How to Uncover the Real Problem in Sales Calls
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Brooke Greening: Have you ever gotten off of a sales call and thought that it went really well, but then they didn't buy? There's an excellent chance you probably solved the wrong problem.
Yes. So something I want you guys to kind of think about is if you solve the problem that they say, but not the problem they feel, they will not buy.
But today I'm saying if we just land on that surface piece, that's when it starts getting shallow, we start getting generic solutions. When we have generic solutions, people start hesitating, and when they start hesitating, it lands into I'm going to think about it.
And so my client always talks about how she feels like people are sharing acceptable problems in the beginning, and that's exactly is what's happening. Everyone can share an acceptable problem. I'm not discrediting that problem. I am just saying there are more things to it, and it is our job as a sales professionals to help draw that out in a helpful and hopeful way, not in a manipulative way.
Scott Greening: Welcome to another episode of Sippin' Matcha and Helping You Make More Sales. I'm your host, Scott Greening, and in just a moment we'll be bringing our resident sales coach and sales advisor, Brooke Greening, into the conversation, where in about the time that it takes you to enjoy your matcha break or coffee break she gives you some great insight and wisdom on how to make more sales while valuing your customers.
And here she is sipping her matcha right now. This past weekend was a big holiday for our podcast, an important holiday. Mm-hmm. What holiday was it, Brooke?
Brooke Greening: It was National Matcha Day on Saturday, and so we didn't even know that. We had a fan of ours reach out and tell us. Yes. And by fan, my mother-in-law.
Yes.
Scott Greening: There are other people that listen to the podcast- Thanks, G-ma ... but yes. G-ma's always looking out for Brooke and her matcha. She is. So we appreciate that. So we took some silly pictures. Yeah. You can see some of those on our Instagram feed, which is @buildingmomentumresources. And then we took the family out, 'cause that's what you gotta do- Yeah
on National Matcha Day to get, Yeah ... matcha elsewhere, and so we enjoyed that. But today- Yeah ... Brooke, we've been talking, we've been having conversation over the last several weeks about our s- SERVICE Sales Framework. Mm-hmm. And we started with setting expectations, and we talked about how that was telling them what's going to happen so they can relax and engage.
And then the previous three episodes we talked about establishing rapport, and so where we can quickly build connection and relevance to their business. And now we actually are getting into the meat of things. We need to really know what's going on. So where are we going today? What are we talking about today?
Brooke Greening: So the big idea is that we are going to be talking about recognizing the problem. And w- and what I've shared with you before, probably on a regular basis, is if we get the problem wrong, everything is going to start falling apart. So we wanna talk about today, what does it mean to be able to recognize the problem, and then also why is that important?
Scott Greening: Yeah, and I think there's... People generally, I think, understand that, that finding a problem is a part of the sales process. Mm-hmm. But how is what we're going to be talking about different than just finding that problem?
Brooke Greening: Well, the biggest thing is most people stop at the first problem they hear, and so they might hear "Hey, we need more leads," or, "Sales are inc- inconsistent.
We need better marketing. We need more clients." And those are actually symptoms, not real problems.
Scott Greening: Yeah. And so people m- may think, "Well, I'm answering a problem," or, "I'm answering a question," but it's not the real question. Mm-mm. And that's- Yeah ... that's where we're headed today.
Brooke Greening: You're absolutely right, 'cause a lot of times people don't know how to articulate the real problem right away.
And it's not because they're not intelligent. It's not because they haven't done an incredible job in their business. It's just hard for them to actually see it. And so that's actually our job. It is our job to articulate the real problem and help them to see that so that then we can move them forward- And whatever that's going to look like from a sales perspective.
Scott Greening: Yeah, I know you talk a lot about how, like when we ask the type of questions, when we- we sometimes have a bad habit in sales of making the customer do the work- Yeah ... that is really our job to do. Yeah. And so when we're talking over these next couple of episodes about recognizing the problem- Mm-hmm
you're going to do the work by asking- Yeah ... good questions and- Yes ... and doing that and leading the conversation. So what... Why is it so important that people find out what the real issue is in that? We- maybe we even skipped over it. Maybe we should go back and say what... How do we define this idea of recognizing the problem?
Brooke Greening: Yes. So something I want you guys to kind of think about is if you solve the problem that they say, but not the problem they feel, they will not buy. And this is not a manipulative, like, "Oh, no, there she goes. She's going to be manipulative. She's going to be pushy." No, no, no, it's just the reality. If we're solving the problem that they're telling you, but it's not the problem that they're feeling, they will not buy, because it's not that driving and motivating problem for them, and that is the whole point.
When we want to recognize a problem, we want to know what is driving them and motivating them to make a decision.
Scott Greening: Yeah, and so that's- that's the- the definition. That's what we're saying. So like with set expectations, we're helping people relax and engage. With establish rapport, we're building relevance and connection.
And here, we're trying to discover the- the real motivating and buying factors that are- that are going into that, and that's- that's not always the first thing that people say. And-
Brooke Greening: No ...
Scott Greening: I know even in our relationship, that's ... That doesn't always happen, and we've had- ... 19 years of wedded bliss, and we're s- we still don't do it.
Brooke Greening: So I would say when I share with people, "Hey, you get the problem wrong, everything falls apart," when I tell them the first problem is never the real problem, they understand that to a point, but then there's a lot of pushback because they're like, "Yeah, but Brooke, maybe their marketing does need support.
Maybe they do need leads. Maybe they do need more clients." And I am just saying that is not going to be the driving motivating factor. That starts it, but there are underlying concerns that are connected to that surface-level problem. And so that is exactly what happens just in our own life. So perhaps what Scott is leaning into is yes, we've been married for 19 years- And our conversations typically go in regards to, "Hey, are we doing good?" And I'll be like, "Eh, maybe." And then I might share a slight bit of the frustration that I'm having or something that kind of got off of the rails. And so we do that because we just don't launch into usually what those underlining concerns are.
It's definitely connected to the first thing we're talking about, but we can't stay there, and that's what I really want to encourage people. I'm never saying, hey, we don't start having a couple of surface level questions. I'm not saying any of that. We're going to talk about that in the coming episodes.
But today I'm saying if we just land on that surface piece, that's when it starts getting shallow, we start getting generic solutions. When we have generic solutions, people start hesitating, and when they start hesitating, it lands into I'm going to think about it. And so that is what I am encouraging.
I'm not saying we don't have simple questions. We absolutely do, but we can't stay there, and we can't just start automatically answering that question. So Scott- Yeah ... for you- I, well- ... when was a time when we maybe didn't get the underlining concern?
Scott Greening: Like yesterday? I don't know. I mean, no, it's just, that's just a reality of you typically, even in a great, loving relationship like we have you, you- Mm-hmm
ease into things. And- Yeah ... typically I might, after 19 years, have some idea that I don't think when she says, "It's okay," or, "It's fine," like- ... there's something, there's something more going on. But we start safe because- Mm-hmm ... We may feel uncertain about what it is. We may know hey, this is partially my fault or all of those things.
Mm-hmm. And I think for business owners, it's the same type of thing. We're professionals. We're supposed to know what we're doing. Yeah. We typically help a lot of service provider type of businesses, and they're experts at helping other people. So it's nervous to admit or to say- Yeah
I don't have it all figured out.
Brooke Greening: Yeah It's what one of my clients, and I love how she says this, 'cause when I was explaining it to her and I was giving examples in regards to even Scott and I's relationship, where he'll ask if I'm okay and I'm like, "Sure," then he- it's not his first rodeo so he knows that I'm not, so then he starts asking questions and I share just a tiny bit of what's going on.
We do that because even though Scott has never done this in our 19 years of marriage, we don't want them to downplay our concerns. We don't want them to tell us that they're not that big of a deal. We don't want them to just try to fix it immediately. Those are the things we don't want, and so then we don't necessarily share.
And then those are the things that are vulnerable. And so my client always talks about how she feels like people are sharing acceptable problems in the beginning, and that's exactly is what's happening. Everyone can share an acceptable problem. I'm not discrediting that problem. I am just saying there are more things to it, and it is our job as a sales professionals to help draw that out in a helpful and hopeful way, not in a manipulative way.
And that's what it's all about in understanding the problem and not getting it wrong.
Scott Greening: Yeah, and I think earlier you, you went through kind of the progression in that, and maybe it'd be good to circle back to that, 'cause I think that's a really good and helpful idea of so when someone l- lets it set at that acceptable problem sort of- Mm-hmm
level, what are some of the problems that come with that?
Brooke Greening: So if they just have the surface-level problem and that's it, and that's what we start trying to solve, then it's a shallow discovery and then there's going to be generic solutions at that point. When there are generic solutions that we're offering, that's going to cause them to hesitate, and when they hesitate, that's when it comes back as, "I'm going to think about it."
And now not only that, but then they're going to go to the competitor, and then if the competitor does the exact same thing, now it's just a race to the bottom in regards to who is the least expensive, 'cause they do not see any distinction whatsoever. However, if you get the problem right and we take the time to understand that, then when they go and talk to your competitor, they're thinking about you because you were able to understand where they were coming from.
It is a complete game changer, and I am not saying that lightly. It will make the difference between whether you make the sale or you don't make the sale, and it will make a difference whether you charge 10,000 or 25,000 or 50,000. It is imperative that we get this right when we talk about sales.
Scott Greening: Yeah, and I know, like even in our own business and even in our own lives, like we've had situations where we've been trying to work on a, an issue that we wanted help with for the business or different things, and you start looking into possibilities and you start talking to things and you're like, "Okay, great."
Let's keep our options open. But then when somebody actually takes the time to like- Yeah ... talk with us, get to know the problem and all of that, then we're pretty motivated to, to buy pretty quickly, and price is, it's not gone from the equation- Right ... but it's less of the factor than just you're the same as so and so, and who can do it cheaper or whatever the case may be.
Brooke Greening: Yeah. So that is one way that we accidentally sabotage our sales calls, because then we make it seem like we're just like everybody else. And so many times people are like, "Well, how do I stand out from my competitor if we're offering the same things, we're doing the same things?" This. This is how you do it.
Because they want to make sure, especially in the service-based industry, that you understand their problem and that you're recognizing it and that you're validating it. And we're going to talk more about that in the future episodes, but this is literally where everything will start either completely coming together so that we can move it forward, or it will start falling apart.
Scott Greening: And
Brooke Greening: today- Not to be discouraging.
Scott Greening: Today our focus is just making sure people are aware of, okay- Yeah ... what is it that we're talking about, what are the issues, and we're not diving- Yeah ... a whole lot into how to do that or some best practices. No. But so that we give people a little bit of hope.
What's a little shift? Yeah. What's a little tiny thing that they could do to get started towards this? Yeah.
Brooke Greening: So just ask yourself this question: is this the real problem or is this the first layer? When someone starts sharing with you and they give you a symptom, like my sales are down, or this isn't going well, or I need help, like we're not discrediting that at all.
But we are going to ask ourself the question, not them. That would be awkward. We're not going to say, "Well, is this the real problem? Is there another..." Like, no. And we're going to talk about how to be able to ask those questions in later episodes, but right now I want you to ask the question to yourself, is this a real...
Is this the real problem or is this just the first layer? And then I want you to ask yourself one other question: do I stop at the very first problem that I hear or do I try to go to the next level on it? 'Cause that's the whole next thing that we're going to talk about. We do not want to be trying to
Scott Greening: fix something when we first start.
All right. So you may be listening out there and you may be thinking like- I don't even know. How- it's, I'm not even sure what I'm doing. How could I do that? I'd encourage you to take Brooke's sales conversation assessment, and it's a great tool for you to get a little bit of an outside perspective on how you're actually doing these different parts of the sales conversation.
And you can discover if you are settling for that first question or finding a deeper issue and that through that, as well as the other six or seven parts of the sales conversation. So you can access that sales conversation assessment at buildingmomentum.info/assessment, and it'll take you between three and seven minutes to go work through it, to answer the questions, and to get some good introductory advice that's customized to your answers based on that assessment.
B- Brooke where... We've been hinting in that at where we're going, but what are we going to talk about next time? What are you going to share with us?
Brooke Greening: So next week, we're going to say exactly what it starts to sound like and where most conversations are getting stuck when we start uncovering the real problem.
We're going to actually talk about what do we say, what do we not say, to be able to uncover those real problems that are driving and motivating them to buy.
Scott Greening: Great. We'll look forward to that, and the best way for you to make sure that you're getting the information and being part of this podcast community is if you would subscribe, if you'd like, if you'd share, if you'd comment, and do all of those things.
Your engagement not only encourages us and helps us keep moving forward, but also will let your peers and friends know about this as well, and we always appreciate that. Tuesday is Cinco de Mayo, so we're moving from- Yes. ... National Matcha Day into Taco Tuesday- Tacos ... on Cinco de Mayo. So have fun.
Right. We'll see you. Keep making more sales.
Brooke Greening: Bye-bye.
