How to Qualify Sales Opportunities With Challenging Questions

The most misused discovery question on the planet: "How does that impact you personally?" A best? Buyers roll their eyes. At worst? They lose trust and never call you back. 4 questions to use instead: 1. "How is that showing up in the business?" After you explore a challenge with a buyer, try asking this. Usually, they answer with metrics and other issues that have financial impact. A good thing. 2. "Who else is impacted by that, and how?" Asking how YOU are impacted (personally) feels like "too much." But when you ask how others are impacted, it's less intrusive. You're simply spot-checking the consequences across the business. Plus, this sets you up for multi-threading. 3. "What are some of the ripple effects this challenge is having on the business?" This is similar to "what's the impact?" But the varied wording is different. It's not what buyers expect. It feels more sophisticated. The intent comes across as analyzing the health of the business, rather than manipulating the individual. 4. "I've found that most challenges like the one you're sharing with me create OTHER challenges somewhere else in the business. Do you see that happening here?" Again. The intent comes across better. A "trusted advisor" asks questions like this. Because it feels like you're helping them analyze their business. Not extract personal pain you can lord over them later. Takeaway: Asking "How does this impact you personally?" can have its place. But it's not for a first call. You can only get away with asking that after you've built trust. If you've done that, then fire away. Until then, try these four alternative questions first.

I lost 22 of my first 23 opportunities when I first joined Gong. I focussed on our 10+ competitors and learning every unique feature we had. Since then, my win rate shot up and it all centers around one principle: 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗼. Before any selling is effective, you need to deeply understand their problem. You need strong mutual buy-in on 'why change.' 6 non-negotiables for me to uncover: 𝟭. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 How to ask: ↳ "Gong aside, what are the top 2-3 strategic priorities you're most focussed on." ↳ "What company-specific objective does Gong align most to, in your eyes?" Example: ↳ New product being launched 𝟮. 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝘁 How to ask: ↳ “For this new launch, through your lenses, what's the biggest single risk to making this a success?” Example: ↳ Sellers are all over the place demoing + messaging it 𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 How to ask: ↳ "What metric is that most affecting today?" ↳ "Where is that at today?" Example: ↳ 20% win rate 𝟰. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 How to ask: ↳ "In an ideal world, where would you want to get that to?" Example: ↳ 25% win rate 𝟱. 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗢𝗜 How to ask: ↳ "If you bridged that gap, have you done the math on what that would be worth? Example: ↳ Growing 5% in win rates, is worth $2M / annually 𝟲. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. How to ask: ↳ What have you already done to try and solve that? Example: ↳ Having managers sit in on more calls which has been time intensive. You won't uncover all 6 of these on the first call and that's okay Build on each and uncover them through the entire cycle Discovery is a never-ending process Not just a sales stage 😁 P.S. Join 700+ sellers who've grabbed my full discovery blueprint: https://lnkd.in/g-uspxrA

"Do you have budget? Who makes decisions? What's your timeline?" Your prospect just mentally checked out. They've heard these same three questions from every vendor who's called them this week. You're losing deals because you're QUALIFYING instead of DISCOVERING. After coaching hundreds of reps who crush small deals but lose the big ones, I've identified the #1 mistake in enterprise sales: → Treating discovery like a vendor interrogation instead of a trusted advisor conversation. Here's the reality: 10% of prospects will never buy, 10% will always buy, and 80% can be swayed either way. That middle 80%? They're won or lost in discovery. Most reps ask surface level questions and move on: "We're losing customers." "Got it. Next question." But top performers go DEEP: "How many customers exactly? What's the revenue per customer? What's your current churn rate? How does losing customers impact your ability to hit growth targets?" Suddenly you're not solving a "customer retention issue." You're solving a $300K annual revenue leak that's preventing them from hitting their board commitments. This is why I developed the POWERFUL framework: P - Pain  O - Opportunity cost  W - Wants and desires  E - Executive influence  R - Resources  F - Fear of failure  U - Unequivocal trust L- Little stuff" When prospects believe at a level 10 in all eight areas, deals roll fast. The hardest territory to manage is the one between your ears. When you change your mindset from "Do they qualify?" to "How can I understand their world?", you'll start winning those 6 and 7-figure deals you've been losing. One of my clients, Samantha, went from struggling with mid-market to closing 10 Fortune 500 logos in 5 months using this framework. Cold to close. Remember: Prospects don't buy from vendors who qualify them. They buy from advisors who understand them. Sales leaders: Stop training your reps to run through checklists. Train them to pull threads and go deep. Discovery isn't a step in your process - it's embedded in every conversation until close. — Reps: Book your call now to get the EXACT blueprint elite reps use to crush their quotas. https://lnkd.in/gr9u5Vgd Sales leaders: If you're serious about building a sales machine that consistently doubles results in 90 days, visit https://lnkd.in/ghh8VCaf