Killer Salespeople Uncover True Problems Behind Desired Solutions When asking prospects about their challenges, their pain, they will usually in fact actually tell you their desired solutions, which sound like problems: “We need a new marketing system,” or, “Our marketing system is dysfunctional,” is not a true problem, it’s a solution masked as a problem. What they are really saying is, “We want a new marketing system.” This isn’t because they are hedging—often they just haven’t thought about the root source of their problems. In other words, prospects usually don’t know what their underlying problems are, and you must help them determine what they are. Here is a sample of how asking “Why?” or, “Why is that important?” or, “So what?” can lead you to the true business problem: “We need to integrate our financial and sales systems.” That is a desired solution, not a pain or challenge… Why? “Because our reporting is inaccurate.” Still not a root challenge yet… Why? “Because our executive has presented reports to the CFO that later turned out to be wrong.” Aha! Now that is a real pain: unable to make effective plans or business decisions because of inaccurate reporting. The challenge of determining these true problems is tough for sales reps who aren’t practiced at it. Do regular role-playing in your sales teams to improve the team’s skills, and play devil’s advocate. Give them lots of solutions that sound like problems, and challenge them to dig the true problems out of you.