Guiding A Client Toward Their Ideal Future State

Customer success leaders, salespeople, consultants, executive coaches, and others who work with clients often face a common challenge: helping someone who doesn’t yet know what future they truly want. Research shows that having a clear, positive vision of one’s future, a future self, or an ideal state strongly motivates action today. Drawing on insights from psychology, we can use structured questions and frameworks to help people discover and articulate where they want to go. 

In psychology, having a vivid possible self, a concrete mental image of who we could become, provides a powerful incentive for action. Markus and Nurius (1986) described possible selves as the positive images we have of our future identity, as well as the negative images we fear, that link our values, goals, and motivations. For example, a client or customer who clearly imagines herself as a successful marketer may be more motivated to do the work needed to achieve her vision. Research confirms that people are naturally driven to reduce the gap between their current self and their positive future self, while moving away from a feared future. Conversely, without any clear picture of a rewarding future, it’s easy to drift or lose motivation.

A practical way to support this is through future self exercises. Invite your client or customer to imagine their professional life a few years from now and describe it in detail. Ask questions like, “If you woke up tomorrow and everything in your role worked exactly the way you hoped, what would your day look like?” At first, many describe only a rough outline, yet specific prompts can reveal what they value most, for instance, creative freedom, strategic influence, recognition, or measurable results. 

Research on future self-continuity shows that people who vividly imagine their future identity become more willing to make decisions today that support that vision. When a client or customer begins to see that future as an extension of who they are becoming, the path forward feels tangible, and commitment to it strengthens.

Positive, Strengths-Based Inquiry

When someone is unsure of what they want, it helps to focus on strengths, past successes, and aspirations rather than problems. Two complementary approaches, Appreciative Inquiry and Solution-Focused Coaching, do precisely this, using positive questions to create a vision.

Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry’s core idea is that asking positive questions shapes reality, because human systems move in the direction of the questions they most frequently and authentically ask (Cooperrider & Godwin). Thus, instead of “What problems must we fix?”, Appreciative Inquiry asks “What’s already going well, and how can we build on it?” In practice, a customer success leader might have their customer highlight the peaks of their career, and then dream about the best possible future that builds on those strengths. For example, “Tell me about a time when you felt most engaged or successful in your work,” focuses the person on the positive core of themselves. As the Bonn Institute puts it, this approach invites constructive, strengths-based conversations and encourages narratives that amplify what is working. By starting with what already energizes or fulfills the person, Appreciative Inquiry can help build motivation and create a vivid picture of the ideal state.

Solution-Focused Coaching. Solution-focused techniques similarly avoid dwelling on problems. Instead, the salesperson, consultant, or coach asks the client to imagine solutions and notice times when things worked well. A centerpiece of this technique is the Miracle Question: “Suppose tonight you fall asleep, and overnight a miracle happens. When you wake tomorrow, what’s the first thing you notice that's different?” This question sparks optimism for a hopeful future and gives clues for what they truly want. More broadly, solution-focused coaching frames goals as approach-oriented, focusing on positive outcomes to achieve rather than on issues to avoid. Asking about successes reinforces a person’s sense of self-efficacy and agency.

Together, a customer success person might say: “You mentioned that last year you felt energized running that project, tell me more about that.” Then: “What would it look like if your role today captured that same sense of excitement?” These questions guide clients to articulate their ideal future in terms of their own best experiences. Critically, asking about successes and dreams alters the conversation, people into creative, energetic thinking. As one positive-psychology writer notes, by “imagining what could be,” clients lift themselves out of constraints and build an optimistic vision of work.

Motivational Interviewing and Visioning

Motivational Interviewing is a person-centered counseling style known for helping with ambivalence. Motivational Interviewing emphasizes open-ended questions, reflective listening, and evoking the client’s own change talk. Motivational Interviewing uses visioning questions, for example: “If everything worked out exactly as you wanted, what would your life look like a year from now?” or “Imagine you’ve already completed this project, what does your day-to-day life feel like?” Motivational Interviewing also uses scaling questions, for example, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is it that you achieve this outcome?”

The Motivational Interviewing stance is encouraging and non-judgmental. Reflective listening and acknowledging what is being heard can help the client reveal more information and connect to their own core values. The gentle curiosity that comes with this approach can help someone unsure of what the future holds articulate even a vague preference, for example, “I think I want to focus on the analytics elements, but I’m not sure yet”. In short, this style of interviewing is a tool to elicit someone’s hopes and reasons for change, rather than imposing ideas.

Practical Questions and Techniques

Good questions are the primary tool to guide your customer or client towards their ideal future state. Here are examples from the frameworks above. You can adapt these or come up with your own questions based on the situation

Envisioning the Future

• What does success look like for your team this year, and how would you describe the impact you want your team to have on the business?
• If your most significant challenge disappeared tomorrow, what would change first for you and your team?
• When you think ahead to next year, what outcomes would make you feel proud of the work you led?

Exploring Strengths

• Which recent initiative felt like a decisive win for you, and what made it work?
• When do you feel your team is operating at its best, and what conditions make that possible?

Clarifying Values

• What do you want your work to stand for this year in the eyes of your executives or customers?
• What matters most when you make decisions about priorities or resourcing?

Appreciative Inquiry

• Imagine we meet a year from now, and you tell me this partnership exceeded expectations. What would you be able to point to as evidence?
• What do you want more of right now, and how would more of that change your results?

Solution Focused Scaling

• On a scale of one to ten, how close do you feel to the outcomes you want this quarter?
• What would move you one point higher?
• What is one small step your team could take this month that would create progress?

When someone honestly doesn’t know what they want, sometimes it helps to ask them to consider both personal and professional outcomes. Asking questions can help the person achieve an ideal, and by asking these questions, you will not only help your company but also your client.

Overcoming Obstacles and Ambivalence

It’s common for people to feel scared, unsure or stuck when asked questions about the future. They may say, “I don’t know,” or default to safe, conventional answers. A few strategies can help:

• Normalize uncertainty. Reassure them that uncertainty is the norm and that the future can evolve. There is no correct answer; this is just a conversation.
• Remove judgment. Whether someone’s dream is modest or ambitious, reflect interest and respect, “That’s a great insight,” or “It sounds like that idea excites you”. Validation encourages openness.
• Break it down. Start with smaller areas, for example, “What about your plans for this week? What would make a great week for you?”. Sometimes the first step is just choosing a general direction.
• Use data and examples. For salespeople or business leaders, it can help to share case stories: “Another client in your shoes found that sharing her goal with her executive team made the plan fall into place. What do you think of that option for you?”
• Explore limiting beliefs. If someone says, “I could never,” or speaks in absolute terms, gently ask what feels impossible, and then how to overcome or reframe it. Sometimes shifting perspective can help.

Throughout, keep the tone encouraging and practical. Emphasize growth and opportunity, “We have so much potential, let’s find the future that fits that.” Frame questions around empowerment: “What choices are in your control?” Often, the best hints to the future lie in past passions. Therefore you can always ask about joyous remembrance: “When was the last time you felt excited about a project? What were you working on?”

Bringing It All Together

Guiding someone to identify and share their ideal future state is an iterative process that you can help facilitate. Be sure to celebrate any clarity or forward steps! Keep the conversation simple and positive, ask empowering questions, and anchor in reality. The research supports that people with vivid, valued possible selves move toward them, and you can help shape what that looks like.