[larsrc]

This! It's the basis for fruitful negotiations to understand what the other person needs (which is not always what they say at first). Sometimes you can give them something that's cheap for you but valuable for them or vice versa. I can recommend the book "Getting More" by Stuart Diamond for valuable insights on how to do this.

[ghaff]

There’s at least overlap with needs but also what their biggest pain points are currently. One way I’ve often heard it put is sell aspirin not vitamins.

[pas]

And one thing that usually is cheap - as an architect - is putting yourself into the other's shoes. understand them, their lingo, their model their immediate context (cash flows, promotion, trends, cultural signifiers, business vision, their own career dreams) ... it's the interface you need to be able to actually model the problem.