Would you rather feed them for the day or teach them how to feed themselves for a lifetime?
That's pretty amazing.
What I want you to be able to do is have a really simple process to remember this by.
And it's the ASK—A-S-K—framework that really, really works well.
So, A = Assume positive intent. When they ask you a question, do not immediately think, “Oh my God, that was the dumbest thing I've ever heard,” or anything else like that, because we don't know what it is.
Okay? You gotta assume positive intent. That's the first thing you gotta do.
Second thing you've gotta do is S—Seek to understand. You gotta be able to step back and understand. Don't just answer the question.
Because here's the biggest mistake we make in communication: the biggest mistake we make in communication is where we listen to someone's words and apply our meaning.
That does not work.
You gotta seek to understand. You gotta seek to understand what their question really means, number one. But then, number two, you've gotta understand the story around it. You gotta understand not just this little sliver of it, but what's the context around it—not just the content.
So you gotta be able to have that as well.
Okay, so assume positive intent, and then seek to understand.
And the last one—the last part of this—is K, which is Keep asking.
What do I mean by that?
What I mean by that is you gotta keep asking questions. So when they ask a question and you go, “Well, what do you mean?” or “Tell me more,” you're gonna start to dig in so that you do get better at understanding what their real issue is.
Maybe it's a piece of equipment your tech has never used before, or maybe they're wondering if it's missing a piece, but they don't know how to ask you that, or maybe they're concerned about how something's gonna land when they start.
So they just ask a very kind of weird question in the beginning.
What you've gotta be able to do is step back, assume positive intent, seek to understand, and keep asking questions.
I wanna make sure you understand this concept.
Don't give people answers.
When you give people answers, you create a prison.
And that prison means your business falls apart every single time you walk away.
Because you're not growing thinkers.
You're growing doers.
They're only gonna do when you tell them, and that doesn't work. You've gotta be able to step back and invest in your team.
And one of the best ways is to believe in them and then use this ASK framework.
So if this resonates with you, please share this video.
We need your help to get this word out.
Assume positive intent.
Seek to understand,
and keep asking questions.
Those three things make all the difference in the world, and I guarantee you, in the beginning, it's gonna be a little frustrating. But man, in a week or two, you're gonna be amazed at the difference in your team.
Everybody, thank you so much for being here. Y'all have a great week, and I will see you next week. Take care. Go make some money. We'll see ya. Bye-bye.
