What are the benefits and drawbacks of problem-oriented questioning in customer-focused selling?

How you talk to your customers matters. And not just in the “please” and “thank you” kind of way. Although manners are non-negotiable, I’m talking about your vibe, your energy, your whole approach. If you’re stuck on what’s wrong, guess what? So are they. People want to feel heard, sure...but they also want to see you fix it. If all you’re doing is circling back to the mistake, you’re missing the chance to show them what makes your solution worth sticking with. Show your competence and make it clear that you’re here to solve, not sulk. Be gentle and be focused.

Problem oriented questions should pertain to the customer and their business, NOT the areas that your product works in. Asking these questions the right way -- hearing their challenges, difficulties, setbacks in the last year or so -- will go a long way to developing trust with the customer. You are there to understand the customer's problem and articulate it back. This also can help open up possibilities as to how your product may be used more creatively to solve for their use-case. These types of questions can broaden your mind.

The most effective benefit while positioning problem-oriented questions are predicated on you ensure that they are open ended, and not leading to your product. If they are open ended, problem-oriented questions can help the customer fully describe their problem, giving you the indication of whether there's a good fit for your products/services you are providing or positioning. The second benefit is whether there is a greater fit than you (or the customer) originally perceived, giving you more points to outline and position for potential alignment.

I have found that problem focused questions create worry and fear in the buyer. This once was a great angle but not anymore. Buyers are very sophisticated now due to the robust amount of information at your fingertips, the internet. Buyers don’t need to feel scared or fear, that’s the opposite of what you should strive for in a sales conversation. You can’t make good decisions out of fear. But why has this changed? COVID. The pandemic has conditioned our nervous system to be on high alert all of the time. Our threat responses are through the roof and we are naturally seeking pleasure responses. So placing problem focused questions in front of your buyer will only make them run the other way.

I think you need to ask both problem-oriented and solution-oriented questions efficiently in order to truly understand the customers needs. You can discover the problems, but if your solution is not inline with what they want, what are you going to do? If your solution has no bearing on the problem, then what? I think the most efficient approach is balance. You will be able to fix the problem with the best solution possible, which will create that great relationship for the sales rep and the customer.