Most sales training programs that teach salespeople how to sell
specific products or services do not mention business problems.
This is an unfortunate oversight, as qualifying and quantifying
business problems is the secret to closing more sales!
What is a Business Problem?
A business problem is any activity or outcome that negatively
impacts a business. Examples of negative impacts include
reductions in revenue, profits, customer satisfaction, employee
productivity, job satisfaction, etc.
Here is an example of a business problem description:
"Many mission-critical software applications (e-business,
manufacturing, point-of-sale, etc.) need to access relational
databases in order to function. If a database has problems
(goes down or suffers data loss or corruption), application
downtime can cost companies tens of thousands of dollars per
minute in lost sales, lost customers, and lost opportunities."
In the above example, the business problem is a database that is
not functioning properly. What is the relationship between this
business problem and the features and benefits of a product or
service?
FEATURES are what actually SOLVE business problems. BENEFITS are
what customers enjoy when the business problem has been solved.
The only features prospects actually care about are the ones that
will solve their own specific business problems. If we randomly
spew long lists of features and benefits at prospects, in effect
we are hoping they are already aware of their business problems,
and they will somehow figure out which of our (product or
service) features will solve their business problems. This is a
very inefficient way to sell. Plus, we run the risk that our
prospects will NOT figure out which features will solve their
business problems. Or, they may become bored and "switch off"
before we mention features that may actually be of interest to
them!
If you are going to talk about features and benefits, discuss
ONLY those features that will solve your prospect's SPECIFIC
business problems! Of course, you need to IDENTIFY your
prospect's business problems if you want to have this kind of
highly targeted discussion.
If your employer's product or service training programs do not
specifically address business problems, you will need to do some
digging to uncover them. Ask the question, "What PROBLEMS does
this product or service solve?" Another way to ask this question
is, "What would motivate a prospect to make the investment
required to buy this product/service?" Then, once you have made a
list of the MOST IMPORTANT business problems, ask, "What
questions can I ask that will help me figure out whether a
prospect has any of these business problems?"
When you become an expert in business problems and related
qualifying questions, your education will not be complete. You
also need to learn the questions you can ask to QUANTIFY the
IMPACT of each business problem.
What is a Quantified Impact?
Quantified impacts are DOLLAR VALUES or PERCENTAGES with
associated TIME FRAMES that can be assigned to specific business
problems. In the earlier business problem description, the
quantified impact was "tens of thousands of dollars per minute".
Quantified impacts are an invaluable aid to closing sales. How?
If the quantified impact of a business problem exceeds the
investment required to fix the problem, a buying decision is easy
to justify. The larger the difference between the quantified
impact and the required investment, the easier it becomes to
close the sale. If the quantified impact is a multiple of the
required investment (for example, a quantified impact of MILLIONS
of dollars versus a required investment of THOUSANDS of dollars),
the buying decision becomes "a no-brainer".
IMPORTANT NOTE: In order for a quantified impact to add value to
the sales process, your PROSPECT must be the source of the
numbers. Why? In general, prospects don't trust salespeople. Many
have dealt with salespeople who were more interested in making
sales than they were in providing value. Plus, prospects
recognize that salespeople have a vested interest in creating a
compelling business case that can be used to support a buying
decision. This causes prospects to DISCOUNT any quantified impact
information that salespeople provide. However, if the prospect is
the source of the quantified impact information, they perceive it
as unquestioned truth. This makes learning how to ask quantifying
questions a valuable skill indeed!
If you want to close more sales, invest some time and effort in
identifying the BUSINESS PROBLEMS that can be solved by your
products and services. If you become an expert in business
problems and the questions you can ask to 1) determine whether a
prospect has specific business problems, and 2) quantify the
impact of those business problems, you will close MORE sales
FASTER and with LESS EFFORT.
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