Identify Pain – internal inspection questions

Identify Pain – internal inspection questions

Status Red – No business pain has been identified

Guiding Light Principle:  Awareness – The Prospect may be interested in your offering, but so far you have not been able to associate your capabilities with an important business pain.

  • Tell me how you have researched the industry & company?
  • Explain to me what the priorities of the corporation & business unit you are calling on?
  • Describe to me some of the questions you prepared that will enable you to connect our capabilities with those business priorities?
  • Tell me what are the pains you expect to identify?
  • Explain to me your line of questioning you have prepared that will force you to focus on the customer, persuade through involvement and earn the right to solve the problem?
  • Describe to me the Metrics you will use to illustrate our ability to solve similar issues?

Status Yellow – Identified issue or opportunity we can impact, meaningful to EB or verified as a priority to the org. Note: EB can still be at Staus of Red.

Guiding Light Principal – Agreement – Documented business pains we can affect and uncovered the consequences of those pains,  Verified pains with the contacts and or positioned pains relative to known priorities of the Prospect’s business.

  • Tell the Pains you uncovered?
  • Explain to me the consequences if they do nothing?
  • Do these pains connect to any stated priorities of the EB?
  • Describe to me how you know?
  • Tell me how you are going communicate this to the EB?
  • Explain to me who stands to gain the most if the customers changes?
  • Describe to me who stands to lose the most if it changes?
  • Tell me who has to be involved to cause this level of change to occur?
  • Explain to me what it costs the customer to “Do Nothing”?
  • Describe to me the capabilities of our solution will we need to leverage?

Status Green –   Identified pain relative the EB’s priorities and have identified a compelling event which is driving a sense of urgency

Guiding Light Principle: Action – In addition to the rigor applied to I = Red, you have also verified that the business pain we’re addressing is a priority of the EB to address. You have identified some event that is driving their timeline and urgency.   Note: In order to achieve I=Green, you must have at a minimum EB= Yellow and Dp = Yellow.

  • Tell me how the existing Pain has been communicated to the EB?
  • Explain to me how the EB is impacted by the current situation?
  • Describe to me how the key stakeholders affected by the current situation can influence or are accountable to the EB?
  • Tell me how you are engaging the Key Stake Holders and the EB?
  • Explain to me what the organizational landscape is, who the power brokers are & how they are aligned with or against us?
  • Describe to me how all the buying influencers needs are going to be reflected in the Dc & Dp?
  • Tell me what the Compelling event is?
  • Explain to me who in the organization can map our solution to the EB’s PBO’s and the impending compelling event?
  • Describe to me the “Cost of Procrastinating”