The Conversation About the Problem

Ten years ago, our Founder Gabriel Dabi Schwebel introduced inbound marketing to France courtesy of our sister company – 1min30. This achievement earned him the right to be called an “inbound marketing evangelist.” However, a few years after, he noticed a spiral decline in the numbers generated by companies that adopted his inbound marketing approach.

He launched a series of programs to correct this error, with the last one titled Q2C selling. If you’re hearing about Q2C selling for the first time, it stands for Qualification to closing. And what this program does is that it allows you to build a framework throughout your sales process. 

With this unique method, Mr. Gabriel was confident that salespeople would be able to prepare better for sales appointments, master their sales cycle, and sell more faster. The conversation about the problem is the fourth step of the qualification process.

After all, if you can’t structure a conversation that helps you unmask your customer’s problem, it won’t be easy to sell them your solution even if you have the best offer. Fortunately, it’s easy to structure such a conversation with Salesdeck, and this guide walks you through how to choose the cards that work for you and customize them to your offer and prospects.

Also, if you would love to have a comprehensive read of our Q2C selling program, we invite you to download an extract of the book, which Gabriel Dabi Schwebel and Nicolas Delignières write.

The conversation about the problem, what is it?

The key to a sale is to solve your prospect’s problem. Never talk about “need,” but about the situation; that’s what you must obsess about to succeed. You must understand the problem, the pain point of your prospect, and show him that you will be able to solve this problem.

If I say to you, “I need a Doliprane,” do you think that the fact that I only have Efferalgan to sell me is a problem? No. My problem is that I have a migraine; you have a solution; I take it! To sell, you need to understand the problem and its implications for your prospect.

The different dimensions of the problem

Think about the fact that a problem has several dimensions. For example, we can base ourselves on the Jobs to be done method and consider that there are at least three dimensions to the problem of your prospect:

• The functional dimension: what you technically need. What work does your prospect need to do?
• The emotional dimension: how does your prospect want to feel when doing this job?
• The social dimension: How does your prospect want to be perceived by his entourage by doing this work?

Addressing all dimensions of the problem increases your chances of selling and increases the value of what you are selling.

What information do you get from the conversation about the problem?

Efforts already been made to resolve it.

This information is crucial because it will allow you to eliminate arguments that may not be effective and understand what your prospect is looking for.

The objectives of the company / the entourage of the prospect

What is at stake for the company? Indeed, your prospect has his plan, but he will have to convince his organization or his entourage. What is their objective?

Secondary decision-makers

Discussing the implications of a problem also means identifying the other people who are affected by it and who will have a say in the final decision.

The nature and extent of the problem

Highlighting the importance of the problem and its implications is an excellent way to assess the chances of completing the sales process.

The prospect’s objective

Understanding the prospect’s objective is very important, which should emerge from this conversation. Ultimately, why is the prospect doing all this?

The key success factors of your value proposition

This conversation will perfectly highlight the fundamental points on which you must base your speech to convince the prospect.

The cards associated with the conversation about the problem

You’ve understood the problem’s principle and interest, but you don’t know how to apply it concretely? Here are the cards that will be very useful to structure your conversation and set up your deck in Salesdeck. You are free to keep the cards that suit you and change the order in which you use them.

The main objective

You need to understand the problem and the pain point of your prospect and demonstrate that you can solve this problem. The customer’s real need, his problem, is not always the one he states. You must succeed in identifying this problem perfectly.

To do this, you can use educational content that will be useful to help the customer refine his understanding of his problem and your business. Examples are blog articles, white papers, market studies, videos, etc.

The ability to achieve the goal

To sell, you need to understand the problem and its implications for your prospect. How painful is your prospect’s problem? How important is it to them?

It’s hard to say that everything is fine unless you give yourself a score of 10. And if the prospect answers 10/10, he’s playing you. You don’t have time to waste when you’re sure you don’t need support. And a goal that we are confident we will exceed is a lousy goal. He knows it, you know it.

Why not more?

This tip is fantastic in its effectiveness. This tip allows you to get a clear answer about:

• The prospect’s objective and organization
• The problems they face and their importance
• The key success factors for your value proposition

It is a technique that plays on two important aspects: surprise, you don’t expect to have to justify why you didn’t get a better score. Surprise tends to drive honesty.

Take the opposite approach and ask him: “why not be more ambitious on the objective.” In response, they can only point out the flaws in their functioning that prevent them from aiming higher.

The functional dimension of the problem

Discover the functional dimension of the problem: What work does your prospect need to do? Educational content is also relevant at this stage. Whatever the content, if it helps your prospect better understand their problem and assess its impact, it’s good content for qualification.

The emotional dimension of the problem

Discover the emotional dimension of your prospect’s problem: How does your prospect want to feel when doing this work?

The social dimension of the problem

Discover the social dimension of the problem: How does your prospect want to be perceived by the people around him by doing this work?

Attempts to solve the problem

The objective is to eliminate some arguments that might be ineffective and understand what your prospect is looking for.

Remember that every sales process has a moral and financial cost; it is toxic to continue a sales process without an identified opportunity that is compatible with your ability to respond.

    

The consequences of the problem

What is at stake for your prospect’s company? What are the expectations of your prospect’s company? Your prospect will need to convince their organization or team. What are their objectives? Highlighting the importance of the problem and its implications is an excellent way to assess the chances of completing the sales process.

Project expectations

Understanding the prospect’s objective is very important. Ultimately why is the prospect doing all this? The project objectives are unclear: give them some keys and ask for feedback to obtain precise goals. Again, you can rely on educational content to help your prospect surface their true objective.

The Top Priority

Highlight the fundamental points on which you must base your speech to convince the prospect.

The retro planning

The project timeline is unclear: by what date does your prospect want his problem to be solved? You don’t size your support in the same way if you have 3 days to solve a problem or if you have 3 months or 3 years. You can co-create a goal tracking dashboard.

If you liked our article and want to learn more about using Sales Deck, don’t hesitate to request a personalized demo or become an early adopter!