I’m tired of hearing about the pain. One salesperson after another insists that you must “find the pain.” It’s a gimmick introduced by a popular sales training franchise and, yes, it makes some sense, but it is certainly not applicable in all situations.
I have problems with this concept on both practical and philosophical levels. The concept of looking only for pain is akin to a doctor examining a patient only to profit. It denies the idea that a doctor can simply tell the patient that they’re in great health while perhaps making exercise and dietary recommendations.
Additionally, the intention to get to the pain presumes that the salesperson is a miracle worker with a solution. As the industry legend (and LBM Journal columnist) Bill Lee says, “It’s about resources”—a referral to a subcontractor, a recommended app, a marketing suggestion, a consultation to help manage project flow, intel on future price hikes, a suggestion on recruiting new talent, and so on and so forth. Salespeople can provide solutions to problems (pain), but many times the best thing a salesperson does is simply enhance rather than fix.
On a practical level, pushing to discover the pain is poor salesmanship. We work in an industry of entrepreneurs, risk takers that gave up a job to launch a business. They often sacrificed a steady stream of income to start a business. Many used their personal home as collateral to launch. Pushing to expose pain is an inadvertent insult to the successful entrepreneur who should instead be complimented for their initiative and success.
My first client of my consulting career (after I left a lucrative job) came when I met Merle Beck, the founder of a polyurethane millwork manufacturing company which he eventually sold. He had been referred to me and wanted help launching an architectural sales campaign. Some might call this pain; I prefer to think of it as a growth dream. Either way, it would have been easy for me to quickly close a sale because he overtly told me what he believed he needed.
After interviewing him and three of his key employees, he asked what I would recommend. I assured him, “Mr. Beck, I’ve never built a business like yours. I think it’s amazing you started this business and created a $25 million enterprise. So far be it from me to say that something is wrong.”
After those words, I told him that his company was not well positioned for an architectural sales program because (A) the product wasn’t a significant enough factor in the housing design and, more importantly, (B) his company was going to market with independent manufacturer reps who wouldn’t be candidates to fulfill that mission. I did suggest that I might be able to help them hone their sales and sales management processes … but added that I probably needed to learn more before delivering specific advice.
Mr. Beck asked me to wait for them in the lobby while he and his son (and partner in the business) talked. Ten minutes later, his son came to tell me I was hired and that he knew my price would be fair. That relationship became a starting point to which I can attribute decades of business relationships and customers that spun off from that initial meeting. I closed my first sale as a consultant by expressly stating that I saw no “pain” in the business.
The best lesson I learned from that experience was to include a statement in almost every proposal written to prospective clients since. In the opening section of the proposals I write, “Nothing is broken.” I follow that up with the reasons why I admire the business and then the observations I have about their goals and objectives. Only after all that is it time to offer some insights that might help.
There might be pain, but the real goal for any business is to find success and joy in the process. Try tapping into that and you’ll have a lot more success discovering ways you can contribute positively.
