Want to Grow Your Business? Start By Asking the Right Questions

Why Scotland’s Growth Depends on One Simple Skill: Learning to Give Customers What They Actually Need.

For all the complexity we like to attach to business growth, strategy, technology, market trends, AI disruption, funding landscapes, the truth is far simpler. The organisations that continue to grow, year after year, are those that learn one essential skill and practise it relentlessly:

They get very, very good at understanding what their customers really need, and delivering it.

Not what the business thinks customers need.

Not what competitors are shouting about.

Not what the founder personally prefers to sell.

But what the customer is genuinely trying to achieve.

It sounds obvious. Almost too obvious. Yet this is where so many businesses quietly stall.

Teams work hard, invest heavily, launch products, run campaigns, attend events… and still wonder why traction remains slow. In most cases, the issue isn’t ambition or talent. It’s that the business hasn’t learned how to listen well enough to sell effectively.

In a Scottish business landscape that’s becoming more competitive, more global, and more digital by the day, rediscovering the fundamentals of selling,, the human fundamentals, might just be the biggest growth lever available.

And that’s exactly why the upcoming Scottish Growth Seminar, run by Sales Geek and a workshop based on the framework from The Ask, couldn’t be more timely.

The Heart of Growth: Stop Selling, Start Understanding

There’s a shift happening in sales. Customers no longer reward the companies that talk the most, they reward the companies that listen the best.

Selling is no longer about presenting a polished pitch. It’s about uncovering the problems, pains, aspirations, and anxieties your customers are carrying into every buying decision.

When you understand their real motivation, the thing under the thing, everything gets easier:

• Your conversations become warmer, not pushy

• Your proposals become tailored, not templated

• Your marketing becomes relevant, not guesswork

• Your pricing becomes justified, not defensive

• And your conversions rise naturally

Selling, at its core, is the art of giving people what they genuinely need in the way they can most easily receive it.

And yet, most businesses don’t train this. They assume people “just know” how to sell or should have magically absorbed it over the years. In reality, selling well is a skill, and a misunderstood one.

This Is Where Events Like the Scottish Growth Seminar Matter

The Scottish Growth Seminar exists to close this gap, to give business owners, leaders, and teams access to practical, modern, human-centred sales education.

Sales Geek will be delivering a session on how selling has changed, what today’s customers expect, and how Scottish businesses can build systems that turn conversations into revenue without compromising trust or authenticity.

Their message is simple and powerful:

If you learn how to sell well, you unlock growth that doesn’t rely on luck, algorithms, or endless marketing experiments.

In other words, selling is not a department.

It’s a mindset, a culture, and a growth skill every person in the organisation needs, from founder to frontline.

But Selling Isn’t the Only Skill Businesses Are Missing…

Even when businesses finally understand customer needs, they often fall at the next hurdle:

They don’t know how to clearly articulate what they need in order to grow.

It’s one of the most surprising, consistent blind spots in Scottish SMEs. Ask founders what they need right now — the introduction, the partnership, the market access, the mentor, the investor, the expertise, and many will hesitate:

• “I’m open to opportunities.”

• “We’re looking to grow.”

• “Anything that helps.”

These are not Asks.

They’re vague, well-meaning statements that no one can act upon.

Clarity creates momentum.

Vagueness kills opportunity.

That’s why, at the Scottish Growth Seminar, I’ll be running a workshop based on the frameworks in The Ask, a book built around one central principle:

If you don’t know what to ask for, no one can help you.

Learning to Ask for What Your Business Needs

The workshop will guide attendees through the A.S.K. system, a simple but powerful framework:

A – Action

What’s the business goal?

What are you trying to achieve in the next 6–12 months?

S – Stuck Point

What’s stopping you?

What’s the barrier you can’t move alone?

K – Key Request

What’s the exact support you need from others?

An introduction? Market insight? A partner? A technical expert?

When you shape an Ask this way, people know instantly how they can help. It makes networking more meaningful, conversations more productive, and opportunities easier to unlock.

This workshop pairs perfectly with the Sales Geek session:

• Sales Geek teaches you how to give customers what they need.

• The Ask teaches you how to communicate what you need.

Together?

That’s a complete growth system.

A Scotland-Wide Challenge: Talent Without the Ask

Scotland is full of intelligent, innovative, creative founders and teams. But too many of them hold back from asking for the support that could accelerate their growth.

Why?

Because asking can feel vulnerable.

It can feel bold.

It can feel like admitting you don’t have everything in place yet.

But here’s the truth every successful founder knows:

Every major opportunity, partnership, investment, market entry, contract, began with someone having the courage to ask for it.

If Scottish businesses want to grow faster, trade more globally, and compete at the level we’re absolutely capable of, we need to normalise asking for support early and clearly.

No more sitting on potential.

No more waiting for someone to guess.

No more silent ambition.

Why You Should Be in the Room

The Scottish Growth Seminar isn’t just another business event.

It’s a practical, tools-first, action-focused day designed to help you:

• Understand customer needs more deeply

• Sell more effectively, more authentically

• Communicate your own needs clearly

• Build relationships that convert into real opportunity

• Leave with momentum, not just notes

If you’re serious about growing, whether you’re a founder, leader, sales professional, or part of a scaling team, this event gives you the knowledge and the frameworks to make growth intentional, not accidental.

And if you’ve ever felt stuck, plateaued, overlooked, or unsure what to say when someone asks, “How can I help?” then my workshop is designed for you.

Final Thought

Scotland doesn’t lack ambition.

We don’t lack talent, vision, or innovation.

What we often lack, and what events like this help to build, is the ability to communicate clearly:

• what our customers need

• and what we need to take the next step

Master those two skills, and everything changes.

The Scottish Growth Seminar brings both sides together in one room.

And I hope you’ll join us.