What are the most effective ways to identify pain points during the sales process?

The single most important skill is to understand your customer, the landscape, competition, process challenges and get differing voices of opinion. Walk in your customers shoes, see the world from their point of view, not what you are selling. Those who want to make others successful through depth and understanding truly know what the customer needs, they are passionate about making that difference. They are never scared of saying, I don't think we have what you need.

Do your homework. Understand the common pain points that exist in the given industry or market segment. Listen to the earnings call. Often the CEO and or CFO mentions strategic initiatives, challenges and other related topics. The best part of the call is the Q&A by the analysts. They often ask tough probing questions which reveal pain points. On a recent call Rivian linked quality issues to supply chain challenges. Pain comes in many forms. Logistics, people, IT, product issues, competition, budget constraints and process improvement. Always give examples of how your product or service relieves that pain. It's OK to ask, but only after you have established some credibility with the account.

In my experience working with CXO’s and decision makers I have learnt over a period of time it’s imp to understand what’s keeping them awake, key metrics, read some insights in their year end report, how are they doing VS their competitors. It’s always better to align your solution (not just product) to a specific business impacting metric.

I like to use consultative selling to understand their goals and timelines, while using selling frameworks like BANT, MEDDPICC and the 3 Why's to ask the right questions. Different levels in an organisation and different departments have different pain points; you have to understand what makes them tick and get ticked off.

Whiteboards are the secret sauce to strategic selling. There, I’ve said it! Over the last decade I’ve had the good fortune of working with teams regularly able to access and collaborate in person around whiteboards to analyse and orientate around all manner of client and commercial strategy planning. An invaluable mechanism to deconstruct complexity and explore solutions whilst building rapport and cohesion as a team. And in the post pandemic corporate world, a critical tool to unlock and rejuvenate human creatively and innovation.

Asking questions is the key to sales, there is nothing more important, whether it is qualifying or asking "can we help with anything else", it is the key skill

Be curious about - the customer's business model - their go to market strategy - their challenges to growth - what they consider a waste of time and cost - their competitive advantages - their core products Then listen and you'll know if you can help them Put curiosity ahead of searching for your commission trigger. This will build trust and help you uncover if your product has value to them.

There is a reason we have sales training titled "question based selling". It's like talking to teenagers, you don't get the real answer on the first try. You have to keep digging like you are an investigator to get to the real pain points. Sometimes the surface answers are just the symptoms and not the real challenge.

After you've done your homework - and there is so much available in annual reports, websites and news sources today - it's too easy to start talking and not listening. Ask very few open-ended (ideally intelligent) questions and sit back and actively listen. Most people are trying to show what they know or are too busy formulating responses or follow-up questions. We humans know this and can tell the person isn't really interested in us. So take the time to breathe and listen.

It is certainly effective discovery - understanding the client's business, asking open-ended questions and all that, and of course listening for specific pain. But often a client's routine is so embedded that they don't know the pain - they just know things aren't working as well as they could, or perhaps they're trying to understand why they can't get the results they want. The key in a sales opportunity is to probe the client's processes around the solution you are selling. They may have existing workflows that could be improved but haven't been considered. A business process assessment, whether formal or just in conversation, can open up lots of opportunities for improvement and pinpoint pain that may not have been noticed before.

One of the most useful bits of advice I received early in my career is very simple in nature but much harder for many to actually do: “listen to learn, don’t listen to sell.” There’s a whole lot more psychology that could be discussed around this point, but the net result is that we have to approach our customers with genuine curiosity and a desire to help them get to the best result for them. Yes, we have pipelines to build and numbers to hit - but we get there through more intelligent prospecting and higher activity levels. Trying to get there by forcing a conversation down an unnatural path is a recipe for a short career in sales.

You have two ears, one mouth. It's a good ratio. Filler here to cover the 148 character suggestion LinkedIn demands, the first sentence is enough :).

I was always taught 2 eyes 2 ears 1 mouth. Use in that ratio. - in other words talk less, listen more AND look around you - their desk, their office, their facility, their market place, etc for clues about their challenges and pains you might alleviate.

Listen actively and empathize - How else can you listen? If you are listen for the gaps to allow you to speak again you're not really listening.

Empathy is a powerful tool in selling. Our prospects are human beings with tangible impacts from poor processes or a poor solution. Maintaining the humanity in selling is a valuable asset. Story telling can be a way to enforce your understanding of their pain.

Situation: Understand buyer’s current situation. Problem: Identify problems the buyer faces that your product solves. Implication: Explore the causes and effects of those problems. Need-Payoff: Show ROI & COI. Why they need your product.

Gerade am Anfang einer Sales Karriere kann das SPIN Framework sehr hilfreich sein, denn es bietet eine Art roten Faden, der Halt und Struktur bietet. Später kann man dann darauf basierend einen eigenen Stil entwickeln. Doch bitte nicht Schauspielern. Die Kunst ist es, einem Framework zu folgen aber trotzdem authentisch zu bleiben.

In my experience the SPIN approach feels very old and a bit forced, where you can spend so much time looking for the “Problem or Pain” that it’s easy to loose empathy. If you concentrate on the perfect outcome, this is a much more valuable solution. SPIN is forty plus years old and showing its age. Best opening question…”imagine we are sat here a year from now, what would you have achieved in this role?” Then….”can you talk me through the initiatives that are rolling out to achieve that?” Then “may I talk you through some of my initial thoughts, so that you can decide whether there is some way we can help you deliver your objectives?” A great way to help a client quickly decide if you can help and makes for a very efficient salesperson!

Tips for Using the SPIN Framework Effectively: 1 Build Rapport First before delving into SPIN questions. 2 Ask Open-ended Questions 3 Listen Actively 4 Customize Questions: Tailor your SPIN questions based on the prospect's industry, role, and unique circumstances. 5 Probe Deeper: If the prospect mentions a challenge, probe deeper with follow-up questions to uncover additional layers of complexity or related pain points. 6 Use a Consultative Approach: Position yourself as a problem-solver rather than simply a product or service provider. 7 Prioritize High-Impact Issues 8 Transition Smoothly Between SPIN Types: Transition smoothly between Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-payoff questions.

I don't agree with SPIN in the current business paradigm. It focuses on problems without understanding the aspirations and hopes of the business. Its no different than going to a physician with no attention paid to longevity or happiness...

I'm cautious on being dependent on a system to accomplish the customer outcome in the sales cycle. The fact that you use a system to align your own company is fine, and mostly understood, but customers don't want to see themselves going through the cycle. Sell to them based on their business outcomes. Using your system to give you insights about your process and how your company can be more efficient is perfect, and in some cases sharing a trend you see with similar clients through your process could actually be helpful, or even how your process ensures their outcome. But your CRM is not going to help you close deals. Your relationship of trust with the client does that.

There are too many cyber snake oil salesmen who are seeking to cash in on "evolving cyber threats" and "creating efficiency" without truly understanding what the customer needs. Many times, the customer is not sure what they want or need but the sales person must serve as an authentic, authoritative problem-solver who can build a relationship with the customer. I have seen and heard about too many software sales that were not made in good faith or with adequate insight to give the customer what they need/want at a reasonable price. Measure the performance and behavior of your customers through relationships and not solely through metrics and dashboards.

Analytic tools via marketing or other business units are critical to an enterprise sales pursuit. However, not all companies are able to invest in such. As sales professionals, it’s our job to bridge the gap through sharpening our sales abilities. Mastering the basics will allow the delta to close if the company cannot or hasn’t invested in such tools.

In the age of Ai we need to be looking at Sales from an Intelligence point of view and start utilizing Sales Intelligence tools that can help craft the right message to the right people and audience. As humans we can’t personalized 500 messages in 10 minutes but we can add our human perspective to an Ai algorithm that gathers intelligence from our target in the blink of an eye.

Tools are great. Yet, if they are not used and adopted widely, the usefulness deteriorates. So good housekeeping is also important. As I always say " If you are not selling, then do your house keeping" The deals will emerge.

Be prepared and listen, but remember this needs to be a conversation. It has to be give and not just take. People are guarded by nature and unlikely to share the full scope of their needs or pains until a level of trust can be established. Asking a set of questions that only leads to your solution solving the problem is not the way to do this. Listen to what they are saying and make sure your responses or follow up questions provide value to the conversation (not just your desire to sell your solution). Perhaps even challenge their way of thinking if it will provide value and build trust.

Be prepared for the conversation to veer from your planned presentation. Regardless of the path, the end result need to be an Action: demo, test, try, buy, install, configure.... do not leave the meeting without clear next steps with buy-in from both.

In the qualification stage, it’s advisable to slow down before accelerating. This is crucial, particularly when uncovering the business pain. While the expression “drag them over the glass” might not be a favorite, it emphasizes delving into the details: What occurred? Who was affected? How did it impact customer experience and reputation? Whenever feasible, pinpoint relevant metrics.

No means not right now. Keep in touch with your prospects and always be looking for ways to engage. People don't want to be sold to, but they love to buy. Think about how you can add value to their lives and you may create a customer, or perhaps even a lifelong friend.

Eventually, especially in B2B markets, people do business with people and it's important to delve into the aspects of Personal Win Factors. Every stakeholder has an unsaid motivation to solve their problems or take on new initiatives. It could be linked to their KRAs, a lateral growth agenda, promotions or anything that has a bearing on their personal interests beyond organisational needs. Once these are identified for each stakeholder, it becomes easy to relate and pitch one's offerings and business benefits that clearly help achieve these objectives thereby ensuring stepped up support for your proposal and an accelerated decision making