How to Make Your Sales Conversations Problem-Focused

You will instantly gain trust if you can approach people without a hidden agenda and by being 100% present with them to help them understand their own challenges.  Here are a few good reasons why problem-focused sales conversations work best. 

1. Potential Clients Listen Better 

In the old traditional sales mindset, we’ve been trained that the best way to make a sale is by talking about us, our company, our product, and the benefits it can offer to potential clients. 

Well, the problem with this approach is that it’s all about you. The standard pitch – “I’m so-and-so, I’m with such-and-such, and we do such-and-such…” is about who you are and what you do. The moment the people you’re talking with realize that you’re making the conversation about you, they tune out and turn off. We all do this in our everyday life when we’re confronted by someone who talks on and on about themselves. 

2. We Avoid the Numbers Game 

The new sales approach walks away from the “numbers game.” The numbers game is the belief that if you call enough people, some of them will listen to your presentation and that some of those who listen will buy.  

However, when we focus on solving the other person’s problems, we break out of that grim scenario. It’s no longer about how many people you call and pitch. It’s about your ability to connect and build trust within each one of those potential clients.  

This is because you’re focusing on something (a problem) that others can immediately relate to. Rather than offering a long pitch and rolling the dice, hoping that someone will respond positively. 

3. Trust and Integrity Become Part of the Process 

Most sales approaches try to slip in the back door by using strategies and techniques designed to “get the sale.” Sometimes these techniques feel manipulative. Sometimes they’re annoying to the potential client.  

For example, there’s a sales approach that’s based around intricate questioning techniques. It's designed to get at potential clients’ pain and lead them into a sale. The problem with approaches like this is that the goal is always to get the sale, not find out the truth of whether there’s a fit between you and your prospect.  

In the new way of sales, Trust-Based Selling, we’re focused on the other person and their problems. We’re looking for opportunities to assist, and we’re doing it with the highest of integrity.  

This approach to sales doesn’t use influence techniques in any way. It speaks straight to the customer’s problems in a non-threatening manner. All you have to do is focus on the truth. 

4. Problem Solving Feels Better than Selling 

When you follow the new Trust-Based Sales approach, you become a problem solver rather than a salesperson. This is the most powerful shift you can make. From this place, you’re building trusting conversations. You are speaking to the problems of your prospects rather than pitching your solution. You are thinking from their perspective and engaging them in their world.  

Most of us like “fixing things.” There’s a greater sense of fulfilment in discovering whether we can help someone fix a problem. We’re engaging some of the best character traits we have as people, and that feels good. Our days end with a sense of satisfaction rather than frustration. 

These are just a few good reasons why problem-focused sales conversations work best. You’ll find opening conversations will become effortless. You will also attract people’s attention because you’re addressing a specific problem that is of concern to them. Prospects won’t look at you as a “salesperson.”  

You’ll stand out, because most people who sell are trained to just promote their service or product. Moreover, you’ll eventually discover an overall sense of ease permeating your sales days. 

Ari Galper is the World’s #1 Authority on Trust-Based Selling and the creator of Unlock The Game®, a new sales mindset that overturns the notion of selling as we know it today. His personal insights on how to build trust between buyers and sellers continues to break new ground. Thousands of Business Owners worldwide have been transformed by his trust-based sales approach. Get access to his "Stump The Guru" podcast recordings here www.UnlockTheGame.com/Podcast and watch his Trust-Based Selling Masterclass at www.UnlockTheGame.com/Video. For a Complimentary Sales Growth Consultation, apply at www.UnlockTheGame.com/FreeConsult.