The Most Important Discovery Question?

You get a call from a customer or prospect indicating an interest in one of your products or services. You swing into action right away and put together the right presentation and/or demonstration. They gather their team, you pull together your resources and you conduct the meeting. Everything seems to be going well. Then they go dark - they won't return a call or email.  What happened?  They seemed engaged. They asked questions. You and your team brought you A-game.  Maybe, just maybe it’s because you didn’t ask the most important question:

What business problem are you trying to solve? 

Yes, you did everything right, but the problem is you may not have been presenting the right product or solution for the prospect’s business problem. They reached out to you after doing some research, thinking (assuming) that your solution was the right fit. In following through with the demo, you didn’t ensure that the product was a fit because you didn’t ask the question.

What business problem are you trying to solve? 

It’s a basic discovery question and should be asked with far more frequency than it is. I have seen countless conference calls and meetings take on a completely different tone when the sales reps asks the question. Suddenly the prospect opens up about what they are really trying to accomplish. Many times your questions lead them to ask you to speak with their boss or an executive team. And you haven’t even demonstrated the product. No, but you have demonstrated something far more important - you have demonstrated that you are interested in their business and in providing the right solution - not necessarily the solution that they think they need.

Don’t take for granted that your prospects or customers know what they need to buy from you. Ask them the question and know for sure.