I was young and stupid when I first learned that there were two main types of expertise: subject matter expertise and process expertise. 

Being young and stupid (and a little full of myself) I was dismissive of the latter. I mean, I was so arrogantly dismissive of process expertise that I refused to acknowledge that a facilitator’s skills had any value at all. 

Surely, knowing how to use a framework is nowhere near as valuable as the deep knowledge of a subject, like the deep knowledge I so proudly possessed.

I did properly understand one difference between the two:

The subject matter expert has the answers.

The process expert has the questions.

And I equated “being the expert” with being the person with the answers. I clutched onto this belief so tightly that it’s been one of the hardest challenges of my career to go from being seen as the person with the answers to the person with the questions. 

I still struggle with it, even though today I understand that in my domain of selling, questions are far more valuable than answers. Even when there is a role for both. 

The Roles of Questions and Answers

In a sale, your subject matter expertise gets you to the table, with a prospective client on the other side, weighing whether or not to hire you. 

You proved your expertise by sharing your “answers” in the public domain and they have reached out to you for this conversation.

But it’s your process expertise that gets you hired. 

As an example, take the Value Conversation, the third conversation in our Four Conversations model for selling expertise.

The Value Conversation is a framework for asking questions. It’s a process.

In a Win Without Pitching workshop I always say about the Value Conversation framework, “It’s simple, but it’s not easy. The reason it’s not easy is your subject matter expertise gets in the way.”

You clear your mind and start working the framework. Step one: What is it you want, dear client?

The client begins to answer. Being a subject matter expert, you spot the patterns. 

You’ve seen this before. You know what the problem is. You know what the solution is. You know what the client needs to pay. 

“No further questions, Your Honor!”

You’re ready to pitch. To transmit. To communicate that you know the answers. 

It takes all your willpower to let go of these SME thoughts and stick to the framework, the process. If you succumb to your SME instincts here you will give up power, put the client back on their heels, lower your odds of closing and raise your cost of sale. 

Stop asserting and resume your questions.  

Subject matter expertise gets you to the table. Then it gets in the way. Process expertise—asking the right questions—gets you the deal, and it does so more often, at higher prices and at a lower cost of sale. 

You need both forms of expertise. Being the subject matter expert requires you to have answers, but selling that expertise requires you to drop answers for questions. 

Simple. But not easy.