Do you spend too much time “selling the problem”, rather than the solution?

One of the first steps in sales processes is getting a prospect to acknowledge that they have a problem. This is especially the case where you are trying to position early in a sales process and set the agenda. However, my experience has been that many salespeople continue for far too long in what I term “selling the problem”. This appears most where the solution you are proposing is a “vitamin pill” rather than a “pain killer” (but that is another discussion).

It seems to be that some confusion exists whereby salespeople either misread the prospect or forget that their differentiated value proposition rests on providing the right solution. Once there is any form of acknowledgement by a prospect that they understand the problem and its existence, it’s a signal for the salesperson to move on. Instead I see many sales processes which continue to talk about the problem, its impact on the business, how it is pervasive across specific industries, how solutions over many years have failed to address it, the extensive effort it might take to fix otherwise, etc, etc, etc.

The conversation instead should have shifted to what benefits the prospect would get from your solution to the problem, how your solution is more efficient and effective than other approaches, the process and costs to rectify, how you might assist in building the prospect’s business case, and how you have done it for other customers.

Continuing to talk about the problem further than is absolutely necessary will jeopardise your chance of sales success.