Sales superstars know the difference between pain and needs. Almost every salesperson can get needs from a prospect. Great salespeople take those needs and discover the pain underlying them. This allows them to deal with the heart of a problem instead of symptoms. They have the ability to both solve the problem better and have more satisfied clients. Sales superstars don’t stop exploring the problem until they have uncovered a prospect’s true motivation for solving it.
Poor salespeople always accept needs or interest as a reason for the prospect to buy. We all have needs and interests we will never act on. Many of us have an interest in 2% body fat but won’t commit to doing what is necessary to achieve it. Prospect’s are the same way. They may like or even need the solution we present but have no driving motivation to move forward with it. Sales superstars recognize this and strive to uncover deeper levels of motivation for them to purchase their product or solution.
Imagine if you told a doctor that your knee hurt and they said, “The problem is that your knee hurts, here’s some painkillers.” It might solve the symptom but the problem was never addressed. We wouldn’t continue to use that doctor. As salespeople, we need to act like a doctor. Wants, needs, and interests are all symptoms of a deeper problem. We have to work with our prospect to reveal what that true pain is. Often times they are like a patient, they truly don’t know. They don’t have the expertise necessary to diagnose what the real issue is. Sales superstars help them discover the real pain. Until they uncover the root cause, they don’t try to solve the pain. Be a sales superstar. Uncover the prospect’s pain and make an educated diagnosis.
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