Where so many of us start by telling people what we do, they start with why.

But let me give you a funny example that makes the case perfectly.

Dating.

Dating is like any kind of sales call.

We're sitting across a table from somebody.

We want to say things that make them choose us over somebody else.

And imagine if we sent somebody out on a date and they started with what, rather than why.

So let's take our theoretical data.

Let's call him Davido.

Davido is on a date with a young woman that his friends set him up with and this is how the date begins.

He sits across from her and the first words he says,

"You know, I am very, very rich."

"I know lots of famous people."

"I am on television all the time, which is good because I'm good-looking and I have a beautiful home, you should come and see it sometime."

So the question is, does Davido get a second date?

It's intuitive. No.

But depends how rich he is.

But now, let's send him out a second time, but this time he will start with why.

Before I do that, I should say what he did is exactly what most companies do.

They sit across the table and they say, "You know, we're very successful. We're the biggest in the industry."

"We have some of the wealthiest people who work with us."

"You may have seen our advertising on television."

"We have a beautiful corporate headquarters you should come visit sometime."

It's the same thing.

And so we know it doesn't work on a date, so why should it work in a sales call?

And the answer is it doesn't.

So let's send him out again.

This time he starts with why.

"You know," he says, "I love what I do."

"I work for an organization that has a belief that we are responsible for holding the dreams of other people in our hands."

"It gives me purpose. It's why I wake up in the morning every single day."

"And the result is fantastic."

"I've actually been able to make a lot of money and meet a lot of famous people and I get to be on television all the time, which is fun because I'm good-looking and I built a beautiful house."

"But the most important thing is the reason why I get out of bed in the morning."

And you can see all the same facts are in there, but this time starting with why gives context to all those things.

So all the facts still prove, they serve as the tangible proof.

But it's a profoundly different feeling when somebody leaves with purpose.