Let's Talk Budget ...
Imagine you’re deep into the sales cycle, having what seemed like promising discussions with a prospect. You've crafted an impressive presentation, received positive feedback, and then, upon revealing the price, the prospect's enthusiasm vanishes.
The deal goes cold.
Why? You made a critical mistake: postponing the discussion of money until the end.
The Crucial Early Money Discussion
A fundamental Sandler principle for optimal revenue production: qualify hard, close easy. However, a pitfall is often because the your qualification process doesn't include a discussion of the prospect's Pain — the emotional impact of a given business problem. Without addressing the Pain and its monetary implications, any recommendation or presentation is premature, and closing becomes less likely.
Qualifying for Pain means delving into the emotional and practical costs of the prospect's problem — what they stand to lose by not acting. The Sandler Pain Funnel, a powerful tool for uncovering these costs, is at the heart of this process.
The Sandler Pain Funnel ™
The Pain Funnel is a sequence of carefully structured questions designed to uncover the emotional and practical impact of a prospect's challenges. It starts with broad questions like "Tell me more about that ..." and gradually becomes more specific, asking for examples, the duration of the problem, attempted solutions, and the effectiveness of those solutions. This funnel helps you to delve deeply into how much the issue has cost the prospect, not just financially but also in terms of productivity, morale, and other critical factor
As you can see, the Pain Funnel progresses to more introspective questions that encourage the prospect to reflect on their feelings about the problem and whether they've resigned themselves to living with it. This exploration is vital because it not only uncovers the Pain but also helps the prospect and the salesperson understand the urgency and importance of addressing it. (The problem you uncover may or may not be worth solving from the prospect's point of view!)
The Pain Funnel is not a checklist or a one-size-fits-all approach. It's a conversational tool that requires adaptability and empathy. After "completing" the funnel, the salesperson must go beyond the structured questions to explore the specific, unique aspects of the prospect's situation. This involves asking monetization-focused questions that link the emotional and practical aspects of the Pain to specific financial impacts.
Overcoming Psychological Barriers
Discussing finances can be uncomfortable, especially if we have ingrained beliefs about money that don’t support us. These beliefs may deter us from engaging in open conversations about financial expectations or constraints. To effectively discuss money, it’s essential to overcome these “head trash” barriers — dysfunctional
Complimentary Resource: How to Sell to the Modern Buyer...The Sandler Way
This guide offers you a quick preview of the buyer's journey and the ways a Sandler professional can interact with it to complete a winning sale.
