Identify Pain: internal inspection questions
Inspection questions that test whether a business pain is identified, verified as an EB priority and tied to a compelling event driving urgency.
Grey
Status: 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 and company.
- Explain to me what the top-of-mind issues and priorities are within the industry in general, and specifically at the company you are calling on.
- Describe to me the metric proof points you will use to illustrate our ability to solve similar issues.
- Tell me what objections you may get when trying to uncover various pains.
- Explain to me the 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 some of the activities the customer is engaged in that will enable you to connect our capabilities with them.
Yellow
Status: Identified issue or opportunity we can impact, meaningful to the EB or verified as a priority to the org
Note: The EB can still be at status grey.
Guiding light principle: Acceptance. Documented business pains we can affect and uncovered the consequences of those pains. Verified pains with the stakeholders and/or positioned pains relative to known priorities of the prospect’s business.
- Tell me the business pains you uncovered.
- What is the cost if they do nothing?
- Describe to me how these pains connect to any stated priorities of the EB.
- Explain to me who stands to gain the most if they change.
- Describe to me who stands to lose the most if they change.
Green
Status: Identified pain relative to the EB’s priorities, and identified a compelling event that is driving a sense of urgency
Guiding light principle: Action. In addition to the rigor applied to I = Grey, 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 champion will describe the cost of doing nothing to the EB.
- Explain to me how the EB is impacted by the current situation.
- Describe to me how the current situation is impacting a compelling event that the key stakeholders care about.
- Tell me what the compelling event is.
Go deeper on Identify Pain
The business or technical shortage the customer must overcome, stop or change.