When we understand why people buy we can enhance our chances of making a sale. So why do people buy? Because they have a need or a want? Yeah ok , but what is behind the need or want? What is their primary reason they want to buy from you?
Fundamentally people buy for two reasons:
1, To avoid PAIN
2, To GAIN something
Research indicates that buyers are 3 times more motivated to avoid PAIN than to gain something and people buy emotionally and defend it logically.
Effective sales people are always looking for their prospects immediate or future pain, in order to sell solutions. They are able to ask great questions so the prospect discovers their own pain and then magnify it by focusing questions around the impact of the problem.
When prospects discover their pain and moreover the impact it has on them personally or the company, they can get emotionally involved and therefore increasing their buying motivation. Excellent sales people will ask good questions to stir up emotion and gain commitment from the prospect to fix the problem before presenting solutions.
Walking prospects through a “Pain Funnel” can lead the prospect to discover and magnify the pain. The Pain Funnel process goes something like this:
Once the prospect has mentioned a problem:
Sales Person: That sounds like a problem
Prospect: Yes
SP: How long has that been a problem?
P: 2 years
SP: Who is impacted by it?
P: Staff, clients etc
SP: How much do you suppose that cost you (time or money)?
P: Thousands per month
SP: Is that a lot of money to you?
P: Absolutely
SP: How does that make you feel?
P: Frustrated (emotion!)
SP What have you done to fix it?
P: We tried several things but nothing worked
SP: On a scale o 1-10 how committed are you to fixing this problem (gain commitment)
P: 10
SP: Would you like me to show you a solution that could get rid of this problem?
P: Yes please
Contact us if you want help creating a pain funnel. Or for further information on a consultative selling process click here.
Happy Selling
Paul O’Donohue and The Sales STAR Team
