Example clarifying questions

Recap the case prompt

For no. 1
Sure.
“How has the overall market been
So, our client is ________, currently
performing—are we operating in a
experiencing a drop in profitability (optional)
growing, stagnant, or declining industry?”
despite the growing market

They’re looking to understand what’s “How has our market share changed
causing the issue (optional) and what they recently—are we gaining or losing relative
can do to restore or improve profits to competitors?”

I suspect the issue might stem “Is the industry undergoing any disruption
from the (revenue/cost) side, or digital transformation that affects how
perhaps due to A, B, or C. But customers buy?”
I’ll also keep an eye on the
(other) side changes that may “Are there new entrants, substitutes, or
be affecting margins regulatory changes that could explain
revenue pressure?”
—--
“What’s the outlook for demand in the next
[BRIDGE] Before I dive into a structure, X years—are we expecting rebound,
may I ask a few clarifying questions to stability, or further decline?”
better understand the objective and
constraints? For no. 2

—---
“Is the client more focused on B2B or B2C
sales?”
Before moving to the structure, make
sure you:
“Are they targeting mass market, niche, or
enterprise clients?”
1.​ Confirm that the issue lies on the
revenue/cost side so we can focus
“What are the client’s main customer
on that area first
segments? And what are the key buying
2.​ Understand the business model,
criteria for these customers—price, quality,
target market, revenue/cost
brand, convenience?”
structure, distribution channel, and
any additional supporting activities
“Which customer segments/products are
that are crucial to the business
the highest revenue/margin
3.​ Understand constraints or limitations
contributors?”
4.​ Specific, measurable objective in
metrics or timeframe (if any)
“What are the main sales channels—is it If the problem requires you to (1) find out
online, retail, distributors, direct sales? And why it happens first, (2) then fix the
is the business digital-first or issue:
physical-first, or hybrid?”
To address the client’s profitability concern,
“Are there any challenges with channel I’ll break the problem down into two main
efficiency or customer experience?” parts: first, diagnosing the root cause, and
second, identifying actionable solutions.
Cost: “Is the client vertically integrated, or
do they rely on external suppliers/vendors?” Or: “To address the profitability
issue, I’m breaking the analysis
“How does the client differentiate from into two parts: first, identifying the
competitors—price, innovation, service, root cause, and second,
speed?” determining the most impactful
levers to fix it.”
For no. 3 and 4
And to make this structured and directional,
If not stated: “Do they want a quick I’ll use a profitability issue tree to explore
turnaround, or are they thinking where the problem lies and guide our
long-term?” analysis.

“Is the company committed to a certain To start, I’d like to break profitability into two
strategic direction or principle we should key components: Revenue and Costs.
not deviate from?” —-
And assess whether the issue is coming
“Are there any resource or talent from a drop in revenue, an increase in
limitations (e.g., tech team, factories, costs, or both.
supply chain)?”
or
—--
Because you stated that profitability/cost is
[BRIDGE] “Okay, thank you. Let me take not an issue, I would like to look only at the
a short moment to organize my approach (other) structure
to this case.” —-

—--
So..
If Costs Are Increasing:
On the revenue side, I would explore
volume vs. price, product mix, customer Considering the client mentioned
segments, or market conditions. rising operational expenses, I’d like to
suggest we start by looking at the
On the cost side, I’d look into fixed vs. cost side — to identify whether the
variable costs, operational inefficiencies, increase is coming from fixed or
supply chain issues, or input prices. variable costs, and where we might
find optimization opportunities."
Once we identify the root cause, I’d like to
explore how we can improve profitability, If No Clues Yet (Neutral Opening):
either by increasing revenue, reducing
costs, or both. Since we don’t yet know which side is
driving the issue, I’d suggest we start
●​ On the revenue side, I’d consider by breaking profitability into revenue
[Growth Strategies] / [Pricing and cost drivers — and use that to
strategies], upselling, improving pinpoint the root cause before moving
sales channels, or targeting new into solutions."
customer segments.​
But if you think we should focus
●​ On the cost side, I’d explore elsewhere first, I’m open to that as well.
operational efficiencies, outsourcing,
automation, or renegotiating supplier —----
contracts.”
When you have an initial hypothesis or
—-- assumption:

[BRIDGE] "My initial assumption was that the issue

lies on the _____ , do we have data that
If Revenue Looks Suspicious: breaks down _____?" or "I’d like to get a
sense of the current ____ — do we have
"Considering the client's revenue has data on ______?"
declined over the past few quarters,
I’d like to suggest we start by looking "I suspect volume may have dropped in
at the revenue side — to understand certain product/customer segments — could
whether the drop is due to pricing, I see the sales breakdown by
volume, or product/customer mix." product/customer type?"
"I thought competition might be intensifying Top-Down communication
— is there benchmarking data on market
share or pricing?" 1.​ start with the main takeaway

When you have no assumption yet: (give you 5 seconds to think..) “What this
data is primarily showing us is…”
"To build an informed hypothesis, I’d like to
look at [X] data first — do we have access “This seems to confirm that [driver] is a
to that?"​ major factor behind [problem].”

"I want to understand the business model “This points to [X] being the main contributor
better — could I get a breakdown of the to [Y].”
revenue and cost drivers?"​
2.​ draw insights from
"I’d like to get a sense of the current trends/patterns
customer base — do we have data on
segments or purchase behavior?" “This pattern suggests _____ in [X] over
time.”
—--
3.​ identifying risk or opportunities
When they show an exhibit
“This might be a quick win area for
[BRIDGE] “Let’s take a look at what the improvement or cost-cutting.”
data is telling us here.”
“This inefficiency may be an opportunity for
—---- digital optimization.”

Describing the exhibit “If this trend continues, it might affect their
_______.”
“We can see that [X] has been
increasing/decreasing over time.”​

“It looks like [Segment A] is contributing the

largest portion of [revenue/cost/etc.].”​

“Interestingly, [Region/Product] has

significantly outperformed the others.”

—-----
 ​

4.​ linking insight back to hypothesis So overall, I think [yes/no] — which could
/ case objective really support our client’s goals.

“Given the client’s goal to improve Or

profitability, this area deserves focus.”
“Off the top of my head, I can think of a few
advantages worth exploring. Let me
“This supports our initial hypothesis that [X]
structure it into three main areas.”​
is the core issue.”
“Happy to brainstorm. To make it clear, let
“This analysis suggests our next step
me organize my thoughts into a few broad
should be to investigate [Z].”
buckets.”​

5.​ Transitioning after synthesis

→ Then continue with the three points like
before.
“Based on this, I’d suggest we now look
into…”​
—----

“To build on this insight, I’d like to explore

Giving recommendation
whether…”​
1.​ Rephrase the prompt and main
“From here, a logical next step would be to
questions
assess…”​
“The client is looking to explore [the
“This leads me to consider
problem]. Specifically, they’d like to
[option/hypothesis] as a solution.”​
understand [the question].”

“Now I’d like to see whether this pattern

2.​ Giving recommendation
holds across other segments/products.”
“Given that, I’d recommend the client to do
—------
_______. There are three main benefits to
this:
Answering questions
A – reason, supporting data
Sure! That’s a great question — and a few
ideas come to mind. Let me break it down B – reason, supporting data
into three reasons: A, B, and C.
C – reason, supporting data
1.​ Starting with A – explanation.
2.​ Next is B – explanation. [Link] risk + recommend next stap
3.​ And lastly, C – explanation.​
​