Last night, I was watching a Simpson's episode with my wonderful son, Matthew.

The image to your left came up, and it got me thinking.

The Status Quo is pretty powerful.  So powerful that you will not sell to your client if the status quo is working.

For example, I saw an awesome looking brand new Cadillac the other day.  I loved it.  It has everything that I want in a car.  The only problem is that I have a 3 year old Cadillac in my driveway.  it runs, it looks nice and more importantly it costs me less money than a new one.  Sure, I want the new one, but the status quo is going to win every time.

Let's say that my car starts to wear down.  The tires need replacing, it doesn't run as well as it used to, and I see a rust spot forming near the drivers door. 

The status quo is now looking less advantageous.

Many times, I go out to a prospect's office and discuss their needs.  We seemingly come up with many reasons why their current process isn't working well enough.  I dig deep into their pain points in order to figure out what is broken and what I can do to fix it.  Many times, we as salespeople fall short.  We just don't probe deep enough. 

We don't dig and stir enough to get to the things that aren't working at all.  We miss the point that the only thing that is going to drag your prospect away from the status quo is pain.

Which brings me back to this blog post

To make the sale, you must battle the status quo, you must find those rust spots...you must find a reason for your prospect to need to make that switch

• Open Ended Questions:  You must ask these questions n order to get to your prospect's pain
• You must also ask probing questions.  Questions like "So if you continue to spend 45% of your time researching the market, what kind of effect will that have on your bottom line?"
• Don't try to close the deal until you have dug deep enough to unseat the status quo.
• I once heard some crazy statistic that you must be 150% better than the status quo to get someone to change.  Not sure where this number came from, and I am sure that it is made up...But the point remains that you must be a whole heck of a lot better solution than the one you are trying to unseat in order to win.

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Today, I saw a license plate as I was pulling out of my office parking lot, and it gave me a thought.

No Pain, No Sale.

Sure, what this guy probably meant was No Pain, No Gain: A popular saying amongst people who work out in the gym.

No Pain, No Sale means something different.

When I go out on a sales call, I dig deep to find my prospect's pain.  What is bothering them about their process?  What is holding them back from achieving their goals?.  What is keeping them awake at night?  I am looking for their pain, and then, like a knight in shining armor, I will swoop in and fix the pain.  I will show them the "3 Wows", 3 things that my product does that can alleviate their ills so much that they say "wow!"  If I can do that correctly, I can earn the sale. 

If there is no pain, then I cannot possibly sell my product or service to them.

1. Before discussing yourself and your company, discuss their needs.  Try not it make it an inquisition, but make it a discussion. 
2. Ask insightful questions like "What do you find is the toughest part of your sales process" or "When you are looking to hire new sales talent, do you find that you get too many unqualified applicants?".  Follow up with questions like "If you spend that much time spinning your wheels with unqualified candidates, do you feel that this inhibits you from getting new business?"  Use silence to have them go deeper into the thought.
3. During this discussion phase, find three things that your company or service can do to alleviate their pain better than any other solution.  Keep track of these.
4. When discussing your product in the next step, be sure to address those pain points while discussing your solution.  Use phrases like "One of my current clients was having similar difficulties as you, and now finds that this feature has really changed his business for the better"
5. Always be conversational.  Too many times, I hear salespeople run through their questions like a list.  Nobody wants to be questioned. 
6. My favorite question is "You have seen our product before...why aren't you a current client?"  That elicits a great response, and a way for me to address an honest objection.