Framework to get qualified opps without senseless disco questions - BDR+A.E’s
3 Layers of Pain - Sandler
Everyone is crying about opps not being qualified or deals not moving. Wanna know why? Because they don’t know how to train their reps on discovery without relying on BS discovery questions. Teach your people how to do disco - here’s how.
Discovery framework for AE’s and BDR’s if you want more qualified opps:
3 layers of pain by Sandler.
Level 1 - Identified Pain
Level 2- Impact of the Pain
Level 3 - Personal Implication
Level 1 - Identified Pain - “We have an issue moving pipeline and closing deals,”. “If I’m the seller, then I’m saying, ‘OK, tell me more about it. Could you be more specific? Why are you having difficulties? What do you think is causing the problem?’”
More inexperienced salespeople might hear about these technical issues and immediately dive into a demo, but WE take the extra time to really explore the details of the issue.
Level 2 - Impact of the Pain - There are only a few reasons why people choose to make a purchase, and identified pain is not enough.
The inexperienced seller hears some identified pain, and maybe it’s the first time all week they’ve talked to a buyer who’s got a problem they can actually solve. TAKE A STEP BACK AND ASK QUESTIONS AGAIN.
It’s the seller’s job to say, "How can you quantify the impact this is having on your business?", because if the buyer can’t convince the seller that those issues are impacting the business, then we basically start moving towards the door.
The financial impact is when Impact of the Pain hits the table. A prospective client who is having technical issues that are taking up an inordinate amount of their team’s time is not enough impact. More importantly, with the right solution, that time could be spent on other projects that could be far more beneficial to the company. Now we’re starting to build value into the deal.
Level 3 - Personal Implication. The logical next step = Quantify the problem.
This does 2 things - allows the buyer to understand the problem and teaches the seller how it can be solved because people do things for their own personal reasons, not necessarily their company’s reasons.
If you rep has already gone through the first two levels of Pain, the next step is to find out if (and how) the problem has personal implications(How is this making your life difficult and how does this impact/benefit you? Why are you invested in solving this?). The point here isn’t just about demonstrating why the buyer specifically would benefit from the solution – it’s also designed to ensure that HE OR SHE WILL COMMIT TO WORKING WITH THE SELLER!
It can increase the sense of urgency, because a great seller is asking the buyer questions about the issues that they may not be asking themselves. As prospects are answering the questions — if it’s done right — the buyer who thought their pain was surface level realizes its terminal!