Guide prospects successfully through the pain funnel
We’ve been talking a lot about pain on our recent blogs, which naturally leads us to talk about Sandler’s pain funnel. But, first I would like to tell you a quick story:
It is 5:30 in the afternoon on a beautiful summer day. Mom hears five-year-old Jimmy coming up the back porch. He opens the screen door and enters the house with a roar. Jump into the kitchen where Mom is busy making dinner. Before she can even ask Jimmy if he had fun playing outside, he says, “Hey, Mom, can I have an ice cream cone?”
Her mom responds, “You can have ice cream after dinner.” The next afternoon, Mom hears Jimmy running up the steps. He storms back into the kitchen and asks the same question: “Can I have an ice cream cone?” His mom says, “Jimmy, after dinner, you can have one.”
On the third day, Jimmy comes running anyway. He looks at his mom and says, “Mommy, can I …” As soon as these words come out of her mouth, you see that expression on her face. He already knows what his answer will be. So he says, “What time is dinner?” “In about 25 minutes,” he says. Jimmy says, “Okay” and heads outside.
So you ask, “what is the point of the story?” People are taught at a very young age not to put down all their cards, or not to spill the beans. Why? Because you usually don’t win if you reveal your hand too early in the game. In our story, Jimmy was driving his mother crazy with the same question every day at dinner, until he realized that she was at the boiling point and that he was going to get mad. Jimmy didn’t want to face the pain of making his mom mad, so he changed his question to one that would make her happy. He avoided the pain, just like most prospects want to do when they visit.
Most people are raised to avoid revealing their true agenda in potentially difficult situations. Knowing this, we address this issue in the Sandler sales process, using the patented Sandler Pain Funnel, a powerful tool used to uncover the true agenda or “pain” of a potential customer.
UNDERSTANDING THE PAIN FUNNEL
The pain funnel is a strategically organized set of questions designed to uncover a potential client’s pain. On the other hand, it could also help you find out that the potential customer is not in any pain. Either way, this is good for you. Why? Allows you to rate or disqualify the prospect as a real prospect. If you have pain, it can help you resolve or eliminate it. If not, they can shake hands and part ways as friends.
Before proceeding with the use of the Pain Funnel, please note that the funnel works very well on its own, but works best when combined with other techniques that we use in the Sandler sales process, especially with the Sandler Pain-O- Meter and investment tools. So stay tuned for future blogs on these topics.
Once again, the Pain Funnel is a series of questions that a skilled salesperson uses during the Pain Step, whether in a face-to-face sales call or over the phone. It includes eight pain questions designed to sequentially bring the potential client closer to sharing their true agenda or pain.
Here are the 8 questions in order:
1. “Tell me more about that …”
2. “Can you be more specific? Give me an example.”
3. “How long has it been a problem?”
4. “What have you tried to do about it?”
5. “And did it work?”
6. “How much do you think that cost you?”
7. “How do you feel about it?”
8. “Have you stopped trying to fix the problem?”
You saw before in Jimmy’s story, how people prefer not to reveal their hand in front. Many people fear the consequences of unbridled honesty and showing their true colors. Therefore, Pain Funnel assumes that the potential client’s agenda will remain hidden and helps them bring the truth to the surface. However, you must be subtle and methodical in your approach when using the Pain Funnel. If you push yourself too hard and too fast, you will most likely encounter some resistance. The potential client may feel threatened or vulnerable and quickly avoid telling you the truth. So stick to the funnel’s tried and true questions along with the other techniques you learn in the Sandler System and you are sure to put your potential client at ease and guide you through the discussion of their real issues and issues.