Sellers are frequently taught to help their buyer “quantify” their problem or pain as a way to increase urgency early in the deal cycle.
A few problems with this:
1) It’s nearly impossible to increase urgency
Try as we might, we aren’t changing our buyer’s priorities. Instead, we should map to them.
2) “How much is this problem costing you” sounds incredibly salesy
Your buyer knows you just want this number to convince them your solution is cheap in comparison to their pain.
3) The numbers are all made up
Early in the deal cycle, quantification is inaccurate. You’ll struggle to build a real ROI-based business case until you are deeper in the sales cycle.
Instead of asking your buyer to quantify the problem, ask, “How else have you tried to solve this problem?”
If they haven’t been actively trying to solve the problem, you haven’t identified a real pain. If they have been trying (and failing) to solve the problem, you are on the right track.
Save quantifying pain for when you are building a business case with your champion.
Use the “How else have you tried to solve this problem?” question to see if building a business case is worth your time.
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