{"id":1773,"date":"2008-10-31T09:04:03","date_gmt":"2008-10-31T14:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/?p=1773"},"modified":"2008-10-31T07:05:56","modified_gmt":"2008-10-31T12:05:56","slug":"probing-for-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/10\/probing-for-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Probing For Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Saleshq.com has an excellent article for any salesperson in any market &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.saleshq.com\/training\/1169-do-you-probe-for-pain\" target=\"_blank\">Do You Probe For Pain?<\/a>\u00a0 We use the term &#8220;pain&#8221; in our discussions though it sounds a bit dramatic.\u00a0 Even so, it is the most descriptive word for qualifying.\u00a0 The article explains why:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>People are fundamentally motivated in two main ways:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. <\/strong>What problem or pain they can avoid and move away from<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. <\/strong>What pleasure or benefit they can move towards<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That is absolutely true.\u00a0 The key here is that people move away from pain faster than they move towards pleasure.\u00a0 As described later in the article:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>If a prospect feels content with their current supplier or their current situation, then it will be a huge challenge to motivate them to want to buy your product or service. That\u2019s why every pain your prospect feels is an opportunity for you. Your task, during the initial fact-finding stage, is to uncover their \u2018pain\u2019 and help them to dwell on their problems.<\/p>\n<p>The stronger the pain or the bigger their problem, the greater their motivation will be to move away from it. If you can convince prospects that your organisation can reduce one or more of their \u2018pains\u2019, then you will have suddenly discovered a powerful way to unleash their motivation to buy from you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Finally, here are some excellent pain probes for any salesperson:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhat areas of your current situation don\u2019t you like?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWhat is this costing your organisation each year?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cHow do you feel about (problem)?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWho else is aware of these issues?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cHow do they feel about it?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWhy haven\u2019t you tackled this before?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cHow do your issues compare to those in similar organisations?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWhich of these problems is causing you the most concern?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWhat have you done in the past that\u2019s not worked?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWhen did you begin noticing this issue?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWhy is this such an issue for you?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWhen will you decide to resolve this?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>These items are just skimming off the top of this article so as they say, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.saleshq.com\/training\/1169-do-you-probe-for-pain\" target=\"_blank\">read the entire thing<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saleshq.com has an excellent article for any salesperson in any market &#8211; Do You Probe For Pain?\u00a0 We use the term &#8220;pain&#8221; in our discussions though it sounds a bit dramatic.\u00a0 Even so, it is the most descriptive word for qualifying.\u00a0 The article explains why: People are fundamentally motivated in two main ways: 1. What problem or pain they can avoid and move away from 2. What pleasure or benefit they can move towards That is absolutely true.\u00a0 The key here is that people move away from pain faster than they move towards pleasure.\u00a0 As described later in the article: If a prospect feels content with their current supplier or&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/10\/probing-for-pain\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[1067,1068,184,149,211,142],"class_list":["post-1773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sales-techniques","tag-pain-probe","tag-probing-for-pain","tag-qualifying","tag-sales-question","tag-sales-skill","tag-sales-technique"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-sB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2577,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2015\/05\/silence-kills-deals\/","url_meta":{"origin":1773,"position":0},"title":"Silence Kills Deals?","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"May 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"My mouth is still agape after reading this article in the MSP Business Journal \u2013 How to close a sales more effectively. The first howler: Anyone involved in sales knows silence can kill deals. If you present your best recommendations to a prospect and stop talking, he might say, \u201cThat\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1775,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/11\/quoting-is-not-qualifying\/","url_meta":{"origin":1773,"position":1},"title":"Quoting Is Not Qualifying","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I run into this topic often and it is one worth defining.\u00a0 Many companies value quotes as strong sales activity.\u00a0 Now don't get me wrong, quotes are a step in the sales process and typically one that occurs before a close.\u00a0 However, companies that have under-defined sales processes often choose\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2006,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/04\/persuasion-through-scarcity-and-fear-of-loss\/","url_meta":{"origin":1773,"position":2},"title":"Persuasion Through Scarcity And Fear Of Loss","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I was a psych major in college which seemed to be the perfect preparation for a sales career.\u00a0 I believe it was.\u00a0 To this day I am still intrigued by the psychology of selling which could truly be described as persuasion. That background helps explain why I found this ManageSmarter.com\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1706,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/08\/good-selling-is-subtle\/","url_meta":{"origin":1773,"position":3},"title":"Good Selling Is Subtle","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you noticed that the best salespeople are usually subtle?\u00a0 They have a way of moving through a discussion that is conversational in tone, but focused in purpose.\u00a0 Some are so good at it that you don't even notice if you are involved in the discussion. ManageSmarter.com offers up an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":579,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/01\/of-cold-coffee-and-closing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1773,"position":4},"title":"Of Cold, Coffee and Closing","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"January 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"This is not the way to start your day - it is -20 degrees here this morning in New Prague, MN. That's pretty cold even by our standards. Next I read that there is going to be a coffee bean shortage next season which certainly means that prices will be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1274,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/11\/information-is-money\/","url_meta":{"origin":1773,"position":5},"title":"Information Is Money","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"One thing that consistently stands out in sales is the ability to gather information. I'm not talking about personal information like family, home, education and the rest. That information is important for building rapport, but many salespeople (i.e. schmoozers) never move past that level. The national sales team with whom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1774,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773\/revisions\/1774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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