Identifying your leads' pain points is crucial for sales prospecting. Pain points are the problems, challenges, or frustrations that your leads face and that your solution can address. By understanding their pain points, you can tailor your sales pitch, demonstrate value, and overcome objections. But how do you find out what your leads' pain points are? Here are some tips to help you.
One of the best ways to identify your leads' pain points is to ask them open-ended questions that encourage them to share their situation, goals, needs, and challenges. Open-ended questions are those that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, such as "What are your main priorities for this quarter?" or "How do you measure your success?" or "What are the biggest obstacles you face in achieving your goals?" By asking open-ended questions, you can uncover the root causes of your leads' pain points, their impact, and their urgency.
I have seen a rising number of people (myself included) using ChatGPT and other AI programs to help start the process of uncovering their buyer's pain points. Using prompts such as "What are the pain points and KPIs for {Insert Title} in the {Insert Industry}" can give some great ideas as a starting point. Another approach is asking open ended questions though such as "what is keeping you up at night" and "what obstacles are preventing you from hitting your goals this year" shine some light on their pain points (if you have someone who is willing to answer the questions honestly)
I do my research. I already know why I've reached out to this company/person specifically and have examples from a number of different sources about what I understand to be their pain points: "I'm hearing from digital marketers they're experiencing X, Y & Z, is that similar to your experience"? you come across as a thought leader, and they trust that others have been through this process before
Another key skill for identifying your leads' pain points is to listen actively and empathize with them. Active listening means paying attention to what your leads are saying, reflecting back what you hear, and asking follow-up questions to clarify and confirm. Empathy means showing that you understand and care about their situation, feelings, and needs. By listening actively and empathizing, you can build rapport, trust, and credibility with your leads, and show them that you are not just trying to sell them something, but to help them solve their problems.
A third tip for identifying your leads' pain points is to use sales prospecting scripts that guide you through the conversation and help you uncover their pain points. Sales prospecting scripts are pre-written templates that outline the main points, questions, and responses that you can use when contacting your leads. They are not meant to be read word for word, but to be adapted and personalized to each lead and situation. By using sales prospecting scripts , you can save time, avoid common pitfalls, and ensure that you cover the essential topics and pain points.
A fourth tip for identifying your leads' pain points is to research and validate them before and after contacting your leads. Research means gathering information about your leads' industry, company, role, and goals from various sources, such as their website, social media, news, reports, and reviews. Validate means verifying and confirming the information and pain points that you have learned from your leads or other sources, by asking for evidence, examples, or feedback. By researching and validating, you can prepare better, avoid assumptions, and tailor your solution more effectively.
One area sellers neglect is the job postings your prospects are posting. Sometimes they will mention: -Hiring manager (influencer or EB of whatever is discussed in job post) -Project name or acronyms (use this back to them in your outreach) -Initiative -pain points -Lines of business involved -Mentioning your ecosystem partners, competitors, or your own products
A fifth tip for identifying your leads' pain points is to use a pain point matrix to organize and prioritize them. A pain point matrix is a simple tool that helps you map your leads' pain points according to two dimensions: severity and frequency. Severity means how much the pain point affects your leads' performance, results, or satisfaction. Frequency means how often the pain point occurs or persists. By using a pain point matrix, you can identify the most critical and urgent pain points that your solution can address, and focus your sales pitch on them.